Way, way too much hitting. Especially the hitting of Lord John who, let us recall, married Claire to keep her from being hung as a rebel spy, and then prevented her from killing herself. Did Jamie have to be such an incredible jerk?
Okay, so Jamie didn't quite believe John at first. Quite possibly he thought that since John prefers men, he's incapable of sleeping with a woman… even though Jamie knew that John was once married to Isobel. And certainly, John could have been a lot more tactful. It was obvious that John felt horribly guilty and quite possibly goaded Jamie to punish him for sleeping with Claire, but that eye. Fractured bony orbit? Wow, that looked painful.
Jamie's big mistake was leaving Lord John with what's-his-face Woodbine, because apparently the Paoli Massacre means that even nobility who are cousins of Generals are being hung out of hand by the rebels now. Was this what they were referring to in Hamilton? Take your bullets out your guns?
Thankfully, Denzell Hunter to the rescue with a smuggled knife and an exit plan. I noticed that John had a "Go ahead and kill me" attitude right up until he was actually faced with hanging.
So Jamie and Claire made love on John's formal, enormous dining room table as the half-blinded John ran through the woods being shot at. Doesn't seem fair. At least Jamie finally appeared to understand what happened. As Claire was talking about her mental state and suicide and how John stopped her emotional bleeding by "placing his grief over hers," I swear I could see Jamie thinking, "Oops."
Choose your cliches. Two sides of the same coin, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Both Jamie and William, usually even-tempered, were exploding with rage throughout this episode.
I liked that the first thing William did was ask Claire for the truth. Of course he would want to know the circumstances of his own birth. Claire was briefly his stepmother... and actually, she is still his stepmother, which is sort of hilarious. I get why Claire didn't lie, but she also didn't tell William that his mother Geneva blackmailed Jamie. This is not the time, and in sensitivity to William, it might never be the time.
In an obvious parallel to Jamie and Lord John, William had Ian arrested and taken away after he hit Ian without provocation. Of course, to William, it appears that Ian kept vital information from him as in they're related, but still. Then Rachel hit William in anger over Ian's arrest, and he took it as leave to kiss her. Dream on, buddy. If William ever had a chance with Rachel, it's long gone.
The best thing about that sequence was (1) the father/son argument between Jamie and William – I bet William didn't know Jamie could be that intimidating, and (2) Ian's face when he saw Jamie alive and coming for him.
After causing a local prostitute named
So how much hitting was there?
Let's see. Jamie hit John repeatedly during their conversation in the woods. William battered John's house. William then hit Ian without provocation, and Ian hit William back. Rachel slapped William. And we didn't see it, but Jane got a beating between the first brothel scene and the second because of the wine and gown that William ruined. I'd say that's a lot of hitting for one episode. I'm surprised Claire didn't slap Jamie for what he did to John.
I was wondering how old Lord John is in this episode, so I did the math. Correct me if you have a date from a better source, but I think Lord John was born in 1729. He met Jamie the first time when he was sixteen and being played by another actor, and would have been in his late twenties when they met again at Ardsmuir. It is now 1778 so John would be around 49 years old. He and Jamie have been friends for over twenty years.
Book Versus Series
Yes, it was all there. Except the Jamie/Claire reunion scene was at the garden in a potting shed, if I remember correctly. I can guess that it would be easier to film in John's house.
Bits:
— The post-credit scene was an apple falling from a tree. As in William and Jamie.
— Jamie delivered vital correspondence from France to General Washington and got a commission of Brigadier General for his troubles. Bam! You're a general! I understand there were a lot of generals in those days, but still.
— I thought George Washington was played by the same actor, but no. Gary Fannin played George Washington in "Wilmington," and here, he was played by Simon Harrison.
— There was nothing in this week's episode taking place in 1739 and 1980. Next week, I assume.
— Along with David Berry, Sam Heughan and Charles Vandervaart get the gold acting stars this time. Our Sam had to act like a real jerk. Good performance; I believed it because it emerged from Jamie's feelings of inadequacy. "Let me be enough."
— Just an aside, I've always loved the way Sam, as Jamie, says the word "concern."
Quotes:
John: "Do you have the faintest idea what the knowledge of your death did to her?"
Jamie: "Are ye implying the news of my death deranged her to such an extent that she lost her reason and took ye to her bed by force?"
John: "We were both fucking you!"
William: "My entire life is a lie!"
So let me just destroy a perfectly nice living room.
William: "God damn you, sir. God damn you to Hell."
Jamie: "No doubt."
I'm sure this is not the father/son discussion Jamie was hoping for.
William: "Why did you make me break my word?"
Jane: "Ever think maybe a whore has a sense of honor, too?"
Jane is very likeable.
Claire: "I was numb. I couldn't bear to feel. But he could. He had more courage than I did and he made me feel that. And that's why I hit him. It was triage. You do triage. You stop the bleeding first. You stop the bleeding or the patient dies and that's what he did. He stopped it by placing his grief over mine."
Jamie: "Damn him."
Jamie: "That bloody Englishman bandaged me with his friendship."
I thought this was another terrific episode, and apologies for posting my review so late in the week. What should I rate it? Anybody have an opinion?
Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.
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