Talkie Tuesday: Outlander Final Season

 

"Sing me a song of a lass that is gone ..." 

 

Hello everyone!

 

Well, we did it.

 

Twelve years ago, Starz decided to premiere a time-travelling show that was a big risk at the time, because it would have to compete with titans like Game of Thrones, and yet somehow, somewhere, someone decided that this was a great idea.

 

And it paid off.

 

Because since then, for eight seasons, fans around the globe have watched the unfolding drama around Jamie and Claire Fraser with baited breath, willing them to succeed in their endeavours, and supporting all the other characters around them in some way or fashion.

 

That all came to an end this past weekend, with the airing of the very final episode.

 

If you've been a long-time fan, or if you only came into the show (binging it, really) recently, then I bid you welcome all the same. Because we'll be taking a look at the final season tonight, saying goodbye to our beloved characters.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, one last time: Outlander.

 

Tome Thursday: Lily & Thorne

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome back.

 

As I plan to take next Tuesday off (this weekend being Easter and all that jazz), I thought I'd dig up the last vestiges of energy I can possibly summon and get a book review up and running.

 

After all, this is what the blog is all about, right?

 

Right.

 

So without further ado, we're heading straight into another ARC.

 

Because I've been so INSANELY lucky that the absolutely incredible and lovely Rhiannon Hargadon invited me to be a part of her team - The Darklings, IYKYK - and I received this short story one as an introduction, really.

 

Then again, I've read her Descendants of the Fates series thus far - haven't blogged them yet, might do in future however - and LOVED IT. So I was crazy pleased to be invited along for the ride.

 

Here we go then, into a slightly easier starter: Lily & Thorne!

 

Outlander: I Am Not Alone

 

"Sing me a song of a lass that is gone ..."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Ugh, we FINALLY made it.

 

Listen, I have nothing against Outlander. In fact, it's one of my absolute favourite shows, and the cast has wormed its way into my heart and lives there on a permanent basis.

 

But it's no secret that I haven't been a massive fan of season six.

 

In fact, this is a season I've loved the least of the lot, despite the fact that there's definitely been questionable choices made back in the day in previous ones.

 

The problem has to be in its relative shortness, which I know couldn't have been prevented given circumstances - however, coupled with that came what the writers and producers wanted the story to focus on, which didn't help progression any.

 

When you have books as massive as the Outlander Series, then you need to pick and choose actions and situations which will help you move forward. I'm not convinced that season six managed.

 

Let's have a quick look at the finale, I Am Not Alone.

 

Outlander: Sticks and Stones

 

"Everything that happens here is everyone's business."

 

Hello everyone!

 

So after a brief pause and a week in between that had nothing to do with time travel but - on this blog at least - everything to do with Regency, we now return to the United States pretty much almost on the verge of the Revolution.

 

And boy, as we all know, things are heating up.

 

I'm still side-eyeing this particular plot like it's no tomorrow, because to be perfectly honest with you, A Breath of Snow and Ashes has a whole lot more going on in it than just 'Who's the baby daddy?'.

 

But the producers and show runners made the executive decision to focus solely on this one plotline for the sake of perfect drama, I suppose.

 

As such, I really wonder just how they're going to push and spin the threads further by the time we see season seven come about. HOPEFULLY we get to cover some more actual history again and not just this made-up nonsense.

 

It's Outlander; there's more to it than what we got this year.

 

Outlander: The World Turned Upside Down

 

"This too shall pass."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Well, we got to that point.

 

The one readers have been dreading ever since the announcement that no one had the brains to suggest the Christie subplot should (and ostensibly COULD) have been removed from the storyline altogether.

 

This was problematic in the books already, and the books are thousand pages long behemoths.

 

A show that's boxed into eight episodes that can really only cover SO MUCH before it runs out of time should, in my opinion, focus rather on the bigger picture.

 

And this one had nothing whatsoever to add to the bigger picture.

 

Plus, I still don't even get it. Maybe someone can enlighten me a little bit? I'm genuinely not trolling, I really just don't understand.

 

Now that my little Ted Talk is out of the way, let's have a look at Outlander's latest episode, The World Turned Upside Down.

 

Outlander: Give Me Liberty

 

"The tide has turned."

 

Hello everyone!

 

This week on our favourite time-travelling show, we catch up with some familiar faces and start running neck-deep into the Revolution that's about to happen.

