Outlander: Abies Fraseri (8x03)

This show is so weird and I like it probably more than it deserves lol.

Cons:

I really wish the actor who was playing Percy was... sexy? Like, I want him to be rakish and irresistible and he's just kind of blah. This isn't about physical appearance so much as it is about charisma, and I didn't feel the charisma I wanted from Percy.

Same complaint I've had in the past about the sex scenes, that they are all very same-y in terms of one passionate kiss, then they just lift their clothes out of the way and Jamie is in her instantly lol. I keep thinking... is she like, prepared and comfortable for this? It seems like they're both having a fulfilling experience to say the least but it just seems to lack variety and is not really... hot, to me? As a viewer? I don't know. I think I'm in the minority here, but I used to think the sex scenes in Outlander were pretty well choreographed and performed and now it kind of seems like everyone is going through the motions.

I recall a similar instance in the books where Claire delivers a stillborn baby but then it lives again? But only briefly and then it dies? I might be conflating circumstances, but in any case, I don't necessarily mind the story flirting with this mystical idea of Claire giving life through a magic healing touch to an infant. I don't even mind the direct call that this makes her think of Faith, and think of how Master Raymond saved her life with that same sense of a blue light coming from him into her. This show has always included magical elements to it. What I do mind is, once again, the dumb-ass decision to say that Raymond must have saved Faith's life in the same way as Claire's and then been unable to return the baby to her parents for some reason. This story element adds nothingggggg. Ugh. I will continue to be annoyed forever, thanks. 

Pros: 

The main over-arching concern of this season is of course the militia forming up in the back country, contrasted to Captain Cunningham's gathering of loyalists from the Ridge. I would say I am... less interested in this plot line than a lot of the more intimate character-focused ones, but I still think they're doing a good job of putting all the pieces into place. Jamie's devotion to the American cause is very tied up in the foreknowledge provided to him by his time traveling family, so, it makes sense that he'd feel caught in a very strange place here. I like the exploration for that of Jamie, along with the haunting message from the future that Frank has left for him. Poor guy is really caught in a web right now and I think they are depicting that really well!

Part of the frustration about the Faith thing is how much I like Fanny as a character and how well she adds to the themes and vibes of the story. It was so sweet to see Brianna being protective of her, to see Claire address her fears, and to see Jamie take the time to give Fanny a place to grieve for Jane, all of them finding ways to integrate her into the family. She is a young girl who has seen things she never could have seen, and Jamie has already done for Fergus what he's now doing for her. It's lovely to see.

Speaking of Fergus... I am thrilled they're keeping in the little detail about Percy wanting to talk to Fergus about a family inheritance thing, that's such a little subplot in the books that I thought it might just be cut for time. More to develop there, but I am living for John being just indignant and uncomfortable at Percy's overly familiar ways at the dinner table. What an asshole.

William and Amaranthus share some very cute back and forth about beetles, I just love that she embroiders a waistcoat and it's objectively kind of weird and showy but William wears it with pride around a bunch of important people. I know some things from the books about where this is going, but as far as the show goes so far, I totally ship it! William is convinced Ben is not really dead and is going to keep pulling at those threads, while also developing feelings and sharing a little smooch with Ben's widow... juicy stuff, William. What a mess.

We also get this tantalizing little detail of William finding out John's history at Ardsmuir prison, and he seemingly has put together that connection with his birth father there. I don't recall if they discuss this in the books, so I'll be interested to see if more comes of that.

Lord John writing a letter to Claire and Jamie getting mean and jealous about it is soooo funny, and continues the trend of many of my favorite book moments making it onto the page. Jamie is so weird about John, I swear. He basically says that he's not worried about Claire thinking about another man when they're in bed together, but he is worried that he might think about John while they're having sex. That's so funny dude. You are ridiculous. There's a tragedy here in this broken friendship of course, but I like that Claire is mostly eye-roll-y about it. She knows she didn't do anything wrong, and she knows Jamie needs to get over himself and forgive her and move on. I loved the Brianna moment where she is shocked and a little delighted to learn about Claire and John's ill-advised night together. And I love that Fanny overheard and told Claire she should have kept her mouth shut about "swiving" another man.

That's all I've got for this one. I love this stupid show and I can't wait to see how some of these stories play out. But if Faith Fraser shows up on my screen... no thank you.

7/10