Outlander: The Watch and The Search

Even reviewing these episodes two at a time, I still find myself running at least two weeks behind – and the season finale is tonight! Outlander has recently been put on the backburner in favour of Orphan Black and Penny Dreadful, but we're on the home stretch now and I always planned to see this through to the finish line.

The first of these two episodes is very mellow and slow-paced in comparison to the rest of the season, and so – almost to make up for it – the second is packed full of drama. The Watch deals with Jenny's difficult childbirth and the arrival of unwelcome guests in Lallybroch; whilst The Search has the women come into their own as rescuers as they head off after Jamie following yet another Claire/Jamie separation.

Watching the women arm themselves and successfully track the redcoats across the countryside was probably the highlight of the show so far (for me anyway; I'm easily satisfied by scenes of women working together) and I'm just sorry it had to end so soon – though obviously Jenny had to return to her newborn.

But I'm a bit ahead of myself. The first episode deals with the Watch turning up at Lallybroch, who are pretty much running a protection racket in which various estates have to put them up for an extended period of time, after which they'll ensure that nothing untoward happens to cattle and crops. The show not only captures the agony of unwanted visitors staying in your household, but also the added tension of keeping Jamie's true identity a secret.

Although their leader McQuarry eventually reveals himself as a halfway decent man (I liked the silent foreshadowing when he pushes his cohort's boots off the table), Jamie's patience is put to the test when it comes to accommodating him in his own household. Still, it gets worse when Horrocks turns up.

I'll admit that I'd completely forgotten who Horrocks was, though it was easy enough to infer a history between him and Jamie given their reaction to one another. He's the Irish deserter who knows all about Jamie's status as an outlaw, and he wastes little time in announcing his blackmail demands.

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But more important than all this is the time and space is given for the complexities and difficulties of Jenny's childbirth. I can't recall another show that gives the experience this much attention; detailing the danger of a breeched baby, the intense labour pains, the lulls of reprieve, a conversation about what it actually feels like to be pregnant, and the sheer amount of time it takes between the water breaking and the actual birth.

This was a lovely shot.

And naturally, the men remain totally oblivious to the struggle going on upstairs (at least until it gets too loud and at least one of them starts yelling at her to keep quiet). It all reminds me of that Game of Thrones quote from Brienne: “As ladies die in childbed. No one sings songs about them.” Well, this is a song about Jenny and the difficulties she had in bringing her daughter into the world, and I'm glad the story took the time it needed to portray it properly. 

Meanwhile there's a nice bit of characterization for Ian when he stabs Horrocks to death – on the one hand he does it to save his friend, on the other it clearly has a deep effect on him (what with the trembling hands). It also serves as a nice comparison to what the women get up to on their own adventure, when they're faced with the need to kill someone who poses a threat to their safety.

But Horrocks leaves his legacy with what turns out to be an accidental Thanatos Gambit when it transpires that the ambush he planned for the Watch to partake in is actually a trap laid for the redcoats to snare them all. But as it happens, this is all setup for the next episode – Operation Rescue.

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The show gets awesome with the sight of Claire and Jenny heading out to track down and save Jamie, especially when the show allows them to take a pit stop so that Claire can pee and Jenny can – er, let's call it relieving herself of the build-up of milk in her breasts. The depiction of this came as a surprise to me, but a surprise that reminded me of how I felt when I read Tamora Pierce's Alanna books as a teenager, specifically when titular character got her period during the course of the story. Women have bodily functions! Gasp!

Later the two of them waylay a redcoat soldier and participate in a bout of torture as they pump him for information. It's all completely unnecessary as Claire soon realizes that he's a messenger with a letter in his possession that tells them Jamie has already escaped, but by then they're in a corner. The man has to die in order to protect themselves and Jamie.

Sadly, what could have been a fantastic bit of character-building for Claire (can she kill a man in cold blood for pragmatic reasons?) is over before it begins with the arrival of Murtagh, who promptly slits the man's throat. It's a shame the choice is taken away from her, for although she later claims she would have killed the man "for love", it would have been fascinating to see if she was really capable of going through with it. 

So the Scottish Thelma and Louise escapades come to an end, with Jenny returning to Lallybroch and Claire continuing the search for Jamie with Murtagh. Though I should call it the inverted search for Jamie considering Murtagh believes the best way to track him down is to wait for him to come to them. This means the two of them must make a spectacle of themselves up and down the countryside, with Claire singing in boy's clothes and Murtagh "dancing" the Highland sword dance. There's another neat bit of melding past and present when Claire adopts the tune from Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy From Company B (with some localized lyrics), only to find that there are no copyright laws in 18th century Scotland.

A band of gypsies (I'm using that term as that's how the characters refer to them) start copying their distinctive act, risking confusion when they part ways. I've no idea why the two of them didn't simply do what Murtagh suggested and follow the gypsies so as not to divide the journey of the song, but it ends with a nice twist in which the gypsies prove themselves honourable enough to bring Claire a message that is clearly meant for her.

That's the good news. The bad news is that the message is from Dougal. The other good news is that he knows where Jamie is. The rest of the bad news is that it's Wentworth Prison and there's little chance of busting him out. Dougal may be a total cad, but he's a great character, and after Claire gets over her shock/disgust/anger at his audacity in proposing marriage, she comes up with a deal of her own. They have to attempt a rescue; and if it fails, she'll marry him (though I like to think she's actually planning to make a dash back to the stones).

So we end with a great hero shot in which Claire leads the men to the prison – and I get the sinking feeling I'm going to have to brace myself for the remaining two episodes.

But at least this looks good!

Miscellaneous Observations:

The reveal about Murtagh giving Jamie's mother the tusk bracelets was a lovely little moment – though up until this point I thought he was only a few years older than Jamie. He seemed a little too young (comparatively speaking) to have been in love with Jamie's mother, though perhaps I'm looking at it through contemporary eyes.

Why is there always a skull on any given bookshelf?

Another nice bit of historical trivia was Jenny's certainty she was carrying a boy because she had a taste for salty food, no morning sickness, and was carrying low. All of which means that naturally the baby has to be a girl. The rules of television demand that a baby will always be the opposite sex of what a mother expects. Heck, it happens in real life as well.

It was an amusing moment when Jamie tells Ian not to tell Jenny about what they've been up to, whilst Jenny tells Claire not to tell Ian about her birthing difficulties. Yup, they're siblings.

But my favourite part would have to be when Jenny interrupts Claire's completely superfluous internal narration with an impatient "Claire!" I'm going to miss her.