"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."
Hello everyone!
Much to my personal delight, despite the fact I thought I'd end up being unable to do this blog post on time, yesterday turned out to be slightly better than expected, and thus here I am after watching the latest episode.
And, I will admit, as someone who's read the books, I can definitely see where this is going.
Or, I can see some of the kernels of where this is going.
It doesn't make me any happier but, alas, nothing to be done about it there!
In any event, the cast and crew are making this another exceptional season to remember, which does in fact count for something, and more.
It's the cast that makes it, and the crew that makes it happen, after all. That's what matters in the end!
So without further ado, let's stop my blabbering about and let's have a look at Outlander's latest episode, Temperance.
Picking up not quite where we left off, but close enough, the episode opens with - wait for it - a baby floating down a river in a basket. You'd think this is Moses if not for the verdant countryside around it, and Roger, seeing it, freaks out, tossing himself into the water to get the baby, then confronting the five kids who put him in the position in the first place like an avenging angel.
And more, honestly.
I'm really loving Roger's character progression this season as he becomes more and more settled into his role on the Ridge, and in this century, and he and Bree make a fantastic team really.
That said and done, the episode then addresses two of the most glaring topics it'll ever cover: the poor baby's dwarfism, and Fergus being absent as much as he is because of drink.
Now, Claire has a heart-to-heart with him about his son, and he tells her stories about what he saw of the people with dwarfism back when he still worked at the brother, also bringing up the point that neither she nor Jamie will live forever. But while Claire is determined to do everything in her power for her grandson, Fergus has already pretty much given up at this point, as is resigned to both his and the boy's fate.
This escalates, because the show is determined to wedge in modern-day outlook on alcohol abuse, whereas this wasn't exactly considered a problem for a nation that invented whiskey, but, that aside, Marsali kicks Fergus out of the house for letting his kids go hungry, and after an explosive confrontation at Quarter Day between him and two of Tom Christie's flock, he decides enough's enough.
He then proceeds to attempt to take his life, but Jamie intercepts him, binds him up, speaks kind words, and delivers him home to Marsali and the bairns. It should also be noted Jaime makes sure to deal with the kids who put his grandson in a basket in the first place, in his own way, showing just how good he is at dealing with people on a whole - and Roger is definitely following in his footsteps.
He also delivers a sermon about Moses, conveniently, which would make anyone laugh,
The one not laughing is definitely Tom Christie, however, who comes round to have Claire operate on his hand, first being snarky that he'd been waiting, then, hearing what happened to a baby of all people, getting all indignant that any of HIS people would ever even think anything less. So, then he refuses the ether, and Jamie sticks around for the surgery to both help hold him down if need be, and to pray aloud with the man.
The surgery is successful, and Claire and Tom have a few heart-to-hearts throughout the episode (which help in establishing a rapport between them, and I as book aficionado approve) after which she wonders why he seems to be so reluctant to have her touch him. Jamie explains more about Ardsmuir, and how, while others may have turned to one another for comfort, Tom turned inward.
Still, she lends Tom a book of fiction to read, which is he completely shocked by (spoiler alert, it mentions sex), and scathingly writes a note that he "expected better" of Claire, which only makes her laugh, but given she's still dealing with her own PTSD, one can't blame her for being distracted.
This distraction is what helps Malva sort of wiggle her way in more with the Frasers, first with Ian, then with Jamie himself, both too kind-hearted and too daft to notice anything amiss. But Malva, abused at home, and, judging by the math Claire and Jamie do, potentially only a bastard daughter, has her sights set on escaping her situation, if anyone asks me, and she's going to do whatever she can to get there.
Unfortunately, this is going to cause problems - though maybe not as much as Major MacDonald actually delivering the guns Jamie asked for last episode.
Because, as Claire notes after reading about the Boston Tea Party: "It's starting. The storm, the war; it's almost here."
DUN DUN DUN!
Tune in next week.
xx
*images and video not mine
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