Outlander Review 2×11 “Vengeance is Mine”

In book author Diana Gabaldon‘s first outing as a television writer, Outlander sizzles with drama (and missing body parts)

Last week we saw Outlander’s first major battle and we lost a beloved comic character (we’re still grieving Angus, Stephen Walters!), and this week the war continues but with some major drama from our lead characters.  Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) might have Claire’s (Caitriona Balfe) knowledge of the future on his side, but it isn’t enough to prevent he and his men from getting banished, and darned if he doesn’t run into some redcoats on the way.  In order to save everyone from certain death, Claire employs those stellar acting skills again and pretends to be a captive of the Scots in order to bargain for their freedom.  But instead of being taken to the garrison, where Jamie & co think they’ll take her, instead they take her to… the Duke of Sandringham (Simon Callow)?!?!  Wherever he is, trouble follows!  Does the Duke have some alternate plan, and will Claire be able to get away from him??  We can’t wait a moment more-  Let’s get down to business!

How to Lose a War in One Decision

We open with what is currently our stock opening- Claire voiceover, time has passed, and suddenly Claire is pulling teeth (literally) while Jamie listens to Charles (Andrew Gower) fight with his generals.  Charles wants to press on to London as they’re in the north of England after some pretty stellar victories, however his advisors would like to play it safe, turn around, and winter in Edinburgh.  Fun historical fact:  This moment was actually the turning point in the war, and the show kind of downplays it.  In reality there was a spy amongst the Jacobites advising Charles Stuart, and that man persuaded the Jacobites to turn around saying there was a third army ready to attack between the Prince’s army and London.  In reality, no such army existed and the Prince’s path would’ve been clear to London.  Alright, back to the main event.  With everyone around him urging him to turn back, the lone voice of dissension is Jamie.  At first we were kind of surprised at Jamie advocating for the Prince here- Jamie’s usually quite level-headed and tends to want to curb some of the Prince’s more reckless instincts, and we’re sure there’s more here than meets the eye.  We’ve talked about this for at least two or three other episodes, but the lens through which we’re viewing all of the war and political maneuvering is terribly sad, and watching Jamie unsuccessfully lobby to support his prince gives you a little tug at the heartstrings.  You almost feel bad for the prince.  Finally, for once, Charles Stuart doesn’t annoy the snot out of us, and he does seem to grow a pair finally, but it’s really too little, too late.  Wonderful performance by Andrew Gower here, Charles’ attempt to be forceful and commanding just makes you wince a little.

“I’d rather be run through by a British bayonet and have my body buried in an unmarked grave than turn back when we have come this far!” -Prince Charles

Meanwhile, back in camp, barber Claire continues pulling teeth.  Rupert sits there like a sad sack reminiscing about Angus and frightening small children.  Charlie storms out, so do the generals, and Jamie has failed. As we suspected, Jamie was doing Claire’s work knowing that taking London was the course that may have changed history, but unfortunately, Jamie is unsuccessful.  Jamie has been stepping up as a leader for the past few episodes, this time we got some really lovely moments of Jamie as laird, not just leading his men but caring for his men and trying to put a positive spin on a situation that he clearly knows has doomed them.

Whisper to us, Jamie

We start off this next scene with Jamie whispering a Gaelic prayer over Claire as she sleeps.  It’s a welcome return of the Gaelic, because even though they’ve been in Scotland, they’ve not used much Gaelic up until now.  It’s a crime, actually.  The language is beautiful and we’ve missed it!  This time, though, it’s a bit different, if only because the Gaelic is subtitled.  Thank all that is good in this world!  We’re of two minds on this- in some ways it’s been lovely to see the performances of the actors without the understanding, but honestly there have been some beautifully written passages in Gaelic that we wish we could’ve understood and it’s scenes like this that make us thrilled that they’ve decided to subtitle it.  Confession: We’ve been starved for some Jamie and Claire “alone time”.  Is anyone else??  There were a few things we felt like could’ve been lost in this episode for a little of the stuff that fantasies are made of.  Alas, Claire goes to sleep.  Thanks, Claire.  But even without some sexy times, this scene was one of our favorites in this episode.

