OUTLANDER Locked in "Wentworth Prison"

Article originally written for Seat42F.

The penultimate episode of OUTLANDER season one on Starz, which aired tonight, is called “Wentworth Prison.” Jamie (Sam Heughan) awaits execution there following his capture, but an unexpected visitor gives the Highlander at least a temporary stay. Meanwhile, Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and her small band of recruits tries to figure out how to penetrate the jail, find Jamie, and get him out before it’s too late.

“Wentworth Prison” is the first episode of OUTLANDER that I didn’t enjoy much overall. This is not because the series is bad, the writing is weak, or the acting is wooden. None of those are true. Instead, it’s the constant brutal torture that permeates the hour. I haven’t read the books, so can only assume that the television program is being faithful to the source material. But all of the things Black Jack (Tobias Menzies) does to Jamie turn one’s stomach, and there are oh so many of them this week that it makes the episode hard to watch, and not in a good way.

I assume Jamie will be rescued. It doesn’t happen this week, but Claire plants the seeds that Murtagh (Duncan Lacroix) and the others can follow to get past the walls and get to their clansman. Jamie is too essential a character to lose, and I think we see him in the 1940s in the pilot of the show, so he has to survive to get there.

The person that cannot survive is Black Jack. I do not know when he will die (though he himself now does), but I hope it’s sooner rather than later. OUTLANDER can bring in other villains to stay interesting. It doesn’t need this man who has been so ruthless and so awful to Claire and Jamie. I am ready for him to go down, and go down hard.

What I wonder is, how can Claire ever return to Frank after this? While Frank is not Black Jack and Claire has known him long enough to know this, there is no getting past that they look exactly the same (both played by the same actor). Any time Frank would get annoyed with her in the future, she’d have to see a bit of Black Jack in him. I don’t know much of what’s to come on OUTLANDER, but I’m pretty sure Claire gets home at some point long before the series finale (given some casting news that has been publicly released), so I wonder how her experiences in the past will affect her marriage.

Despite how much I didn’t much enjoy watching “Wentworth Prison,” there are some awesome parts worth praising. When Claire tells Black Jack she’s a witch and gives him the day of his death, I cheered. When Angus (Stephen Walters) gambles in the tavern and gleans valuable info, that’s a really fun scene. OUTLANDER maintains its layered, enjoyable characters and setting, even when the plot takes a dark turn.

There’s a bit of fun trivia that pertains to “Wentworth Prison.” The man running the place, Sir Fletcher Gordon, is played by Frazer Hines. Hines is famous for playing The Second Doctor’s (Patrick Troughton) companion in Doctor Who for several years, mostly during the late 1960s, and being the longest-running companion in the show. His character’s name was Jamie McCrimmon, and he was from 1746 Scotland. Diana Gabaldon, author of the OUTLANDER books, says her character and setting is inspired by this role. So, very cool to have him show up!

I don’t want to rag on “Wentworth Prison” too much. While I didn’t like it, it was the subject material, not the quality of the production, that sparked that opinion. I still think it sets up next week for a heck of a season finale, and I have no plans to lessen my admiration for the show as a whole.

OUTLANDER airs Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET on Starz.

"The Gathering" A High for OUTLANDER

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.