"There is the law - and there is what is done."
Hello everyone!
Well, we're now halfway, or even more than halfway through the Outlander season, and we FINALLY got to see the big season battle, or at least one of them. I don't really remember just how it went in the books, but I think nothing that big happens again until later on in the story, though I could be wrong of course.
I'm only now re-reading The Fiery Cross so it's safe to say that the finer details escape me.
The thing is a behemoth! I honestly don't remember ALL of it.
That said, it was probably the best episode of the season, and I'm not exaggerating. If you look across the internet, fans are pretty much in agreement about that one. Season five has been pretty good throughout, but at the end of the day it's the great episodes which make the show fantastic.
You can tell that the chemistry suddenly just clicks back on screen like someone flipped a switch, but enough about me blathering on and on. Let's dive right in, shall we?
The Ballad of Roger Mac awaits.
Links to previous reviews can be found at the bottom of the post.
If you remember, I mentioned in the previous recap that the season is beginning to feel disjointed - up until that point it all seemed to flow pretty well, but then all of a sudden, after Jamie's initial return from gathering the militia, they jump to River Run without much forewarning, and now when we clock back in with our Fraser family, the militia has mustered yet again, though this time with intent to do battle.
Claire and Jamie are both with the men, but Bree and Jemmy will be staying in Hillsborough while Roger heads off to fight.
Bree is worried - and rightfully so - because, had they done what Roger asked and returned through the stones, the most dangerous thing in their morning routine would be Jemmy getting smears on their job outfits. Now though, there's a distinct possibility that Roger may not return from the fighting, though he promises he will.
Meanwhile, Claire is setting up her surgical tent because she knows what it looks like when men start bashing each other, especially when Tryon arrives and shows that the King's army has heavy artillery, something the Regulators do not.
Jamie is worried - he's seen a few men skulking about whom he knows were with Murtagh before, so it's a given Murtagh is here too, and he doesn't want to have to shoot at his own godfather.
Especially not in a red coat.
If we brush straight past the fact the man woke up on his 50th birthday and made passionate love with his wife (THIS intimate scene is a million times better than the one in the stables last week, and I'm not sure why, but it just happens that way), his problems begin as soon as he shows up out in the open.
Let me back up to explain how we get to the red coat.
Jamie, Tryon and the rest welcome among their midst a priest from the Regulators who brings a list of demands from them, although he begs the governor to rethink his strategy and show mercy, if possible. However, Tryon is committed to the cause, and especially his own pride, so he's not about to give an inch if he can help it.
And because the militia and Regulators look basically the same, Jamie hands out cockades for the men to wear so they know who's who - though in theory, if someone's running at them and trying to shoot them, that's probably the enemy.
He also does what he does best, which is inspire the men and help out with some good advice - but as the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished (but we enjoy a shirtless view anyway).
We'll get back to that.
Before anything can actually happen, a rider bursts into camp, her red hair flying in the wind, shocking her entire family with her appearance.
Bree's come to join the ranks, but not to fight: she has news.
The name Alamance, the river where the armies are camped, spurred her memory into action, and she recalls that the Regulators lose this particular battle, but that many people consider this to be the spark of the American Revolution. So what can they do?
Jamie and Claire have been here before, twenty or more years ago, but they didn't have family fighting against them then, so they agree Roger will go and warn Murtagh, because he's the only one who can do it - Murtagh will believe him, since he knows Roger's from the future.
And that's all fine and dandy, but history is made of sterner stuff than that, so naturally Roger fails his mission, and he fails as an 18th century man when he runs into a familiar face, Morag Mackenzie, on the way back.
Morag is the woman (and ancestor of his) whom he helped on the crossing to America, and hugging her seems like an innocent thing to do.
That is, unless her husband is played by Graham McTavish.
We'll leave Roger dealing with his pissed-off great-something (because naturally the cockade falls out of his pocket then and exposes him as part of the militia) and return full circle back to the red coat.
With battle imminent, Tryon has the bright idea, because (in his own words) Jamie has the posture and the look to wear it well, he should TOTALLY wear a red coat into the coming battle. Fans around the globe already had a field day when the season trailer aired with a snippet of that, but now we actually get to see Sam Heughan don the accursed piece of clothing he has fought against, as his character, his entire life.
And damn but his acting chops show here. Everyone can FEEL the revulsion for it.
Especially when Claire sees him wearing the red, shocked to her core just as much as everyone else.
But what's done is done, and with Roger still nowhere to be seen, it's time for the men to go do what they do best - aka shoot the living daylights out of each other and just hammer anyone who gets in their way. In due course, Isaiah Morton, who returned for the fighting even though he risked his life because of his past running off with a young woman, is brought to Claire after being shot in the back. It turns out the Browns can't let go of a grudge to save their lives, and on top of that are short-sighted enough to break Claire's syringe so she can't administer help to ANYONE ELSE.
This is why men like that are idiots. IDIOTS.
The worst, however, is yet to come, as we join Jamie on his traipse through the forest, and his own good advice that comes to bite him: Murtagh rescues him from another Regulator, only to be shot by one of the boys Jamie was advising earlier. And even though the godson races his godfather over to Claire, demanding that she save him, it's too late.
Murtagh is gone.
I cried a river during this scene, as everyone else grapples with the outcome, even as the fighting dies down.
And on top of that, Tryon is THRILLED. I honestly thought Jamie was going to clock him, but Himself has more restraint than that. He throws the red coat at the governor's feet and stalks off, rejoining his family in the search for Roger Mac.
If you think Murtagh is the one with problems, think again. It doesn't hurt a bit to die.
Because the Frasers find a tree with Regulators hanging there like ornaments, by order of the governor, and one of them has a white cloth sticking from his pocket - the same white cloth Jamie gave him in case he needed to wave for truce, when he sent him to Murtagh.
DUN DUN DUN.
Starz leaves it at that, cutting the episode off with the horror-struck faces of the family realizing just who's up there, and the brilliant circle concludes. Now we have to wait to see just what the outcome is (if you aren't a book reader, that is) and rumour has it that it might be two weeks instead of one. We'll see - but all in all, this was the episode that should win Outlander a couple of Emmys if anyone asks me. Not only for its overall achievement, but the performances of its individual actors, most notably Heughan, who left it ALL on the stage this time around.
And the trials in America just keep on coming.
Until next time, clan!
xx
*images and video not mine
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