Lassies of Lallybroch part 2.....SPOILERS

[Drywhitethanks]

Because we can't wait until next year for season 3. Highbrow discussion of Jamie's knees, hair and anything else Outlander

And do you think Bree's awful American accent will fade with time?

My mother had hair like Claire's 1960s look. No wonder the ozone layer has holes in it!
Perhaps Brianna won't travel back and we will be spared! They could replace her with a Sam clone - a sad old lady can dream. He has been brilliant so far.

I don't mind SSk but the accent is annoying

I haven’t seen enough of tv Brianna to decide yet. There was a scene in the last series where I thought that she could be ok. I didn’t hate her as much as I do in the book, anyway.

And I hate book Brianna with a passion. We’re often told that B is an amazing, awesome, all round fantastic human being with nothing to back it up. I put that down to DG’s crap characterisation though.

Do we really? All she ever does is breastfeed Jem and moan about clouts. Zzzzz.

My mum also had hair like Claire hairsprayed to the hilt!

@Drywhitethanks I thought I was the only one annoyed by her awful American accent.

I'm here but I'm covering my eyes because I STILL HAVENT BEEN ABLE TO WATCH! GRRRRRRR kids been sick all week. right. running right off now, promise you'll still be here when I want to talk about it!

Can't stand book Brianna, she is whingy, spoilt and treats Roger like dirt. Perhaps series Brianna will be better. Also can't stand the way everyone pronounces her name - its BREE-uhna, not Bree-ANNA,

AkA we've been here over a year, don't worry , looks like we'll be around a while

BUT Lassies, without Bree we wouldn't have Roger!

I wonder if they’ll do a spin off series with Lord John Gray. Haven’t read his books and tbh, I can barely remember his character as I speed read so much of Voyager but he’s so pretty I wouldn’t be averse to watching him in his own series

I’ve been trying to work out who he reminds me of and I think it might be Chris Evans (the Avenger not the DJ).

I don't think they'll have time to do a John Grey spin off. Especially as Jamie features in some of the stories.
The books are great though, well worth a read.

I just watched the trailer for the next episode, omg it looks so good!

I'm outwardly staying calm but on the inside I'm SQUEALING LIKE A TEENAGER. The tension leading up to episode 6 is going to kill me.

June it's fair to say I think we'll all spontaneously combust

Roll on next week for a bit of Roger!

Only just got a chance to watch ep3 due to poorly children. I enjoyed it but it did feel like they were going at 100 miles a minute. DH (who hasn't read the books) was a bit at the end with the pace of it.
I also thought the re-entrance of Murtagh was a bit of a wasted opportunity. If they're going to get rid of Duncan Innes then I at least wanted an emotional reunion in exchange!

That moment when Claire opened the door to the OW was so well done. Going to miss TM hugely. What a great actor.

Jamie's face when LJG touched his hand!!

Finally watched last night too and I also feel a bit cheated. Aardsmuir is probably my favourite bit of the series, Jamie really comes into his own as a man and a leader. None of it was shown. Also relationship with LJG felt too rushed - we don't get the sense that there is true respect and friendship between them, bridging their differences and unrequited love.

Really liked that they took the risk of making Frank an essentially decent man and Claire a bit of a hypocrite. It made that dynamic that much more riveting and in general I feel gets it right - Claire is miserable and reacts to her misery by essentially not being a very nice human being at times - although at the end she shows some real grief, which was totally believable and alao explains how she could have survived in that stifling relationship.

Really liked that they took the risk of making Frank an essentially decent man and Claire a bit of a hypocrite

Yes, agree completely with all of that paragraph. As I said upthread, I skim read a lot of Voyager but I got the impression in the book that Claire tried harder to make the marriage work, whereas in the show she was always holding part of herself in reserve. I actually felt sorry for Frank in the show and could understand why he did what he did. It was very well done, I thought and makes a lot more sense.