“The Prince also took your horse.  He said he knew you wouldn’t mind.” -Dougal

Oh, Charlie.  Not the horse! Jamie is banished to Inverness (and we know what’s going to happen there- all the tears!), Dougal is angry, and Jamie has missed the prince because they’ve moved him away, ostensibly so Jamie can’t talk to him.  Jamie and the Lallybroch lads begin to make their return to Inverness where we get a lovely but pointless sequence where Claire doctors people and we see Scotland (but what are love scenes compared with rocks and mountains?).  Rupert is still pretty sad about Angus, but manages to remain quite amusing as he’s given some of the best lines in the show.  Claire’s wasting more whiskey by pouring it onto Ross’ absolutely filthy hand (maybe a little water first, Claire?) and suddenly the whole merry band is attacked by redcoats.  Claire,Jamie, Dougal, Murtagh, Fergus, and Rupert just manage to escape and it looks pretty dicey there for a while- almost as dicey as the closeup horseback ride looks. That’s putting it slightly more politely than we could put it.  In general, we don’t have a problem with the cinematography and direction of Outlander, it’s usually excellent.  And the wide shots of them escaping the redcoats are lovely, but the closeups seemed both unnecessary and distracting.

“I decided to take a closer look at musket ball.” -Rupert

Rupert is hit in the eye and almost falls off of his horse until Dougal drags him up in some incredible trick riding which we’ll assume was stunt riders. Bravo to them-  It looks fantastic.  Cut to our pals stopping by a church because, well, Rupert has no eye for God’s sake and Claire assures them if they don’t stop, he’ll die.  Why anyone needed Claire to tell them that and couldn’t use their own common sense is beyond us.  There’s a bit of business here and we’re kind of holding our breaths as they’re waiting to see if anyone’s in the church.  What this episode really did well was build suspense and anticipation- even people who were book readers and knew what was going to happen were likely on the edge of their seat here.  Once we’re inside the church the tension doesn’t release at all as we’re still pretty unclear about what’s going to happen:  Will Rupert live through a musket ball to the eye?  Will the redcoats find them?  These nail-biting moments are supported by the score, the writing here being a nice first effort by Gabaldon and some interesting directorial choices.  But don’t worry, Outlander fans- We get some fine jokes even in the midst of it all.  Did anyone catch Fergus having pickpocketed Claire’s knife and Jamie’s look when he insists, “Milord gave it to me!”  We totally believe you, Fergus, it’s fine.  Even with only one eye, Rupert makes some jokes and Claire gets some digs in as well.  Maybe Claire is standing in for Angus part of some new comic relief team?  The way things got in this episode we’re kind of surprised Rupert didn’t end up with a peg leg, Claire.

“I’ll get you a black eye patch, you’ll be a proper pirate.” -Claire

Actress Claire Saves the Day

Redcoats surround the church and it looks like they’re all gonna die when they burn the roof of the church. Should they stand and fight or surrender?  Jamie the hero wants to trade himself for everyone else’s release (and he is pretty notorious, let’s face it, this plan would’ve probably worked), but we’re getting the impression Dougal’s getting kind of tired of Jamie’s hero routine (give us a break though, Dougal, we aren’t tired of it yet!) and points out that there won’t be any rescue from this one- if Jamie gives himself up he’s a goner for sure.  Nobody’s quite sure of what to do, so Claire takes matters into her own hands by using the old, “I’m an English lady in the dastardly hands of these evil Highlanders,” trick again.  Jamie is pretty unimpressed by this plan and refuses to let her go, even when Dougal & Murtagh try to tell him it’s the best option they have.  Claire makes the final decision, however, when she points out that as his wife, everyone’s life in the church isn’t just Jamie’s responsibility, it’s hers as well.  Lots of credit to Gabaldon here- we didn’t love everything in this episode, but this scene was a huge love-fest for us.  Gabaldon’s lived with this characters for more than twenty years.  They’re her creations, and this scene just felt “right”. We’ve been discussing the blossoming of the Jamie character over the latter part of season 2 as well as some little holes in Jamie and Claire’s relationship you can occasionally feel, but you don’t feel them here, especially as Jamie hands Claire over to the redcoats.  The English leave without checking to see if anyone else is in the church (because obviously).

They don’t have horses, they don’t have weapons, and naturally Jamie is going to find Claire. He’s convinced to allow Murtagh to come but not before Dougal gets in some odd dig at Murtagh- But in reality, did anyone think Jamie would want Dougal to tag along after what happened in the last two episodes??  The man has seemed mentally unstable since the first moment we first saw him this season, and what, Jamie should be pleased as punch he wants to help him rescue Claire?  …Sure.  And thank you Duncan Lacroix for the stoic way you take that insult.

