Blacklanderz® Convos! Outlander S2 Epi11

Blacklanderz Convos!

Outlander S2 Epi11 – Vengeance Is Mine

Directed by Mike Barker Written by Diana Gabaldon

This conversation is between Blacklanderz Amanda-Rae and Evelyn. Both have read the book. Edited by Vida.

TRAPPED | SELFLESS | DUPLICITY | CONCEALMENT | SATISFACTION

Amanda-Rae: Diana Gabaldon pulled off a very difficult task very well. She reconciled her ideas on the plot direction with the changes the previous episode writers made. I find it interesting that she held back on adding more of the romance book readers have demanded from the show. In the long run, it’s better that the best is saved for last. I hope there aren’t too many complaints from book readers because the two visions have been reconciled. Even though I knew the plot, the most suspenseful moments in the episode felt like this was the first time around. I loved seeing Hugh Munro and Rupert getting their moments in the sun. I was also tickled by Jamie swiping Sandringham’s wig.

HEART-POUNDING | REVEALING | TENDER | VENGEFUL | REDEMPTION

Evelyn: This is the long awaited episode written by Diana Gabaldon and it was worth the wait. She did a great job of weaving the story line together and driving it forward to the culminating episodes to come. This episode goes to Simon Callow as he was at his conniving best. The opening credits put me on notice on what was to come as did the image of the Duke’s wig falling to the floor.

AR: I never picked a favorite opening shot, but I’m going to go with this one. The powdered wig definitely represents the Duke of Sandringham and the knocking down of the wig stand represents death or destruction.

I’ve been stalling going to the dentist, but after seeing Claire pull out teeth, I’m not afraid of going anymore. Thank goodness for modern pain medication and sterile tools! Of course Rupert would scare the crap out of the little boy.

AR: Jamie agreeing with the London plan initially seems very out of character. These words sound better out of Dougal’s mouth. He doesn’t usually like risking his men more than he has to. The end of the scene explains that that was his way of possibly stalling Culloden or maybe even avoiding it in the first place. This scene does a good job at showing the tactical decisions that led to the inevitable for non-readers.

E: At first I was confused, but came around to the strategy of Jaime’s to push forward to London in order to try to change history. It was surprising to see the Prince stand up to his generals with a decisive argument; however, the generals poor view of the Bonny Prince works against him. As this season has progressed, one can see how Jaime has matured into the leader Diana imagined he would be in the future books.

One man. Is that all I can count on? It is intolerable. I’d rather be run through by a British bayonet and my body be buried in an unmarked grave than turn back after having come so far. But I see now that I am betrayed by both friends and allies. Do what you must, but may God damn you all to hell for it. I will say no more.

It becomes quite frantic and quite desperate, but actually Jamie goes the other way, he doesn’t become desperate, he becomes very in control, very logical … before he might’ve been very passionate and very out of control, but now he’s a grown man and a grown leader of men.

~ Sam Heughan, VARIETY

AR: Jamie’s Gaelic prayer was one of my favorite moments from this part of the book. Jamie is just as swoon worthy admitting his feelings as he is on the battlefield. I’m so glad we’re seeing it completely intact. The fade to black is still the opposite of what book readers expect, but it fits with the tone of the season.

God, shield my beloved, my white dove . . .

. . . and the child that she may bear. Preserve her from violence and from harm.

In this place and every place, on this night and on every night.

E: Mine too. This scene was so touching and reminiscent of Jaime whispering Gaelic words to his niece in Epi9. He can say all of those beautiful and touching things to Claire only as she sleeps. Again, a little foreshadowing occurs when he speaks about the children she may have in the future and her safety. There isn’t mush time for the intimate moments in these battle episodes and when one is delivered it is amazing. All I can say is I want more of Jamie and Claire time!

AR: Oh no I don’t want Rupert to die! I know he does in the books, but I hope he makes it since Angus is gone. Throughout this episode, I felt like I was observing these plots for the first time because just enough changes were made that it felt like a new story.

E: I wasn’t expecting this one either, as I didn’t remember it the same in the book. But, it was still artfully woven into the story line. Dougal saving Rupert shows how the loss of Angus has hit him. They were a trio and I think his death weighs heavy on both he and Rupert.

AR: Wasn’t that awesome?! I want to know how many times Graham McTavish or the stunt crew had to film that crazy jump. I’m in awe.

AR: This church seems a bit too deserted. It’s about to get verra real right now. In the book, I found it odd that they were able to hide the horses in the church as well as the men. This production related change actually makes it more realistic that the Redcoats found them.

Side note: Diana mentioned though she wrote the horses in the church, they couldn’t find a church that would allow it.