Agree that the Claire and Frank thing was very well done. I'm disappointed that the development of Jamie's relationship with John grey was passed over. Hopefully we will get more in flashbacks as well as more about his relationships with his men. I'm totally gutted that they didn't show him on the island, we might get that later as well, though.

My DD was watching it and when he was first in John's office she said, Good grief, he is really scary looking." And he was, he looked like a man with very little to lose.

I think the tv show is about Claire & Jamie. I'm guessing they didn't want to go into a huge love story between J and LJG it's a huge part of the books (going forward) but if they did every single bit of storyline in the books they really would be in their 50's by the time we got to the end of book 4 (we'd need a whole series for that gathering in DOA).

It was rushed, but if you'd not read the books, you'd not know it was rushed.

Looking forward to monday morning to see how they've done Geneva, I'm suspecting that it will be done beautifully, and the consent thing will be clear (ie he doesn't rape her). And as LJG will be popping up over and over I figure they'll expand their relationship here.

You know the more I think about it the more I love what they've done with the Claire character. So she's not maternal and so she's career driven. So what, that doesn't make her a bad person. And she did offer a divorce to frank and he didn't trust her enough and probably relished the pain he could inflict on her - keep her in a prison of Sorts.

They managed to make frank subtly manipulative and lashing out without making him a cartoon villain, and they managed to make Claire a complicated, lonely woman without making her a victim. Great work there by writers and actors.

Sam otoh is a much more physical actor and I think this is why he's shining in these early episodes. It will be beautiful to see Claire's poise shatter and Jamie's tightl wound repressed energy unleash.

But yeah, first let's see what goes down with Geneva!

one more thought... was chatting with dh yesterday to explain to him why this series is making me so happy and why I love it so.

I think the thing is - they took a widely ridiculed source material (not saying it is ridiculous, although it sometimes is - just saying it is ridiculed as it's romance, written by a woman, aimed at women, immensely popular for decades among mostly middle aged women but not seen as serious literature) and took it seriously. They didn't set out to make a cheap, camp, superficial product - they put money and effort in writing, casting, shooting, etc. Everyone involved in this production takes it very seriously.

they adapted it with intelligence and sensitivity because they assumed the viewers would be intelligent and sensitive, "despite" them being women. It shouldn't be big news that women who love romance are also intelligent and sensitive (and btw care about historical accuracy and well coreographed battle scenes) but judging by the trash that is usually aimed at us (silly romcoms, trashy lazy chick films etc) I think this is nothing short of revolutionary!

I think Claire and franks marriage needs to be viewed in context of the time they lived in rather than through a modern lens.
What Claire did was extraordinary for the 50s/60s and Frank in his own way was a supportive husband by letting her have a career and picking up the slack with the childcare. Claire couldn't have become a surgeon if he hadn't have been looking after Briana while she was at work. It would have been practically unheard of for the time for this to happen.
Yes he did have affairs but Claire let him down too by being unable to love him like he loved her.
Even his racism isn't unusual for the time and I've always read it more as him lashing out because he thinks Claire is sleeping with Joe so being as insulting as he can because he is jealous and angry rather than actually prejudiced.

I agree also that I love the weight they've given the tv programme. They could have just focussed on the romance and made it a tacky bodice ripper but everything from the costumes to the acting has been given so much thought.
There's a great thread on twitter from @outlandercostume at the moment talking about the design decisions behind Claire's clothes and how they represent a gilded cage. There's more nuance just in one dress than some shows manage in a whole programme.

Sorry, I don't have anything new or exciting to offer. But I love Outlander. The costumes are incredible, the scenery is amazing and the story is the best.
I really can't wait to see how they manage the ship from Voyager. I know they have used the ship from Black Sails.

If any of you haven't watched Black Sails btw, do so. It is bloody brilliant. (And theres 4 seasons to binge watch).

Also made by starz, and will undoubtedly be the same sets used in the series for Outlander. In one of the scenes they're even playing 'across the sea to skye' in the background!

AKA I think you're spot on.