Ron Moore was active on Twitter last night during The Garrison Commander. You can see my review here. Here’s what he had to say while waiting for a flight:
Ron started by saying, Lion’s share of tonight’s episode goes to Ira Behr’s script.
Q What’s your favourite Halloween candy?
A Large size Mr. Goodbars, box of Goobers.
Q This is why my husband and I sneak into the movies! Mr. Goodbar for him, Goobers for me!
A You will have a long and happy marriage.
Q Amazing – by now you know you certainly didn’t ruin the book!
A Still have time…
Q Who’s idea was it to kick Claire?
A Ira’s idea. Deliciously evil and just plain wrong.
Q Kicking Claire… NOT okay.
A Ya think?
Q Will there be mention of Jamie’s father at the flogging in another episode?
A Yes, and you actually saw Brian in the crowd tonight.
Q Was Tobias’ slip on the floor during flogging scripted?
A Don’t recall, might be in script or improv.
Q Any word on when part 2 of this season will resume in 2015?
A Not yet.
Q How did they do the makeup for his back?
A Big prosthetic piece with small tubes to pump the blood. Some minor digital cleanup, mostly our makeup dept. gets the credit!
Q Couldn’t understand what Jamie said in response to BJR when first tied up!
A “Afraid I’ll freeze to death before yer done talking” I think.
Diana: Young and reckless — and probably thought it couldn’t get worse.
Q Love the choice to have BJR tell the Jamie tale rather than Dougal. Ira’s idea?
A Something we came up with in writers room. Liked the idea of Jack’s POV rather than Jamie’s.
Q Will the second season be the entire second book?
A That’s the plan.
Q What do you find the hardest part of directing these emotional episodes? Do you ever find yourself wrapped up like us fans are?
A Hard on actors and crew. They’re in it for hours.
Q The wristwatch shown in opening credits?? Wristwatches were not invented until late 19th century!
A I did that on purpose as a small reminder of the tie between Jack & Frank.
Q Are you happy Outlander is trending?
A I think so… That’s a good thing, right….?
Q Stunning episode. Can you tell us how to pick Brian Fraser out of the crowd?
A Nope, I’ll leave that for you to puzzle out.
Q Haven’t heard one negative thing about it, which in the land of fans is pretty rare as you know.
A That won’t last…but it’s nice while it does.
Q Are you concerned the BJR’s story will be too much, that there will be blowback? (fan of books for 22 years)
A We made our choice and I’m proud of it. (Your mileage may vary.)
Q For you as a writer/producer when is it okay to deviate from book? Does your opinion change as a viewer?
A It’s always a judgment call, similar to any other show that I run: trust your gut and hope for the best.
Q Absolutely love the show. I cannot wait for the wedding!
A Wedding? What wedding? Who said she’s gonna say yes…..?
Q Such a great episode! Loved the sound edit of the lashes as BJR was telling Claire!
A That was an inspired touch from my post production producer, Elicia Bessette, who is absolutely the best.
Q I’m looking forward to your podcast for this episode.
A Might be late. Was dilatory in recording it this week.
Q Excellent episodes! What have been the hardest scenes to film from S1?
A Various locations were challenging due to weather.
Q Why did the writers decide to expand on the Claire/Black Jack interrogation scene (compared to book)? Loved it BTW!
A I talk about this in podcast but basically it was such a memorable part of the book it deserved to be more than a couple of pages.
Q Isn’t the next episode called The Wedding? Chapter in the book as well, I CAN’T WAIT!
A Yes, but WHOSE?
Q Why did Dougal come into the room? How did he know Claire needed help?
A It’s an old Jedi mind trick — jeez, read the book, why don’t you?
Q I knew what was coming and was still shocked. SPFX crew went there. Did you have to cut anything because it was too gruesome?
A No, just a question of how long to linger on any given shot.
Q So… have you started working on your Emmy acceptance speech yet?
A You cannot imagine what bad luck you just brought upon me. Cleanse yourself with a marathon viewing of Sopranos.
Q Isn’t it true that Frank Randall is a Cylon and copies exist in both time lines?
A You are so wise.
Q I had to listen to it three times to make sure I heard it correctly… did Jamie say he WAS a virgin?
A Oh yes…. the boy has much to learn….
Q Is your puppy better today, have you heard?
A I think he’s on the mend.
Q The razor being an heirloom whose idea? Great one by the way!
A Ira I think. But definitely came out of break session with the writers who all contributed to this and every episode.
Q Why were there women at the flogging? Is it really that entertaining? And why stay for the whole thing?
A No movies, no TV, what else are you gonna do on a Sat night in Ft. William in the 18th century?