Outlander: Famous Last Words (5x08)

Ian! Oh boy oh boy. Let's dive in to this episode.

Cons:

Once again, I don't give a shit about Jocasta and Murtagh's romance, so seeing her grieving for Murtagh didn't really move me. This was an episode filled with grief and trauma from all angles, so it seemed kind of rushed, to include these little snippets of Jocasta, and not have the chance to linger on Jamie and Claire's grief instead. Since this episode covers months of time, it seems like our grief for Murtagh sort of happened off-screen. That's a bummer.

I liked Ian's return here, but I do wonder if his plot thread is going to replace (SPOILERS) the Fergus and Jamie story from the books? I hope not. That would make me a little sad.

While I'm not necessarily in to the medical grossness and disturbing visuals, I did think it was a bit of a bad choice to skip out on the immediate aftermath of Roger's near-death. That was such a viscerally intense moment in the books, and we flashed past it using the  "silent movie" method, which was... cool, I guess, but what it replaced was something I really did want to see.

Pros:

I like that this episode skips forward through time, though. It becomes an interesting exploration of Roger's trauma over time, as we see how he physically heals, but is still psychologically very troubled. We start with Roger as a professor back in the 1960's, talking about the importance of words, and ruminating on the famous last words of various historical figures. And then of course Roger doesn't die, but the nature of his injury has taken away his special gift, his voice. While he can talk, his voice is harsh now, and he can no longer sing in the melodious way he once did. It's a significant loss for him, and I like that the episode doesn't skim over this.

Similarly, Brianna's arc through the episode shows her dealing with Roger's trauma in interesting ways. She's patient, but she's also kind of... uncomfortable? Which I find really relatable. Her husband has been replaced by someone else, in many ways, and she's not sure how far to push, or what she can do to help. Things eventually come to a head when she asks Roger if he's ever going to come back, or if he's lost for good. It takes an intense experience with Ian for Roger to start to work his way back to his family, as we see at the end of the episode.

And speaking of Ian, I'm relatively sure he doesn't come back until right at the end of the fifth book, but I think this is a good change from the source material. Ian is going through his own grief because of what has happened with his wife. We don't learn the full story here, but we get glimpses, much like we get with Roger through the silent movie moments. I like how Roger and Ian are united in their trauma, much like how they were united in what happened with the Mohawk. Roger and Ian don't know each other, but Ian made a huge, huge sacrifice for Roger, staying behind so Roger could come home. It creates a link between them that transcends the fact that they really haven't spent much time together. This episode gives them a chance to do just that, and we see that Ian is in a very dark place, and Roger, in helping save him from that place, is starting to find a way forward for himself, too.

Ian's return was done really well. I love the strangeness of it all. There are obvious physical differences, with his face tattoos and the style of dress. But there's also just the weirdness of his behavior. He has really become one of the Mohawk, and thus he is a foreign interloper here, instead of a familiar presence. You can see how difficult Jamie and Claire find that, even as they're trying to be understanding and welcoming. Ian is uncomfortable sitting at a table with fancy place settings, and sleeping indoors in a nice bed. It's important that Ian has been changed, not only by his grief but by his time away, becoming a part of a new culture.

This episode did a pretty good job of integrating the fullness of the world these characters inhabit, even as the focus remained on Roger and Ian. Lord John is there briefly, dropping things off and giving Brianna and Roger the news about the land granted to to them by the governor, as an apology for Roger's ordeal. It's nice to see how casually he belongs in their lives. Lord John's increased presence is one of my favorite changes from the books. We also have Marsali, there to offer comfort to both Roger and Ian, in the only ways she can. I continue to love her character so much in the show.

That's where I'll leave things for now. In some ways it's a bummer that we "fast-forwarded" through Roger's healing, but I still think there's plenty of interesting story to tell there. And I'm happy to have Ian back!

8/10