Article first published as OUTLANDER Review Season 1 Episode 4 The Gathering on Seat42F.
This
week’s entry of Starz’ OUTLANDER is called “The Gathering.” As all of
clan MacKenzie gathers to pledge their allegiance to Colum (Gary Lewis),
Claire (Caitriona Balfe) plots her escape. If she can map the castle
and its guard patterns, might she be able to find the stone that could
possibly send her home again? There’s a lot of uncertainty and plenty of
obstacles standing between the out-of-time nurse and her home.
Claire
is smart, but she is still out of her depth. This becomes clear as,
despite all the precautions and planning she does, she still puts
herself in a no-win scenario, as Jamie (Sam Heughan) tells her when he
catches her by the horses. She’s lucky it’s Jamie, who kindly escorts
her back to the keep, rather than just about anyone else, who wouldn’t
look so favorably on the prisoner making her escape.
Jamie
isn’t really part of the clan, though, as you may remember. He’s
staying with his uncle, Colum, to hide out from the English that are
after him, but he doesn’t quite belong to this group. His own outsider
status, combined with his obviously-growing feelings for Claire, likely
influence the way he handles the situation.
Claire’s
bumbling puts Jamie in danger. He is hiding in the stables to avoid
making his own pledge to Colum, knowing that if he fails to do so, his
countrymen will kill him, but if he does swear allegiance, he’s next in
line to be laird, putting his life in danger from the current heir,
Dougal (Graham McTavish). It looks like a no-win scenario until a
brilliant Jamie deftly sidesteps both scenarios, making everyone
reasonably happy and keeping his life, at least for now.
Jamie
and Claire seem well fit together. They both aren’t quite where they
belong, and they both have enough wits and luck about them to keep them
alive, though in a precarious position. This definitely plays into their
bond, and should serve them well as they only fall more in love, as
they surely must.
After failing to
escape, Claire reluctantly goes along on a boar hunt, where she ends up
watching Geordie (Bryan Larkin, Running in Traffic) die after being
gored. I’m actually surprised more isn’t made for Claire’s outspoken
distaste for the hunt itself. I assume this is because the others
realize she has seen death caused by violence before, earning her a pass
women unaccustomed to such an experience wouldn’t get. Claire’s life
has given her the weight to make judgment in such matters. Thankfully,
she doesn’t gloat when proven right.
Geordie
isn’t the most important focus in his own death scene. Instead,
OUTLANDER shows us Dougal and Claire holding him as he dies, united in
purpose at last. Douglas gets more complex this week in multiple scenes,
including a semi-touching moment during a game between him and Jamie. A
failed drunken rape of Claire reinforces the view many viewers hold of
him as a selfish leader whom the people would not be well served to have
rule over them. But watching him Geordie, and then the regard he gives
Claire after seeing her in action, tell a different story. Perhaps he’s
just a man of his time, hardened, but not evil. I look forward to seeing
where they go with him next.
Which
brings us to the conclusion of “The Gathering,” in which Dougal asks
Claire to accompany him as he travels around the land. Well, asks may be
too mild a word, as she surely has no choice in the matter. This may
afford her a better opportunity to get away, not being so closely
guarded now that he trusts her at least marginally, but it also may keep
her to her current fate more strongly, as she can’t seem to resist
helping anyone that needs it, even delaying her flight to give Laoghaire
(Nell Hudson) peace of mind, and she will definitely be encountering
those who could use her help.
Something
interesting I caught in “The Gathering” is a reference to The Wizard of
Oz. This is intriguing because the previous episode also alludes to the
story. Claire is very Dorothy-like, having been swept away from her
home and regarded somewhat suspiciously by the locals because of her
‘magical’ skills. Is OUTLANDER taking a convenient parallel and
exploiting it for modern audiences, or will they make long-term use of
it, drawing more connections between Dorothy and Claire?
Though,
one does wonder a bit how Claire is so familiar with the film, quoting
it to Laoghaire, which came out during the war she just escaped, and
wasn’t highly popular in its initial release. She doesn’t seem the type
to indulge in such fantasies during her gritty reality.
“The
Gathering” lacks many flashback scenes with Frank (Tobias Menzies) that
have been so prevalent in previous weeks, but that’s a good thing. We
know Claire’s history well enough now, and more appearances by her
husband tend to just drag things down.
The
other cool thing in OUTLANDER this week is the introduction of a rival
for Mrs. Fitzgibbons (Annette Badland), Iona MacTavish, who is played by
Diana Gabaldon, the author of the OUTLANDER books. She may not be an
actress, but she is great in the role, and although only billed as a
cameo, I find myself hoping she’ll be recurring. Producer Ron Moore also
makes a cameo, but in a much smaller capacity.
“The
Gathering” is probably my favorite episode of OUTLANDER thus far. It is
fun and exciting, with a healthy dose of suspense and character
development. It’s the first week the show really seems to know what it
is, and now that the setup is established, begins to play with the
players and their relationships. If the rest of the season is as good as
this week, consider me firmly in the fan camp.
OUTLANDER airs Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET on Starz.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.