I’m all for women upsetting the status quo, especially when it’s unexpected. And in this episode, it was quite wonderful to see the writers embrace that in not one, not two, but THREE women – including one we have just met. Although – two make other people uncomfortable, and one is, herself, discomfitted. And so wonderful to watch, all of them.
Claire
Of course, Claire is the original “uncomfortable woman.” From the very first episode, when her language made the men of Castle Leoch start to quote St. Paul, Claire hasn’t necessarily deliberately made people – read “men” – wonder what she’s up to. Nonetheless, it’s been an ongoing thread that gets yanked over and over. Angus, Dougal, Colum, and the Duke of Sandringham all felt it. Lord John Grey feels it. Lionel Brown certainly was more than uncomfortable with Claire’s “modern” way of looking at women. Jamie loves that aspect of her personality. And now she’s swept another along in the itchy but tantalizing discomfort – Tom Christie, not dead yet, doesn’t exactly appreciate that quality, but is attracted to it. To be honest, in this episode, Tom makes Claire uncomfortable too.
This was my favorite scene of the first four episodes – it was the one that made me sit up, cry and laugh all at the same time. Tom has evaded the hangman, despite his (false) confession to Malva’s murder, because by the time the Governor no longer needed his service as secretary, there was no court available to turn him over to. And so, presumably not having heard of Alan’s death (which Claire doesn’t tell him, notably), he feels no need to return to the Ridge. He’s told Claire that he loves her, that his love for her has been his salvation, and now he has to live with that. He believes Jamie and Claire are dead from the fire he learned about, and his family is gone. His past life is no more, and the anger that drove him has lifted – he seems between heaven and earth, with no anchor and no future.
And in walks Claire – what else is he to do? Without thinking about it, in gratitude and thanks to God, he kisses her. Not a “hi, happy to see you” kiss – as a man would greet his beloved,
“I beg your pardon, you should be dead!” Tom says, by way of explanation. And a mystery is solved – Tom is the person who placed the obituary that drove both Brianna and Roger to travel back through time. Mark Lewis Jones is, as he has always been, amazing in this scene – the conflicts he feels are so evident on his face, and he plays Tom perfectly. You can see a man adrift, his heart full of both joy and sorrow.
I have loved two women. One was a witch and a whore. Some say you are a witch yourself. Makes not a whit of difference. The love of you has led me to my salvation. That’s what I thought was my peace, once I thought you dead. But here you are. I shall have no peace while you live, woman. But, I don’t say I regret it.
But in this moment, this serendipitous moment, to sit with the woman he loves and can’t have, but who is blessedly still alive – that is enough. And of course, Claire is shaken up by it. Jamie even comments on it later. “DID ye like it! Then I’d better go kill him,” he teases.
An Abbreviated Conversation with Mark Lewis Jones
I had the opportunity to talk with Mark, thanks to Starz, a few weeks ago, and all I can really tell you is that we had a great conversation – due to user (me) error, it didn’t get recorded. I apologize! I made very few notes, but can tell you that he didn’t know this was coming at the end of season 6 – he said that he only found out when he got the season 7 scripts. So Tom’s fate at the end of 6, where he has to release Claire to jail but promises to watch over her – was a surprise to him. But, he says, he could see the beginning of Tom’s transformation in that last episode of season 6, and was excited to find out what would happen. He said it was the first time Tom was discovering himself, rather than doing what he thought he should be doing.
Had he known any of the cast before Outlander? He had run half marathons with Sam, and knew Chris Larkin (Richard Brown) from Master & Commander. He thinks Sam and Caitriona are both lovely. He has met Diana, and feels that she wrote a beautifully detailed character, but has not spoken with her about portraying Tom. He said he knows that the kiss surprised Tom, but the scene of him and Claire being able to sit down and have a drink allowed Tom to pull it together. I’ll just also add, he’s really a good-looking man! In real life, he looks so different from Tom Christie, and it was almost hard to see Tom when I was talking to Mark.
Brianna
Brianna is certainly her mother’s daughter! It was definitely fun to see her set that supervisor back – “And what aspects of plant inspection require a penis?” she asks. Good for her! Her irritation was obvious when the supervisor told her to get them both a cup of tea – but in the beginning, you go along to get along. UNTIL it was obvious that she was being treated that way only because she was a woman, and women aren’t fit to do the kind of job she thought she was applying for – or are they?
It was very funny to see her lay out exactly what she can do – whether or not she has a penis – for the plant, and why, and watch the man get redder and redder! He tries to say that the job was rough, and so were the men – “So you hire the type of men who would assault a woman?” she asks. Thank you, Brianna! Even 50 years after this would have happened, how many times, ladies, have you wanted to be so forthright with a male chauvinist?
But the other man she’s made uncomfortable is her own husband. Now that Brianna has a job, and can support the family. Roger is wondering what his place is. He had just started a path toward becoming a minister – can he, does he want to, continue that path in the 20th century? It was probably easier 50 years ago to make up some information to fill the gap he’d have in his resume than it would be now, in the internet age, but this is a decision nobody else can make for him.
Personally, I like Roger better in this time than I liked Richard Rankin as Roger in the 1700s, and this scene is proof of that. He was much more natural, and easier to believe. Yes, he’s patronizing, but he’s a product of both the decades he was raised in AND the times he recently went through. It’s difficult to judge characters by 2023 standards. But I certainly appreciate how much of Diana’s original story and dialogue has been used this season, and I think that’s one of the big reasons for the excellence of the episodes we’ve seen.
Just a quick note on the children – I’m excited to see the exploits of Jemmy and Mandy now that their characters are a bit older! There’s not much you can do with babies, as adorable as the Adair twins were. But sometimes you have to believe kids when they say there’s a Nucklavee in the tower! And I laughed aloud when Mandy had no fear of being in the priest’s hole – she’s a firecracker.
Rachel
We meet Rachel Hunter and her physician brother Denny! Not to spoil anything for our non-book reader friends, but Rachel is an important character in the last few books. A Quaker, strong-willed but soft-spoken, sweet, beautiful and caring, Rachel has a lovely way about her. And she meets two Fraser men (whether William knows it or not), and they couldn’t be more different from each other!
Rachel is intrigued by Ian – he’s outside of her comfort zone. As I discussed last week, he’s become much harder as he’s gotten older, but a sweetness definitely remains. And Rachel understand that. You can see that she’s both attracted to and uncomfortable with him, as he leaves the Hunter home.
William is not my favorite character in the books, so I was not sad to see that the storyline of him wandering through the Great Dismal Swamp was shortened. I liked the interaction between Ian and William, but it again brought up an inconsistency that came up this season. When the Big House burned, Ian found the small portrait of William and gave it to Jamie, but said that he remembered William – and figured out his was Jamie’s son – when LJG and William came to the Ridge a few seasons back. But he WASN’T THERE!!! There’s even a line in that episode where Jamie says he’s sorry Ian isn’t there to meet William, because he’s off hunting with the Cherokee!! And in this episode, William says he is sorry not to remember Ian when he met him then – because you didn’t!! Let’s not try to change history, please, Writers Room.
But still, in trying to figure out his death song, I loved Ian reminding William that it takes more than reciting your name, and if you don’t have any exploits to send out to the universe, don’t die! There’s definitely an age gap between the two men, but the bigger gap is experience.
Leave a comment below – what did you think of this episode? How do like the season so far – we’re halfway through 7A!
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