 

As a very helpful Claire points out: the dates that we have in our heads are for when the Declaration of Independence was signed, not for when the war actually began.

 

That stuff, the scary, shoot-people and stab the rest kind of deal?

 

That starts WAY before anything can ever be signed.

 

And it's that which worries anyone who has a modicum of knowledge when it comes to the future, among other things. But there's a lot to unpack for this episode, even though my personal favourites will be and always remain the guest stars.

 

Listen, Starz, can you just, ignore whatever prequel thing you're doing for Outlander and give us a Lord John spin-off instead?

 

Much obliged. But Give Me Liberty first.

 

Outlander: Hour of the Wolf

 

"Flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone."

 

Hello everyone!

 

We're halfway through season six of Outlander after this week's episode, can you believe it?

 

It's really going by so fast with only eight installments slated for the season, though of course all of us can't wait for the extra long seventh that's coming our way (all of us are also sort of feeling that it MIGHT be the last, and that's why they're making it extra long).

 

In the meantime though, we're still slowly marching our way towards the inevitable.

 

History is as much a part of the Outlander books as the love story between Jamie and Claire, perhaps even more sometimes, and the closer we are to the end of the season, the closer we are to the inevitable Revolution.

 

But it hasn't arrived JUST yet, and so we can probably rest for a little while longer.

 

Maybe.

 

Without further ado, let's take a look at Hour of the Wolf.

 

Outlander: Temperance

 

"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.

 

Outlander: Allegiance

 

"Come what may." 

Hello everyone!

I'm actually on time this week, which is a massive shock to just about anyone really. Or should be.

But I finally seem to have found a rhythm so let's hope that everything will now run like clockwork and there'll be no switching up for Saturday posts anymore.

... famous last words.

Anyway, we return for the second week in a row to the world of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander, if you haven't figured it out yet from the title or the poster image here on the side.

And boy, is it an episode!

There's a lot of things going on at once on Fraser's Ridge, and they'll probably keep on adding on to it in the next six weeks while this short season lasts.

But without further ado, let's jump right into Allegiance, shall we?

Outlander: Echoes

 

"If you are to stay, then my word at Fraser's Ridge is law." 

Hello everyone!

Firstly, let me apologise for the fact that this post didn't go up on Tuesday as I'd originally planned. Unfortunately, life got in the way - as it often does - and I was SO exhausted over the weekend and on Monday that it just ... wasn't going to work out.

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!

Saturday Snippet: Outlander SEASON 6 TEASER

 

 

 IT'S ALMOST HERE!

 

XX

*video not mine

Tome Thursday: Lord John and the Succubus

Hello everyone!

When in doubt, go with something you know.

Or in this case, someone.

I've been playing catch-up with some of my other books and haven't been able to finish them yet because of some personal reasons, but thankfully there's always some old faithfuls to lean back on, and tonight's one is no exception.

I mean, when I tell you it has Lord John in it, you'll probably agree with me that you should have seen this one coming.

Lord John Grey is one of those characters that just really, really grows on you, and this isn't just because of David Berry's stellar performance in the Outlander series (I'm still over here in the fanclub camp that's begging for a Lord John spin-off!).

He's just the kind of person you can't help but love, no matter what, honestly!

So here we go. What does he think about succubi, we wonder? Read on for Lord John Grey and the Succubus.

Tome Thursday: A Fugitive Green

Hello everyone!

After the mini-break this Tuesday (because I spent most of the day with my family just enjoying myself, really), I'm BACK with another blog post!

And of course I'm back with a Diana Gabaldon book.

Novella, actually.

Honestly, I've been going through her Seven Stones to Stand or Fall collection and enjoying the heck out of it, which is probably why I don't mind talking about the individual stories from there really.

It's just one of those books you sort of have to take a look at when you can.

Even though it doesn't really feature our favourite Frasers, it DOES bring us a plethora of other supporting characters, not to mention we get to check in with some who we haven't seen since who knows which main book.

Besides, it's good to just immerse yourself in a different story every once in a while, after all.

So without further ado, let's jump right into it, and see what it is that A Fugitive Green has in store for us, shall we?

Outlander: Never My Love

"I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I? I took the one less-traveled by.

And that has made all the difference."

Hello everyone!

