Catch up on Outlander: “Both Sides Now”— Sept. 27, 2014
That whole accidental time travel thing has been rough on Claire Randall. She left her husband, Frank, back in 1945 and ended up in 1743. One thing led to another and now she’s married to dreamboat Jamie Fraser. I mean, it’s not like she has a Tardis. Have you seen Jamie and his crazy hair? Welp, that’s that. I guess she’s over that plan to escape the 18th century and it’ll be clear sailing from here on out.
Let’s go!
Well, we’re now at the midpoint of the first season before a long hiatus. The show brings it on home with all those things we’ve come to expect. Chekov’s gun is pointed at our heads again, so expect plenty of visits from the Foreshadowing Fairy. We’ve also returned to exposition about pagan superstition and Outlander’s favorite Claire-in-jeopardy device, near rape (or possibly actual rape) is back in play.
One thing that’s new is substantial airtime for Frank. Back in 1945, the cops are tired of hearing about Claire’s disappearance. They remind him that he said he saw a man standing outside Claire’s window and she probably ran off with a lover. Frank’s now a target for scams. Everyone knows about his plight, so now random extras pretend to have information on Claire so they can mug him. Despite actually getting some useful information about the pagan folklore, Frank gives up and plans to move on. Oh, Frank.
In 1743, Claire is enjoying her dreamy new husband, Jamie. The men of MacKenzie clan decide to teach her combat skills because a woman might need to learn self-defense, you know, just in case she is assaulted or something. The Foreshadowing Fairy flutters around the scene until some redcoat deserters find Claire and Jamie resolved sexual tensioning around in a field and pull him away. One of the redcoats starts to assault Claire, it’s unclear how far things go, but this show seems to prefer rape attempts to actual rape, so we’ll go with that. Fortunately, she just learned how to stab a man, so she kills her attacker.
Jamie takes her to a safe spot and tells her not to go anywhere. Hey, remember how she’s been trying to get back to the mystical stone at Craigh na Dun? Well, she just happens to be standing in front of it. As Frank is on the other side, they call each other’s name. She runs to the stone and nearly touches it, but redcoats show up, of course. And now she’s been carted off to Fort William for another encounter with sadistic Black Jack Randall. Bodice-ripping ensues because Outlander wants to make sure that we don’t forget about rape. While Claire is enduring more assault, Jamie arrives with a gun pointed at Black Jack’s head.
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