Outlander season 2, episode 3 introduced us to two of the iconic characters from Diana Gabaldon’s second Outlander novel, Dragonfly in Amber: Mother Mother Hildegarde (Frances de la Tour) and Fergus (Romann Berrux), and gave us hilarious looks at familiar characters.
Best LOL
Oh Mary Hawkins, how we do love you. Much credit to Rosie Day for playing Mary with such guileless innocence. After a series of hilarious lines where the virginal Mary displays a stunning lack of knowledge about the facts of life we get the ultimate zinger. She says to a very pregnant Claire, “Your husband is so gentle and kind I’m sure he doesn’t trouble you in that way…surely he’d never dream of having his wife endure something like that.”
As funny as Mary is, we soon realize that she has a far greater role than our amusement. She is the several times great-grandmother of Claire’s first husband, Frank Randall. Somehow Mary marries Jack Randall, not her Frenchman, and this marriage will result in a child of whose line Frank eventually comes. Claire believes that for Frank not to be erased from history, that this union between Mary and Jack must take place within the next year.
Best Scene
At the heart of this season is the ultimate goal of stopping Charles from gaining support, chiefly monetary support, to regain the throne of England. Jamie has done multiple things to prevent the “wee fool,” as he calls the prince, from achieving his goals.
Unfortunately for Jamie, he brings the finance minister to meet Charles thinking the meeting will result in Charles being dissuaded. Instead Charles delivers the news that he has in fact received considerable funds to begin his rebellion. Should his rebellion be successful, he offers to France an alliance that would enable the two countries to dominate the 18th century world. To put it mildly, the finance minister is intrigued.
Jamie is left dumbstruck as Charles notes, “My friend James is astonished.” So too are the viewers who are left to wonder why anyone will put their faith in this petulant, overgrown child who demands his birthright, but with more madness than charm and guile.
Book Lovers Squee
Jamie’s favorite item from childhood, a snake his dead older brother carved for him, has gone missing. As it turns out, it didn’t go missing but was stolen by an employee of the brothel turned pickpocket named Claudel, but Jamie instead names him the more “manly” moniker of Fergus.
The meeting of Jamie and Fergus wasn’t quite the “verra large sausage” that book fans might have wanted, but we did get a “You wee bastard, that’s my snake.” We were then treated to a street smart lad that leaves us wondering if Jamie and Claire are perhaps going to have more than they can handle with Fergus in their employ.
Fergus is bright, charming, and decidedly French with an air of sophistication and deviousness. There seems little doubt that Fergus will be able to execute the letter stealing scheme that Jamie has in mind to find out who Charles’ secret funder is.
Book to Screen Changes
Claire and Murtagh have an interesting encounter. We think it’s safe to say that no one was anticipating a Murtagh sex scene this season. However, the scene leads to a wonderful confidence between Murtagh and Claire. They are both feeling useless and like fish out of water.
The two become further allies as Claire reveals that Jack Randall is alive to Murtagh. How will Jamie react if his wife and godfather, the two people he trusts with his life, keep this important news from him? What will be the price if he finds out this news and realizes they knew all along?
Fabulous 18th Century Facts
There’s nothing that totally gives you an appreciation of the danger of time travel like the lack of modern medicine. Hospitals of the 18th century. Horrible sanitary conditions, seeping puss, emptying bedpans with no ventilation. It’s not for the faint of heart, and WWII nurse Claire Randall Fraser is more than up to it, urine tasting and all.
Best Clash of Cultures
Jamie and Claire are having a tough time in the city. They each dislike the life they have to lead. Jamie doesn’t like the constant, metaphorical and real chess matches of court life. Claire, on the other hand, is bored being relegated to tea and gossip.
When Claire ends up relieving her boredom with a trip to L’hopital des anges, the charity hospital where she meets its formidable matron, Mother Hildegarde, Jamie isn’t thrilled that he doesn’t have his wife around to talk to about the struggles of his day.
Each of them is not doing what they need to in order to feel necessary and important. Claire needs to be a healer, and Jamie needs to lead men. Neither is doing what they want, and neither is quite seeing the other’s perspective on how they have to have a life of purpose beyond each other.
Best Jamie and Claire Moment
Fortunately, Jamie and Claire resolve their differences. They are at their best when they are working together as a team. Together they ask Mother Hildgarde’s help in decoding a message written in music.
Using their combined intellect, they come up with the deduction that the decoded message was written by the Duke of Sandringham. It would seem that the duke is playing both sides of the potential Jacobite rebellion. In the end, Sandringham just wants to save his own neck, and be assured a place in whatever government comes to power.
Cliffhanger
Do Murtagh and Claire tell Jamie about Black Jack Randall being alive, or do they hope he doesn’t run into the Duke of Sandringham with his secretary, Alex Randall?
Outlander airs on Starz on Saturday at 9:00.
Do you need to talk about Outlander with other fans? Don’t miss our weekly, post-show, Outlander Google Hangout called Hangoutlander. Hypable’s Laura and Kyle join the crew from That’s Normal, where we talk about the recent episode in a lively, fun, funny, and slightly irreverent way. If you missed last week’s episode, you can catch the recording here. You can sign up for this week’s episode here.
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