After roughly three months we have reached the beginning of what may be the longest Droughtlander yet, considering there's no word on when the cast and crew will be able to begin production on season 6. But never fear, we know there IS a season 6 incoming, so that should cheer us all up!

In the meantime, we have to chew our way through a rather sensitive topic for the finale itself.

Outlander has never shied away from difficult themes and handling topics and titles that would make a number of other shows balk, but the thing is, talking about it is GOOD.

It's the being quiet that hurts in the long run.

Of course I will also say that there is a certain theme of repetition to Outlander as well, and I'm kind of hoping this doesn't happen any more in the books either, because really, can we get something else, please?

Understandably, people are divided into good and bad, especially when viewed on television shows, but honestly would it be so bad to showcase some good as opposed to the bad, at that?

Never My Love, the season five finale, is up.

Tome Thursday: A Plague of Zombies

Hello everyone!

I couldn't help myself this week.

I know this story is technically a novella and, really, in comparison to what Diana Gabaldon usually writes it might be the length of one chapter from the massive books, but ...

It's Lord John.

It's ALWAYS Lord John!

This character is one of those you just want to read about for ever and ever, and with David Berry's outstanding performance in the television series, you get the added pleasure of a stunning visual on top of that, too.

Plus, it's more from the realm of Outlander, which is always a good thing, considering.

And the bonus from this entire escapade is that, precisely because the story is so short, you can read it in one sitting, you need about half an hour's peace, and the end result is that you'll giggle your way through the thirty minutes.

So let's take a look at A Plague of Zombies, shall we?

Outlander: Journeycake

"I hope I'm wrong, but ... I feel a storm coming."

Hello everyone!

We are back for the second to last time before Droughtlander begins again, because this coming Saturday is the finale of season five - and it's promising to be one explosive episode, judging by the one preceding it.

Why do I say that, you ask?

Well, read on.

If you thought that things couldn't get any more dramatic on a show that basically takes the word drama and reinvents it a thousand different times, you were most definitely wrong. And because sprinkles of the book itself found their way into the script, you can rest assured it was one big chunk to bite through.

All season long, Outlander has had this thing where it gained momentum specifically when book scenes were included in the show proper, and nowhere does it show more clearly than in episode eleven.

Not only do we get a very brief glance back to season three and Claire in Edinburgh, but we get to see Jamie eat peanut butter. Our lives are now pretty much complete, so let's check out Journeycake, shall we?

Tome Thursday: Virgins

Hello everyone!

Yes, I'm on a sort of Outlander binge, and not just with the television show.

I've been re-reading the books (although in random order since I went with The Fiery Cross, then doubled back to Outlander, and now I'm chewing through Dragonfly in Amber while contemplating starting Voyager instead) and of course the series includes the massive chonks as well as the shorter novellas, and Lord John Grey stories.

I'm telling you, people: you have not lived until you've witnessed the chaos that is Grey's life on a daily basis. I HIGHLY recommend that series.

I still have to review them all on here, and I swear I will!

Meanwhile, I sat down to a prequel yesterday.

I'd known that Diana Gabaldon had written a sort of story-before-the-story covering Jamie's time in France, or part of it at least, and I'd been dying to read it for a while now but never got the chance.

Of course we're in quarantine now, so what else is there to do but catch up?

And you're definitely catching up with Virgins.

Outlander: Mercy Shall Follow Me

"You can't make someone love you."

Hello everyone!

With only two more episodes left in the season, it's becoming clear that there will be a bunch of plotlines jammed into them, as presented on episode ten of Outlander's season five this past Sunday.

I'm not exactly complaining - the books are vast, and while a lot of stuff has to be dropped by necessity, there are things that, also by necessity, have to be snuck in.

To be clear, however, I will say that I disliked the Bonnet storyline in the books themselves.

This has absolutely nothing to do with how the show portrayed him (brilliantly, might I add, Ed Speleers is AMAZING in the role!) or how they went about with the entire thing, but mostly just that I wasn't overly fond of the whole she-bang in the novels, which means I could have done without in the show, and not really batted an eye.

So I'm actually happy with how the episode went, in terms of its conclusion! It's just that it was a 'meh' for me, as a whole, and therefore I'll freely admit to fast-forwarding through some.

Mercy Shall Follow Me kind of allows for it.

Saturday Snippet: Lord John Grey

xx

*video not mine

Outlander: Monsters and Heroes

"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.