Created by Ronald D. Moore and based on the set of novels by Diana Gabaldon, it follows Claire Randall, a WWII combat nurse, after the war, as she goes on a second honeymoon with her husband Frank Randall in Scotland. While there, she is transported 200 years into the past through magical stones and in time marries a Scottish man, Jaime Fraser, whom she comes to love with all her heart. I love the infusion of history to enhance fictional characters. I have not had a chance to read the books the show is based on, but I hope to some day since most of the time the book is better.
I tend to enjoy Moore's projects and this show has been no exception. I've been a fan of his work on Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica (BSG). BSG is where he got the composer for Outlander, Bear McCreary. I have had the honor of meeting McCreary a few times during San Diego Comic Con and have been able to see him perform BSG music live. One of my all time favorite concerts. He creates such perfect music for Outlander. Every time the theme plays at the beginning, I sing along. His music helps create more emotion than the actors in the scene portray and there are a lot of emotions in this show.
A few months ago, Starz came out with a show I just had to see, American Gods based on a book by Neil Gaiman. American Gods is the book that made me a Gaiman fan and I had watch it. It was less expensive for me to get a subscription to Starz using my Amazon Prime, so I got it that way. After American Gods ended (I loved the show), I wasn't quite ready to cancel my Starz subscription. Season 3 of Outlander came out recently, and I finally decided to watch the first 2 seasons to catch up. The funny thing is I already had the first season on blu-ray. I picked them up both volumes during Black Friday deals, and they just sat on a shelf waiting for me to watch.
I found myself turning it on when ever I could. Even if I had just a minute with no kids. It was so hard for me to turn it off, but 90% of this show should not be watched around young children. Some of the dialog scenes are tame enough, but the show does not hold punches on being graphic. I managed to catch up on the entire show in just over a week.
Sex, rape, murder, gore, and war are found through out the show. Each episode is dense with drama. There are some episodes that are very hard to stomach. The hardest episode for me to watch is Wentworth Prison. Episode 15 in season 1. Spoilers ahead if you haven't watched the show, Black Jack Randall finally breaks Jaime. I won't go into specifics, but it is graphic and brutal. It takes Jaime time to bury it, using hope that one day he will get his revenge and be the one to kill him. He finally does at the end of season two during the Battle of Culloden but we don't see the actually fight until Season 3 episode 1. Claire and Jaime spent season 2 trying to stop the Battle of Cullodne, but to avail. It happens just as history said it would.
We end season 2 with Jaime sending Claire back through the stones before the battle to protect her and their unborn child. Jaime believes he will die at the battle and wants his child to be raised by Claire's first husband Frank, so it will have a father. We see Claire with her daughter Briana 20 years later in 1968 coming back to Scotland. Frank Randall has also passed away by this time. They end up at the house of the reverend where Claire was taken when she returned from the past. Briana with the help of the reverend's adopted son Roger decides to do research to find out why her mom was so distant while she grew up. She finds information and accuses her mother of cheating on her father and figures out that Frank is not her father. Claire confesses everything but Briana doesn't believe her. Claire sees Geillis Duncan on a flyer. We met her in season 1 while Claire was in the past. They had been friends and were accused of witchcraft. Geillis told Claire at the trail 1968 right before she is taken away to possibly burn at the stake. Claire figured out that she was from 1968. She asks Briana about her and she tells Claire that yes she has met her, but she told them that she was leaving. Claire believes this is the moment Geillis goes to the past and gets Roger and Briana to go with her. Geillis believed she had to sacrifice someone to go through the stones and burns her husband alive before traveling back through the stones. Claire, Briana and Roger get there in time to see her disappear and that gets Briana to believe her about traveling in time. Roger tells her about some research they had found in regards to Jaime Fraser. He did not die at the Battle of Culloden. Claire wants to go back.
Starz is 2 episodes into season 3. The show is flashing between Jaime surviving the Battle of Culloden and Claire with Frank and Briana. She is trying to be happy with Frank, but she left her heart with Jaime. I do feel sorry for Frank Randall because he is a good man, but you can't force someone to love you. I am hoping to see a reunion sooner than later between Claire and Jaime. Looking at IMDB, it looks like the reunion will occur in episode 6. Just a few more weeks.
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