And if you've gotten this far, could you let me know if this particular format – individual sections for every episode – works for you? We don't really have a standard format for season reviews; it's pretty much up to each writer. Talking about each episode felt like the right approach when I started writing about this season.
1.6 Birthright
There were two episodes in this second half of the season that I found to be infuriating and genuinely difficult to watch. This was the first.
When it began, I thought it was pretty cool, with all those castle-adjoining women coming to help Julia give birth to what they thought was Lovat's baby. Plus, I genuinely wanted to like Davina. She is, after all, Jamie Fraser's grandmum, and her jealousy of Julia was understandable if all that mattered to her was her son Brian's place in Lovat's world. But telling those women that Julia was carrying the devil's child so that they would harangue her while she was in labor, screaming at her to repent? Really, Davina.
Of course, there was a core reason for Davina's actions. It isn't a season of Outlander without a rape. In flashbacks, we see the despicable Lord Lovat repeatedly raping Davina, and it's just so sad that Brian is the result of this horror. When Davina finally puts together that the castle women treated Davina the same way when she was giving birth to Brian, she finally rescues Julia. From the harpies she inflicted on her in the first place. Infuriating, as I said, and difficult to watch.
Meanwhile, Lovat was trying frantically but unsuccessfully to marry Julia before she gave birth so that he'll be the legitimate father of the future Scottish monarch or whatever. He is unsuccessful. But at least Davina helps Julia safely give birth to a baby boy. At least Brian and Julia are once again allies. Plus it's clear that Brian might be reaching a breaking point with dear old dad when he receives yet another beating from him.
As bad as this was for Julia, Henry had it worse.
We did get a lovely, heartwarming flashback to Julia giving birth to our own Claire, with Henry right there and full of love for them both. But that was spoiled by present day Henry interrogating local midwives trying to find Julia, which was clever of him, and being told by a lying undercover midwife that Julia and the baby had died in childbirth. As a result, Henry experiences a psychotic break of sorts and ends up with the English prostitute he met in a previous episode.
I honestly don't get it. Why are Isaac Grant and Arch Bug so determined to hang on to Henry as bladier with all of these lies and shenanigans? I am just deeply displeased with the Julia/Henry half of this story. It's awful.
1.7 Luceo Non Uro
Brian and Julia christen her baby William Henry Beauchamp. There are a lot of Williams in Outlander, aren't there? Brian and Ellen's first child will be named William, and this isn't him somehow going to be adopted, is it?
Lord Lovat manages to fake the paperwork, marry Julia, make the baby legitimate, and then murder the Reverend who married them, so the baby is now Simon Lovat Junior... and wait. It can't be the Simon Lovat Junior we met in Outlander, either, because he was a jerk and I can't imagine Claire's little brother as a jerk. Right?
Davina is now firmly on Julia's side, along with Brian, and they're drugging Lovat to keep his rapist side at bay. Honestly, Julia and Davina partnering to keep Lovat chaste, complete with double entendres, was the best part of the episode, especially since Lovat found the new spice delicious and please give me more of that. And there was finally a step toward reuniting Julia and Henry when she recognizes his handwriting in letters from the Grants. Of course, she knows his handwriting very, very well.
My apprehension that this series would be all about Scottish politics may be on point. Much of this episode is about a big meeting at the Nairnes, who are Jacobites. Dougal goes there, planning to give Ellen's dowry to the Cause, and Ellen has Colum send her after him to disentangle Dougal from the Jacobites.
This big Jacobite meeting features Rob Roy MacGregor, who is such a famous historical figure that even I've heard of him. And then the Grants show up because they finally figured out that Rob Roy took their cattle. (There's a whole plot thread about the cattle throughout the season that I really didn't follow. I only like cattle when they're breaking Jamie Fraser out of Wentworth.)
Brian and Murtagh break up the meeting, and Dougal catches Brian and Ellen exchanging very fast sweet nothings, which can't be good.
After everyone goes back to Castle Leoch, Ellen is told that Isaac Grant has received yet another letter questioning Ellen's virtue and she must be put to a purity test, and OMG. And of course, this correspondence is coming from Lord Lovat, who thinks Brian ruined Ellen for Lovat's sake.
There were a couple of other fun things in this episode. Julia sings "I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside" to baby William, a little nod to the Faith plot in the final season of Outlander. And Mrs. Fitz finds the handfast tartan in Ellen's things, and she becomes Ellen's ally and confidant. Unfortunately, Mrs. Fitz assumes that Ellen is handfast to Murtagh, not Brian, and Ellen doesn't correct her.
And with Julia and their baby dead, or so he thinks, Henry decides to return through the stones to little Claire. Which is absolutely the right decision, or would be if it weren't based on a lie.
1.8 A Virtuous Woman
"What has love to do with any of this?"
Remember above when I discussed "Birthright" that I found two of this season's episodes infuriating and practically unwatchable? This is the other one. I've never seen an entire episode of television about a woman's hymen before, and I wish I hadn't seen this one.
Ellen's brothers and the Grants are just awful. Brian is not. When he hears about the purity test, he is off to Castle Leoch to save Ellen even though it will almost certainly be the death of him. When Davina tries to stop him, Julia jumps in and helps with information she had read from an old encyclopedia on how to fake an intact hymen. Julia is determined to help Brian save Ellen and insists on accompanying him to Castle Leoch, and really, the friendship between Julia and Brian may be the best thing about this season.