E: I found it interesting how this scene unfolded as it is slightly different than the book. Claire once again sacrifices herself for the good of the group. My favorite line of “Am I not Lady Broch Turach?” brought me back to season one when she commanded the room at the garrison. It was so clear that Jaime didn’t want to give her up to save the others. You can see the story line building in this regard and I can only imagine how they will tear our hearts out in Epis 12 & 13. I was all pleasantly happy to see Dougal back in good graces even though I know it will be short lived.

Am I not Lady Broch Tuarach? Are these not my men too?

It’s so funny, because each writer has such a distinctive voice when they write — even if they took away the title page, you’d be able to hear ‘that’s an Ira script, that’s a Matt script. And with this, it just felt like reading the source material again; it was so distinctively Diana that it was such a beautiful read and had such great action and pace to it. Claire’s so feisty; it’s the very distinctive Claire from the book, and it was really exciting to be able to do.

~ Caitriona Balfe, VARIETY

AR: The Claireisms, or the anachronistic statements she makes, are always humorous. Claire has no idea that peg legs and eye patches are a modern stereotype of pirates. Pirates often wore the same clothing men wore in the 17^th and 18^th centuries.

AR: Claire should have bandaged Dougal’s mouth along with Rupert’s eye, especially for him saying she’s “our lass”. This scene was also a great call back to two weeks ago when Claire put on the helpless English woman act to scare John Grey.

E: Yes, she should have.

AR: Glad to see Hugh Munro back! He was a minor character in the books, but he was the MVP of this episode. He risked his neck to help Jamie find Claire.

AR: I love the artwork on the Red Jamie wanted poster! I’ve always liked the style of 18^th century newspaper typography. He’s a hero to the audience but definitely not to the British. He knows that he’s in danger of being caught but he still puts the safety of Claire and his men before his own.

E: Yes, that artwork was a nice touch. Reminiscent of the wanted poster from S1 Epi1. I was also glad to see Munro back too.

AR: What ‘chu talking about Willis Sandringham? He played along with Claire’s story, but he is so shady that this is definitely another trap. Admiral Ackbar is the mascot for this episode. Claire went from the frying pan into the fire.

Yay Mary’s back! I’m glad to see she’s not stuttering any more, but she’s still extremely scared and miserable. She is definitely cut off from the world and still not over her trauma. That mark on the servant’s hand is definitely one of the guys from the Les Disciples. Sandringham is a douche of the highest proportions. I feel even worse for Mary knowing that she’s had to live with the people responsible for her rape.

E: That is so true, but you have to admit Sandringham (Simon Callow) stole the remainder of the episode…with a little help from Murtagh too. I can’t say enough about Simon Callow’s portrayal of this duplicitous man. I thoroughly enjoyed how he asked her what she was being “saved” from this time.

AR: How did Claire know that hidden exit behind the painting exist? I’m wondering if this was a scene that was a re-shot or was cut.

E: Hmmm . . . I am not sure about that one.

AR: I like the humor of Claire misspelling Gaelic words a kid could easily write. Claire picks up some of the language from Jamie, but I don’t remember if he taught her Gaelic spelling.

E: Well, isn’t this a familiar scene with Claire being held with a knife to her throat?! And, Jamie and Murtagh to the rescue.

AR: YES JAMIE SNATCH HIS WEAVE!!! This is my favorite moment in the whole episode. I thought it was brilliant for Mary to find her agency, although she is probably too traumatized to really process it.

E: Yes, finally, the Duke gets his comeuppance when Murtagh and Jaime arrive to rescue Claire and finds out Sandringham was the behind the group of men that attacked Claire and Mary in France. I thought Jaime was going to finish him off but he gave him to his godfather so he could exact his vengeance and redeem himself.

E: Murtagh’s face said it all. Duncan Lacroix is so good speaking with his eyes that no words needed to be said.

Duncan is fantastic in that. It was really dramatic and I think Duncan probably terrified Simon because he was in the zone all day and off listening to music and would just come in….

~ Caitriona Balfe, VARIETY

I try to tap into the kind of whirling frustrations all the way through. Murtagh blames himself for the rape of Mary Hawkins in the alley, and up until that point, he never really gets to stamp his own actions upon things, to take command of a situation. So at that moment, I just chose that Murtagh was breaking out all of the frustrations, all the rage, all the things that have happened to Jamie, and that have happened to Claire. You can pinpoint it at this one moment on this one character. So yeah, you’ve got to go to a dark place with those things to pull them off.

