Outlander: The World Turned Upside Down (6x06)

Well dang! I wasn't expecting things to happen quite so quickly!

Cons:

This episode comprises quite a passage of time, and honestly I feel a little conflicted about it. To take us through Claire's sickness, Malva's entire pregnancy leading up to her ultimate fate, all in one episode, made me feel a little uncertain about where we were in the timeline at any given moment. I admire how much of the story they were able to tell here, but it does sort of feel like all the slow, sinister buildup of Malva's character came to a head and then was immediately pivoted into the next branch of the story. I think I would have wanted this story to take place over two episodes instead of just one, if I had been calling the shots there.

Things like, Ian being one of the potential fathers of Malva's child, and Jamie's despair during Claire's sickness, and Roger continuing to preach at the protestant church, and the assembly Jamie and Roger attend... on the one hand, I'm impressed by how much from the books is being included. On the other, it felt like we got a lot of summarization where I could have done with some slowing down.

Claire's ether abuse is still not clicking with me, especially how it was utilized here. I thought the whole point was that it knocked you out and Claire could have a dreamless unconsciousness, but here using the ether made her have a strange hallucination/dream of Malva threatening to steal all her happiness... so which is it? Does the ether knock her out entirely, or does it do something else? I'm just not digging it.

Pros:

My only big complaint being with the pacing, I must say I was mighty impressed by what we actually got to see! The sickness was properly horrifying and sinister, and it's so heartwarming to see how loved Claire is, by Jamie, by Brianna, by Roger, Lizzie... she might have those on the Ridge who are wary of her, and the events that are about to take place certainly make that situation a lot worse, but Claire is known by many as a kind healer and a good woman, and we see that clearly in how she cares for the sick, and in how she is cared for in turn.

We got things like Claire's hair being cut off, and the lovely conversation between Jamie and Claire where he expresses his undying love for her. I remember being really moved by Jamie's grief in the book, and I think they went a bit of a softer route here, not showing Jamie howling out in his despair, but something quieter if no less profound. I thought it worked really well. Honestly, though, the highlights for me during the sickness part were Brianna and Roger's individual moments with Claire. Roger is the one to break the news about her hair, and assure her of her beauty... and Brianna gets to give her mother the news about the new baby! Both really sweet lovely moments.

And then comes the dramatic turning point: the Christies show up one day, when Claire is recovered and things are starting to get back to normal, and they make a shocking announcement. Malva is pregnant, and she says Jamie is the father.

This is such a shocker, and it encompasses so much drama moving forward. Obviously you've got Jamie and Claire... of course Jamie is put in an impossible situation, since he can't apologize for something he didn't do, but how to deny it without sounding guilty? I love that this is where he confesses to having had a sexual encounter with Mary McNab all those years ago, when Claire had gone back through the stones, leaving Jamie for dead. It's a lovely tender moment between husband and wife, where they acknowledge that there's nothing to forgive, but also worry about the future.

But of course it's not as simple as just Jamie and Claire's relationship. There's also Malva and Claire, and the betrayal there. The scene where Claire tries to go in kindness to Malva, and initially she seems like she might be regretting things and coming around, but then her brother appears and she turns on Claire and calls her a witch... oof, so brutal. And Jamie and Malva had a nice energy to them, before the big moment of Malva's lie. It seemed like Jamie had a sort of fatherly affection for her, and genuinely appreciated Malva's help during Claire's sickness, which just makes everything worse when she turns on him.

And then there's Ian, who had sex with Malva and worries the child might be his. He therefore feels guilty that Jamie is in the crossfire, with everyone saying such horrible things about him. And then Brianna, dealing with her conflicting feelings over the infidelity of a parent. Things with Frank were an entirely different situation, but Brianna still felt duped by the fact that he had an extramarital relationship with someone and was not in fact faithful to her mother. Not to mention the strange affinity between Tom Christie and Claire, this pseudo-friendship where they clearly disagree but still have this strange connection to one another... it's so much. There are just layers and layers here!

I was shocked when we got to the ending scene, because I was anticipating one more episode of buildup to it, and I have mixed feelings about the pacing. Still, I will admit, going from fearing Malva as an antagonist to seeing her dead in the garden with her throat slit is an image I'm not likely to forget in a hurry! Claire's frantic attempt to save the child still inside Malva is harrying and tragic, and ultimately fruitless, and that's where we end the episode, in the direst of all possible conditions.

And we've got next week off, so two whole weeks to wait and see what the heck will become of Claire and Jamie next! This was an intense episode, encompassing some of the most memorable material from the book. My main mark against it is simply the speed with which we swept through these events. We'll see how they do with the fallout!

8/10