Ellen is not a virgin. She knows if she doesn't pass this test, and she won't, she will be put to death. There she was in the great hall, in her shift with her hair down her back, without even outer clothing for protection, looking like what she was – a helpless woman being subjected to horrors, with every single man in her life watching it happen and not helping her. The line of torture implements, especially that medieval speculum, were enough to make me feel sick.
(In fact, Colum's refusal to allow Ellen to be subjected to that implement is practically the only good moment these men have in the episode.)
Of course, the subterfuge works. Whatever potion Julia gives Ellen and the actual details about what it does aren't important. (Although egg whites? Really? Maybe I am a bit curious.)
Plus, and here's the big, unexpected plot reward, Julia and Henry are both at Castle Leoch at the same time and they finally, finally stumble over each other. Folks, this just took too long for me. Julia must still return to Castle Leathers with Brian, but at least she and Henry get to hold each other for a moment, and Henry knows now that Julia and their baby are alive.
Henry learns that Isaac Grant has died, and Malcolm is now laird. Isaac Grant was a genuinely creepy, scary guy and I couldn't understand why they wrote out such a good villain offscreen until I learned that the actor, Brian McCardie, had unexpectedly passed away. That's sad.
1.9 Braemar
It's the Earl of Mar's tynchal. How many tynchals are there in a season? Isn't this the second? But it's not about the boar killing so much as the Jacobites and Rob Roy again.
I was wondering if Malcolm was going to take a villainous turn which seemed out of character, but no – there's a new player, the late Isaac Grant's brother who is confusingly also named Malcolm. This new uncle is more than a verbal match for Lord Lovat. Who then beats up and disowns Brian for not properly despoiling Ellen.
Dougal tells Colum about the fact that Ellen did lose her virginity to Brian Fraser. To protect Brian, Ellen threatens to turn Malcolm against the MacKenzies. She then breaks up with Brian and says she never loved him. Brian doesn't believe her, but what can he do?
There's a little bit of Julia and Henry as they are able to meet long enough for Henry to see his son. Sigh. I think this is the first time all four of the main cast were in the same place at the same time.
And then in the woods, someone tries to shoot Brian with an arrow. I immediately thought it was Arch Bug, but no, it's a group called Gallowglass. Murtagh rescues Brian and they take off.
There's another bit about the English prostitute. And yet another easter egg when Murtagh carefully watches a couple of sword dancers perform. We know Murtagh will be doing that someday.
1.10 Something Borrowed
Brian and Murtagh find a little bothy to hide, because there are empty available bothys everywhere for people who need a place to hide. And now Murtagh has accepted Brian and Ellen 4ever and is no longer jealous, I guess. Unfortunately, the Gallowglass assassins show up and there is a lot of killing (if this were a 21st century story, it would have been a gun battle) and the long and the short of it is Brian and Murtagh win and discover that Colum MacKenzie hired the assassins.
So Brian is off to break up Ellen's wedding, with Murtagh injured and left behind in the oh so convenient secret bothy. (You can probably tell that I'm not buying this particular plot element.) With Jocasta and Mrs. Fitz joining in to help, Ellen decides that since Colum broke his word and tried to kill Brian, the wedding is off. She and Brian sneak out of the castle, but slowly enough that it complicates the plot. Malcolm Grant stops them, swordfighting ensues, and Brian kills poor Malcolm. Which is sad, because I rather liked Malcolm.
When Colum is unable to sell Ellen to the Grants in marriage, he moves on and sells Dougal to Malcolm's really interesting sister, Maura. So there's a MacKenzie/Grant wedding after all. Uncle Whoever Grant, our latest villain, seems happy with this arrangement.
Meanwhile, the honeymooning Brian and Ellen are off to the secret and extremely convenient bothy, Murtagh tactfully limps off into the woods to hunt all night, and we get yet another too sexy love scene that deliberately evokes bits of "The Wedding." And I apologize for the sarcasm level of this review.
We now interrupt our programming for more eighteenth century Scottish politics. There are suddenly fiery crosses all over the hills and a call to arms, because I'm unhappy to report that the 1715 uprising has begun. Brian must go, because going will risk his life but not going will also risk his life. Confused? Me, too.
Finally, the show moves to the Beauchamps, who escape Castle Leathers and arrive at Craigh na Dun, pursued by the evil Arch Bug. Now what? It seems like they should have thought of it already, but what if baby William can't go through the stones? It looks like they're going to risk the three of them going anyway. Did they or didn't they? And if they did, was it all three of them?
In this week's easter egg, before her escape, we saw Ellen receiving the boar tusk bracelets from Murtagh and the pearls from MacRannoch. We also got a cute flashback to Julia, Henry, Uncle Lamb and little Claire, which was adorable. But not enough for me.
So, to conclude.
Julia is my favorite of the four main characters, probably because she is so like her daughter and spends so much time trying to heal Henry, a deliberate echo of Claire's relationship with Jamie. In my opinion, this season focused way too much on Ellen and Brian. It felt like Julia and Henry were just tacked on and wedged sideways into the story.
I think I would have liked this series more if it had been limited to one season. Instead, I knew while watching this that it had been renewed, I was braced for scads o' cliffhangers that I didn't want, and that's what I got.
And it made me realize that I'm not that interested in another season. If I do watch it, it will only be because I have ten years invested in Outlander, as well as, what, over thirty years invested in the book series.
What did you all think? Do you like this series for itself, or just as an enjoyable way to prolong Outlander? Will you be re-subscribing to Starz this fall to watch the second season? (And if so, do you want to review this series for us?)
Seriously, though. Whose bothy was that?
Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.
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