~ Duncan Lacroix, The Wall Street Journal

MARY’S VENGEANCE

It’s illustrative of how we design the show. We’re trying to get to a story point that the book has laid out for us, but we changed it because we want to play it on camera instead of off, but it has to occur at a certain moment since it’s the climax, and so we should make that the climax of Mary’s story, too. So as we start filling in these requirements, you can see why we start bending the stories in certain ways, even though the intention is still to do the same version that the book does.

~ Ron D. Moore, International Business Times

MURTAGH’S VENGEANCE

AR: The beheading was very brutal yet very satisfying. GOOD RIDDANCE!!! Murtagh’s sense of honor and justice is why we love him so much. I’m glad that Hugh and Rupert are still alive by the end of the episode. It makes things a bit unpredictable for those of us who already know what’s going to happen.

[I listen to] lots of dark music, like hip-hop. N.W.A, actually. That kind of thing. Also, we did do a few takes where Murtagh gives a preamble to Sandringham in Gaelic. I think it was removed from the actual final cut (Editor’s note: It was), but that really helped. Because Gaelic is such a guttural language – it almost sounds like Klingon sometimes – so that helped as a platform to launch me into the scene. Perhaps one day you’ll see it in the director’s cut.

~ Duncan Lacroix, The Wall Street Journal

It was strange, really. We all at the outset didn’t really know too much about [“Outlander”], when we were all hired. It was a big catch-up reading the books – and I was cast before I read them. In the books, he doesn’t say an awful lot – not a lot of dialogue that you could transcribe to the actual screenplays. So it was something that built organically, which was good for me, because I hadn’t had that much experience in TV before. I had to get into my rhythm, and as the episodes went on, they started writing more and more for Murtagh. They knew in season 2 he was the only principal character other than Jamie and Claire that would be in France, so we had to establish him towards the end of season 1. It started with the episode ‘The Search.’ In many ways he’s quite an easy character to play – there’s not a lot of subtext going on with Murtagh. He says what he thinks, he says what he feels. His through line is pretty clear: to protect Jamie and Claire at all costs.

~ Duncan Lacroix, The Wall Street Journal

The solo scenes I either have with Cait or Sam tend to be my favorite scenes. It’s one of those natural-chemistry things, I think. It feels like family at this point, so those things are very easy. And they have a nice, gentle pace to it. Also, I like the fact that it’s almost counter-intuitive sometimes, Murtagh’s reactions to Claire. You expect the gruff, “What the hell is going on?” [reaction]. But he’s very, very sympathetic to Claire. And I love that side about him. Once he accepts something, he accepts it.

~ Duncan Lacroix, The Wall Street Journal

I kept my word.

I lay your vengeance at your feet.

I haven’t actually seen it [90-minute season finale], but I know people who have, and I’m assured that, you think Caitriona’s performances so far have been amazing? Well, it’s going to be an absolutely devastating performance. It’s going to be epic, as well as feature-length, and extremely emotional.

~ Duncan Lacroix, The Wall Street Journal

LOOKING FORWARD

What we are looking forward to in the upcoming episode.

Amanda-Rae: I’m looking forward to seeing Claire and Mary continue their re-connection. Since we didn’t get any hints about Bree, I hope we can see that next week as well.

Evelyn: The return of Jack Black Randall and how Frank Randall’s lineage is preserved in addition to finally seeing Brianna and Roger. The 90 minute season finally will be explosive.

Episode Rating (1-5): 4.5 – Shots

We give this episode a 4.5. It was an excellent blend of the straight from the book elements and the television adaptation. We also felt that this was the lull before the storm and know that the next two episodes will tear at our hearts and make us hug/hold our loved ones tighter/closer. The scenes with Jaime and Claire were so moving though limited. This episode also closed some storylines that were left opened, mainly who was responsible for the attack of Claire and Mary in Paris and Mary’s rape. Murtagh, we love him, got the vengeance he promised Jamie and did Mary. We were glad they changed these scenes from the book. As Ron mentioned, what Murtagh did needed to be seen on screen and it made sense for Mary to stab her assailant. We will miss the Duke; Simon Callow played him so well. But, yeah, it was time for him to go! Now, we only have one more character (He who we shall not name) that needs to get his comeuppance this season and hopefully, we will actually see it.

How did you rate the episode and why?

Let us know in the comments section.

Up next:

Outlander S2 Epi11 Preview – The Hail Mary ~ Video via Starz

Directed by Philip John Written by Anne Kenney & Ira Steven Behr

Jamie pulls out all stops in an effort in turn the Jacobite army away from impending slaughter at Culloden Moor, while Claire comforts the ailing Alex Randall; and Alex devises an outrageous plan to save his child’s mother.