The End Is Here: Outlander 313

And so season 3 of Outlander goes out with a bang—if you’re me.  Or a whimper, if you’re nearly everyone else.  I actually understand the criticisms and agree with some of them.  The episode was disjointed; there wasn’t a clear narrative; the writers tried to check beloved book scenes off their list; the token sex scene wasn’t that great.  (But then, ever since the reunion episode, Claire and Jamie sex has either bothered me or bored me.)  Yet, at the end, I felt satisfied.  Even a bit energized to possibly read the next book in the series, The Drums of Autumn. Thankfully, that urge has passed.

Much like the episode, this week’s seven thoughts are disjointed, and in most cases, have nothing at all to do with the story.  And here they are:

Eye of the Storm:  Episode 313

1.  Prancy Pants

As Claire is being driven to save Wee Ian, the carriage comes upon a procession of humming Maroons or free Blacks.  I think.  It’s never made clear.  They seem to be walking in a trance, which adds to the mysteriousness.

But what I notice is the pair of black horses pulling the carriage.  When they stop for the procession, both horses continue to prance as if they’re trotting in place.  And when they do move forward once again, they really do prance, knees high.

(Sorry for the horrible quality.  Had to lighten the photo a lot to show the horses’ legs.)

2.  Lord Bad Ass

Redcoats intercept Captain Leonard as he’s escorting Jamie to the jail and tell him they are taking custody of Jamie.  Captain Leonard complains, “By whose authority?”

This guy’s!

Finally, we are given a chance to witness Lord John Grey’s intelligence and competence, not just his mooning over Jamie Fraser.  His beat-down of “Lieutenant… Captain” Leonard is a thing of beauty.  Even Jamie is impressed.  (But not enough, see #6 below.)

3.  Navy vs. Army

(Yeah, Army won by one point.)

Lord John relishes reminding Captain Leonard that he is in actuality a lieutenant.  He says the army only promotes an officer when he’s earned it, whereas the navy is more frivolous.  He’s not wrong.  The navy (my Navy) used to “frock” its officers, meaning that once an officer was selected for promotion, they were allowed to wear the rank, even though they hadn’t actually been promoted yet. (A selections list comes out once per year; promotions are spread throughout the year, usually depending on when you were commissioned.)  No, it’s not the same as having to assume command because everyone else has died, but the point tickled me, nonetheless.

4.  Uneven I.O.U.s

Once Lord Bad Ass dismisses Lieutenant Leonard and clears Jamie, Jamie says, “Seems I’m indebted to you once again for saving my life.”  Because he so fucking gracious says, Lord John replies, “Seems we’ve been indebted to each other so many times, I’ve lost count.”

Listen up, LJ!  The count is nowhere near even.  You owed Jamie one debt.  Well, maybe two, if you count that he’s not outed you; or three, if you include acting as Willie’s father.  You have saved Jamie innumerable times, even when Jamie realize it.  cough-Helwater-cough.

5  It is love!

For Yi Tien Cho and Margaret Campbell, that is.  They plan to sail off into the sunset…er, to Martinique to live happily ever after.  This is quite different from the book.  In Voyager, Margaret dies at the native dance festival thingie.  I think.  And Mr. Willoughby… just fades away?  At least that’s all I remember.

6  Jamie is a lousy friend

I am really over all the JAMMF love.  Maybe that’s why sex with Claire and naked Sam Heughan don’t do anything for me anymore. After Lord John frees Jamie—again—and Jamie gets ready to leave,

Jamie:  Until the next time then.  Goodbye, John.
John:  Goodbye, Jamie.  And good luck.

No hug, no handshake, nada.  At least as  Jamie leaves, Lord John does us the favor of giving us a slow turn to profile…

Even worse?  When Jamie and Claire find Yi Tien Cho at the tribal party in the jungle, Yi Tien Cho speaks of Margaret Campbell.

Yi Tien Cho:  After tonight, we will go to Martinique, make a home there.
Jamie:  Have you seen Ian?

Ugh.

7.  Department of Redundancy Department.

There are standing stones in Jamaica!  But the time portal is actually a pool in a cave.  Isn’t that a little redundant?

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And there you have it.  A season of Outlander, a season of thoughts, some more coherent than others.  Most likely I’ll not be doing this next season.  But I have several months to change my mind.