Church Bulletin # 58 Outlander By Any Other Name – Episode 301

Some of my friends (only 3 ) wondered why I started the “Making Scenes Better” meme series for Outlander.  It started because I was frankly surprised at the animosity from the fans about how the writers were handling the long awaited Season 3.   I was happy to get any version that was even fractionally close to the original.   Some people were rabid about adhering to the book!  I continued to be concerned about Fraser sex.

Of all people, I realize how passionate we are about our love of Outlander.  However, I thought at some point that even President Twitter and The Mean Girls had entered the cacophony of opinions! I waited to see if things would settle down, but when it didn’t, I decided to act.  As usual, I poked fun at the conflict by making memes to “improve” the writer’s work, just like everyone else only different. 

Since I believe a picture is worth at least 10 words, my series was born.  Admittedly, I am only up to episode 304 with my current meme series but I will catch up.  My recaps are miserably behind, also, like I actually never started them.  Consequently, I will be entertaining you with yet another episode recap that has the marked disadvantage of creating material that someone else probably already wrote!  However, here is an exclusive scene that ended up on the cutting room floor.  It happened right after Claire went through the stones.

Episode 301

The Battle Joined

This episode reveals to us the separate battles that Jamie and Claire faced after they left each other at the standing stones at the end of Season 2.   The opening scenes show the immediate aftermath of the Battle at Culloden.  We see torn Jacobite flags and weapons being tossed in wagons, while soldiers pick the pockets of the dead and stab any Scots still alive in the piles of corpses on the fields. Jamie is still alive and drifting in and out of consciousness, but no one seems to notice him (as if).   Admittedly, it was difficult  to find something funny about this scene.   However, I did wonder who was on top of Jamie, even though I’ve read the book .  

All right, all right.  Back off!  Everyone knows I have no heart. Everyone knows that I’ll make fun of anything.  If you came to this blog for hearts and flowers,  you’ll have a hard time finding any.  Get over it!  Anyway, I was surprised when he found out that BJR was keeping him warm, that he didn’t jump up, and run away screaming.   I guess it is a bit difficult when you’re bleeding to death.  

Attention! Back to my recap and make it snappy! 

So Jamie slips in and out of it while memories of the battle flash in his mind.  Of course, I couldn’t resist correcting and improving this scene!

Eventually Jamie kills BJR, but his death scene was, well, ridiculous.  RDM raved about Tobias Menzies in this scene, but all I wanted to do was laugh.  As BJR is taking his final breath, he looks a Jamie lovingly, reaches out for him, falls forward, and dies kissing Jamie’s neck.   This is a scene out of Monty Python if I ever saw one!

Well, the war is plain awful and there’s nothing more to say except that Bonnie Prince Charlie is just a Foppy Flop and he went on to live a long but miserable life!  That Irish guy, O’Sullivan, telling the Prince that the cannon fire is just a diversion from the British, is ridiculous! Murtaugh shows up, too, but disappears mysteriously and it’s all just messy!

One good memory that Jamie has from the battle was……

 

 

Later on,  Jamie is saved by the ghost of Claire who turns into Rupert who carries him off the battlefield to a semi-roofless stable.

Meanwhile, Claire is fighting her own battle starting a life with Fraaank in Boston. They look for a house, meet the neighbors and visit Fraaank’s cronies at Harvard.  Many times during this transition, Claire wishes she had stayed with Jamie at Cuilloden and died.

 

While Fraaank does a lousy impression of John Wayne and says Claire should “Rustle up some vittles”, Claire does her best to not kill him with her six-shooter.

The episode returns to Jamie who is now laying in the stable.  The British discover the group hiding there and proceed to execute the Jacobite soldiers one by one.  Jamie watches as each of the men, including Rupert and the two 16 year old boys, are taken out, tied to a post and shot.  Jamie cries (in a very manly way).  The executions are overseen by Lord Melton, who we later find out is connected to Jamie’s past in an unusual way. 

I suppose that there is some dignity in all of this, because Rupert thanks Lord Melton for shooting him as opposed to hanging.  Lord Melton also shows his effort to provide a dignified death by insisting that the men, who are so injured that they cannot walk, will be supported so they can be standing up to be shot, despite their pain.  How kind can anyone get?

 

It gets to be Jamie’s turn to be shot and when he says his name, “James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser”, Lord Melton’s back gets even stiffer!

Lord Melton realizes he must honor his brother’s vow of honor by sparing the life of the notorious Red Jamie.   He orders his assistant to put Jamie in a wagon and bribe someone to take him back to his home.    Once again, Jamie avoids imminent death.  When Jamie arrives at Lallybroch, he is greeted by his loving sister and Ian.

Meanwhile, Claire is in Boston fighting off Fraaank’s advances and delivering a healthy baby girl.  When Claire’s hormones kick in she gets all teary-eyed and tells Fraaank they can have a new beginning.  Fraaank agrees because he thinks he can still get some from her.  Then the nosy nurse comes in and wants to know how the baby got her red hair.  

So that’s my take on Episode 301. I think the writers did a fine job with this episode , but I think they could have enhanced the scenes based on my advice.  Since I am not  being paid to enhance their work, I guess my viewpoint is moot.  So are the hundreds of other amateur critics from our fandom!  It’s kind of like attending a hockey game and sitting in front of an amateur color commentator.  They offer comments throughout the game which are usually off the mark.  I often turn my head all the way around and say :

 See you soon with my scintillating unpaid commentary on episode 302!

How about those Bolts?