"Lord, have mercy."
Hello everyone!
Back at it on Fraser's Ridge this week, we discover a great many things, such as locking doors might not have been a big thing back in the 18th century wilderness but it sure does help when your in-laws live just up the hill, babies, especially those that aren't firstborns come at a very high speed, and above all else, you need to watch where you're going.
I feel like that's a theme that's generally repeated today as well whenever you're in the woods, or at the very least it is where I live.
Granted, they usually explain you have to be wary about other little critters that could potentially give you some sort of disease. Snakes, as a rule, aren't that much of a danger here, but still ...
Meeting one in the middle of nothing would be scary even in the 21st century!
I'm trying to imagine the whole scene in my head and I'm failing miserably.
Meanwhile, you're probably wondering whether I've lost it. What's this about snakes, you say?
Well, wonder no longer, clan, though you probably already know.
On this week's Outlander, Monsters and Heroes, we get to meet a slithery kind of monster.
Recaps for previous episodes in the season can be found at the bottom of the page, as per usual.
This episode was a lot more Ridge-focused without so much running about and trying to pull in different characters. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Lord John Grey and every time David Berry gets to grace our screens it's beautiful.
But it's nice to go back to the nuclear entity that is the main family and follow them for a beat or two.
Roger and Bree, for instance, are having a nice little quiet time in their cabin, though they're interrupted first by their little boy, because Jemmy has impeccable timing which he learned from his Grandda, considering Grandda himself bursts into the cabin and only blinks when he sees his daughter and his son-in-law in a state of ... undress.
Not missing much of a beat, Jamie says they're going hunting and he needs a good marksman - aka Brianna - but she declines, saying she's promised to help her mother, and that Roger can tag along.
Now, we all know Roger can't shoot anything to save his life, so this is more an attempt to get the two men to spend more time together and hopefully not be as antagonistic towards one another.
It sort of works, too, although Jamie is still a bit on the fence that his daughter went and married a teacher instead of, say, a warrior (like himself), but hey, the heart wants what it wants, right? Right. Besides, he's got bigger problems.
The hunters find their prey - bison - but Jamie and Roger, intending to herd them towards the others, get delayed when a deadly snake goes and takes a bite out of Jamie.
Roger is fairly quick to act, cutting and sucking out as much as he possibly can, but it soon becomes obvious that he was too late and the venom is slowly spreading through Jamie's system.
This is dangerous, for a lot of reasons, the first one namely being they have no antivenom, and they're miles away from Claire, their resident healer. Roger can't call the others even when he tries, so he and Jamie decide to camp out for the night as darkness is falling, and they can't be sure Roger will be able to find his way in the dark. Ergo, it's time to make camp and hunker down.
The night, however, does not go peacefully, as it's obvious the venom is getting the best of Jamie, and he struggles to impart some last-minute instructions to Roger: a plan has been put in motion, to get rid of one Stephen Bonnet, and Lord John knows the particulars (in case Roger can't remember some of them from Jamie's ramblings). Jamie explains that Bonnet might try to take Jemmy from them, on the basis that he would have witnesses about that time in the inn when Bree went with him for a ring.
So, Roger has to kill him. Despite the man's quibbles, Bonnet has done enough evil to the world that he needs to be removed, and not the least of this evil is the fact he attacked Jamie and Claire, and of course Bree.
Jamie also asks Roger to look after the Ridge and the people there, but the next morning as they make their way slowly, with a would-be stretcher Roger fashioned to cart the big man about (and Jamie gives his son-in-law an impromptu lesson on how to make it home, aka follow the wind) the promise shifts: Jamie tells Roger they should all leave, and take Claire with them, because it isn't safe here for time travellers.
Meanwhile, if we backtrack a little bit, the Ridge is quiet after the men leave; Marsali is preparing for the birth of her third child, happy to have Claire there in a motherly role, and it's lovely to see the two women so at peace and happy with each other. The lot of them take to dyeing cloth outside, although when the men return (sans Jamie and Roger, of course), everyone is mildly worried, but not all that much.
Maybe they're camping, right?
Claire and Bree have an interesting conversation about roles in different times and what you have to do to follow your dreams (Claire, for instance, knew she couldn't be a doctor when she was young, so she became a nurse, but later on she doggedly pursued her studies, and even if she loses some of her family she still has her identity - Bree just needs to find her own in this time).
This all pales into insignificance, however, when Young Ian finds Jamie's horse the next morning, without its rider, and it becomes clear something's happened.
They mount up and head to find the two walking wounded, and in fact it doesn't take them that long (I pin it on Rollo, who knows how to track, obviously). They bring Jamie up to the Big House again, and Claire is very obviously worried.
Even though Marsali has everyone on the Ridge searching for maggots to eat away the dead flesh and clean the wound, the venom itself is already in the blood, and because she doesn't have her needle anymore she can't administer penicillin into the wound, but only orally. That's not as good, and not as strong, either.
It doesn't help Jamie sees the bone saw she has to hand and steals it, making her promise she won't cut his leg off, no matter what, which later turns into a heated conversation with his nephew, who says that he's ashamed of his uncle for not wanting to lose a limb to preserve his life, when he knows people (Ian, Fergus) sans limbs and knows they function quite well.
Even so, Jamie might have stuck to his guns, despite being in his own bed by that point, if not for the fact he nearly dies in the night, brought back only by feeling Claire's touch that sort-of revives him, at which point he takes her promise back and agrees to the amputation.
LUCKILY, however, Roger saved the head of the snake that bit Jamie, and Bree gets the brilliant idea to use the sack of venom and the fang for a would-be syringe, which Claire can then use to finally give Jamie the penicillin the way it should be given.
Himself then makes a recovery, and he tells Claire that he knew he was dying and had a choice - whether to go or to stay. His God-given mission isn't over yet though, and it's not his time. He adds that, alive or dead, he will ALWAYS love her, and it doesn't matter what stands between them at that.
So we still have the Laird, and we have meat for the winter because, lo and behold, one of the bison wandered right up to the Big House where the women disposed of it - Bree put up a great distraction while Claire went on to shoot it dead. Nobody messes with their family, not even big furry behemoths!
And Marsali?
Well, she does in fact give birth. Unfortunately for Fergus though, he doesn't have time to run for Claire, so little Felicité is born without her grannie's help, but she's a cute little baby anyway!
So what did we learn this week, then?
The very obvious one: watch where you're going. The second more obvious: women are definitely a force to be reckoned with. And the third: showrunners love emasculating their men.
I say this last with a slightly bitter aftertaste in my mouth, because if you read the books, Jamie and his role in life, as well as and especially on the Ridge, or in any place where people rely on him to lead them, are explained much better than in the show. The show glosses over a lot of very important bits, such as defining him as a Man first, everything else second (and such a Man, at that, who attracts people to him like moths to flame, a natural-born leader who is not only good at presiding over people, but knows what he has to do to protect them, and uses all his God-given gifts to do so by sheer will and physical and emotional presence), and it shows in some of the discrepancies you can see when ideologies crash.
Still, overall, this was another solid entrance into season five, and the cast as ALWAYS did a wonderful job performing their roles.
Special, special shout-out to Sam Heughan, however, who continues to amaze in his role of Jamie Fraser, and who's been going through such a hard time because of it. Bullying, in person or online, is NEVER the answer, and people should think before speaking.
Not to mention remember that JAMIE and SAM are two different entities, not one person!
Until next week, clan!
xx
*images and video not mine
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