"If you are to stay, then my word at Fraser's Ridge is law."
Hello everyone!
So in the end, I did what I promised to do at the start of 2022, took it easy, and decided to bump it to a Saturday post.
And here we are!
Of course, I'll hopefully be covering the rest of the season since it's only eight episodes (the horror!), but is anyone else getting the feeling we may be drawing towards the end here? I know a season seven has already been confirmed, and it looks as if they'll be covering ALL the books, but I don't know.
It feels like an ending, sort of.
Anyway, enough of my maudlin, time to head back to Fraser's Ridge and see our beloved people of Outlander!
And as always, you'll be able to find related links down at the bottom of this page.
But ... joke's on all of us, because we don't even actually start in current time, show-wise!
The premiere episode is 80-odd minutes long, but the first 20 of that are spent in flashback, at Ardsmuir Prison, where, if you recall, Red Jamie and his compatriots spent time after Culloden before they were either indentured or shipped out to America.
Here, we see the beginnings of Jamie becoming the leader we all know and love on the Ridge, as he watched Protestants and Catholics clash, and one among them, an annoying little gnat named Tom Christie, doing nothing much to actually STOP the in-fighting, but preaching righteous bull and pretending he's better than all the rest of them because he's a Freemason.
Oh, but Jamie figures it out, see. And he connects with the Governor, becomes a Freemason himself, and then with sheer force of personality knits the warring Scots together into a lodge, much to Christie's dismay and jealousy.
We all WISH we could be as persuasive as our Jamie, but, alas, there is only one King of Men.
Back on the Ridge in the 18th century, times are now beginning to turn darker, the storm Lord John prophesised beginning to converge as taxes are imposed and the people just want to live their lives in peace.
There won't be much of it with the arrival of none other than Tom Christie, seeking to settle on the land through the advertisement Jamie had printed for any Ardsmuir men who might be in the Carolinas, and even though it's Roger and Bree who make the newcomers welcome since the Laird is absent at the time, Jamie can't very well throw the guy a boot and get him off the Ridge, either, once they come face to face again after who knows how many years.
Besides, Jamie's a bit busy, too, worrying about the fact the Crown wants him as Indian agent (to convince the Natives to keep fighting for England, natch), and his wife is experimenting in her little lab, finally making - wait for it - ether!
And as she assures Jamie that, no, she doesn't have an addition problem to laudanum or whiskey (something I initially laughed at, because the scene between the actors is ridiculous, and funny), she's giddy that she can now maybe perform surgery in a way that will ensure people won't feel pain.
We'll circle back to this, since the Christie's et Co are currently the issue to deal with, especially as Tom Christie likes to be all oily, snaky nice, but throws backhanded commentary at Jamie's face whenever he can, so jealous that his green is practically on his face. And Claire knows all about their interactions at Ardsmuir, so she's naturally worried, but what can they do?
Turns out, not much more than welcome them, including Christie's kids, Malva and Allan, who will pose their own individual problems for the Ridge soon enough. Sooner even than expected, really, because while Ian and Alan are out hunting, they nearly get their heads shot off by none other than the Browns and their Committee of Safety (if you remember, these are the idiots who lived with the other idiots who abducted and raped Claire at the end of season five).
The Committee then makes a roundabout ride to where the Frasers are making the newcomers welcome, including but not limited to Roger promising a young widow with two small children he and Bree will do all they can to help (listen, Roger was raised by a minister, okay, and Bree makes the best minister's wife ever, they're goals just as much as the older couple).
But see, here comes the problem that is Allan. Supposedly, he stole a powder horn from the Browns (is this why the Christies suddenly showed up at the Ridge?), and now the Browns will be dolling out justice, aka ten lashes with the whip.
Jamie, being Jamie, steps in and says, get off my land, I'll deal with it, as Laird. Which he does, but substitutes the whip for his belt, which still hurts but doesn't leave any permanent marks (if you're lucky, which in this case ... Allan SO was). He also tells Major MacDonald, whom he turned down before about that Indian agent thing, that he'll do it - because otherwise, the role will go to Brown, and THAT will be a disaster waiting to happen.
Pretty sure MacDonald knows it, too, he just doesn't have the authority or means to do much about it, sadly.
The episode wraps by showing us Claire suffering from nightmares of her abduction, then heading into her little lab to inhale some ether so she can conk out without any memories or thoughts.
You know that question that was funny at the beginning, about addiction? It's not so funny in that ending scene.
BUT the stage is set for what should be a rather explosive sixth season, though I'm worried that the writers are shoehorning too much in for the short eight episodes they have. Diana Gabaldon's books sort of grow longer as you progress with the series, not shorter, and while a lot of it can be considered fluff or padding for the history buffs, there's a LOT that goes on in there which actually needs paying attention to.
Imagining a plot with Claire and PTSD WILL take a lot of time which surely would have been better spent elsewhere, so I'm wary about it, especially since Christie and Jamie have a fraught enough relationship that, alone, could have carried the entire season.
I did love the juxtapositions during the episode, however, for example Christie attempting to physically break the Ardsmuir fight apart, to no avail, but Jamie needing only to lift his voice - not even a finger - and everyone stopped and looked at him to see what he would do. Or, how thunder rolled in the background of a close-up on Jamie as he's welcoming Christie to the Ridge, indicating that more is brewing.
All in all, it was a solid episode, but that showed some worrisome tendencies. Fans of Outlander are already looking warily at this season for the Christies' addition to begin with (more will be explained as the plot progresses) and adding elements not necessarily in the books, again, won't do the showrunners any favours. Neither will Fergus suddenly turning into a drunk.
Tune back in this coming Tuesday as we have a look at episode two!
xx
*images and video not mine
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