“You’ll need help getting her out of the garrison.  If it canna be me, Murtagh will do well enough.” -Dougal

Claire is taken to a tavern for the night, and we get a glimpse of everyone’s favorite emo sketch of Jamie (the guy liner is so fetching) and pass a fun character from season one, Hugh Munro (Simon Meacock)- you guys remember Hugh Munro, right?  The beggar with no tongue?  The parade of missing body parts is getting endless tonight, guys!  Anyway, there’s a pretty pointless scene where a gross English soldier either hits on Claire, or threatens her, or whatever he’s trying to accomplish by telling her she looks like she could use “warming up” (GROSS) until it’s the next day and Claire is horrified to learn they’re taking her not to the garrison, where Jamie will be looking for her, but to somebody’s house at Belmont instead.  Well thank goodness Hugh Munro is here and this English officer is pretty stupid, because Claire basically reiterates their entire plan in front of Munro, using Munro to tell Jamie her location.  Which is a huge house CRAWLING with English officers.  And SANDRINGHAM lives there.  It’s another coincidence in a long line of coincidences, and maybe we’d complain about it, but let’s get real- we love Simon Callow and the character is so awful we knew he wasn’t gone, right?

Out of the Frying Pan, and Into the Fire

“Rescued, did he say? Rescued from what? Rabid bears?” -The Duke of Sandringham

When the English soldier first says Sandringham’s name, our only thought was, “Well, Claire, you’re in it now.”  The smarmy Duke doesn’t out Claire to the soldiers, though, so maybe everything will be fine.  Sandringham actually seems human here, and he’s being so nice that we know he’s up to something hideous.  The Duke reveals he’s still suspected of being a Jacobite, and he’s being watched 24/7 around the entirety of his home.  A warning to Claire and Jamie? Of course not.  The Duke wants Jamie to smuggle him when he comes to rescue Claire, and apparently he’ll blackmail Claire to make that happen.  So Claire makes a deal with the devil and promises to get Sandringham out. Claire.  REALLY?!  This man never says what he means, and not only that, did you really need to send the note??  You sent Hugh Murno already, and it’s not as if Jamie isn’t smart and if he watched the house enough he couldn’t figure out a way to rescue you.  Maybe she doesn’t trust Munro, though.  Who knows.  Either way Claire writes a note that she codes in Gaelic (that’ll really throw them off the scent, Claire) and hands it over for delivery to the Duke.

Simon Callow just might be the best guest star on Outlander.  He can deliver one-liners with more zing than almost anyone, and can spin dross into gold with almost anything he’s given.  We confess, we found a lot of what the Duke did here in the second half of the episode more than a little cheesy and kind of ridiculous at times, but Callow was such a great mix of menacing schemer and ludicrous idiot we just didn’t care.  Oh look, Mary Hawkins (Rosie Day) is back as well.  And she’s engaged?  What?  To whom?  Anyone we know?  Oh, no, just a random merchant that Mary hates that nobody cares about enough to know anything more than, “He’s a loyalist.”  Typical.  And oh, she wants to have Claire get her out of it.  Convenient that Claire showed up, then!  What was she going to do otherwise?

“Customarily I’d be given a tip on delivery!” -Random messenger guy

Now we’re watching some random look for Munro, and he’s not exactly someone who looks particularly trustworthy- not only that, he doesn’t seem to find Munro straight off, he’s got to stop and talk to some other guy first?  Hmmm.  Why is this in the episode?  Or maybe if they felt they needed it, why is it so long?  Back to Claire and Sandringham, who appears to have convinced the soldiers to leave?  Inexplicably.  Conveniently.  Claire, please, why are you falling for this?!?  And oh man, now we see the Duke’s valet, and it’s the birthmark man who raped Mary in episode 4!  This is all bad news, Claire.  Sandringham is found out and everyone is treated to a Scooby-Doo style moment.  He would’ve gotten away with it, too!  If it wasn’t for Danton’s super conspicuous birthmark!  This part is a little stilted, though Callow is game and really does his best to make the most of this discovery.  Sandringham gets absolutely insane and confesses the entire nefarious plot while laughing and smiling and it’s horrible.  Sandringham blames the Comte for the entire plot, and blames his gambling debts for offering to murder Claire for the Comte- but BONUS POINTS!  The Comte wanted Claire dead, and the Duke (because he’s so super) convinces the Comte to just have Claire raped instead. …Thanks?  We aren’t really sure you could loathe Sandringham any more, but who knows.  Maybe you could.  Anybody?  Then he reveals that the note, the fact that he wants to be rescued from the house as well, all of it, basically- it was all a trap to lure Jamie here so the British can capture him (cue ten thousand “It’s a trap!” Admiral Akbar gifs).  While this part of the show was more than a little over the top, Simon Callow again, man!  Why is he so good?  The way he says the word “lure”- lingering over the L, making it about three times as long as it needs to be, with that moderately psychotic look in his eye- everyone else kept hitting the back button on their DVR so they could watch him do that about fifteen times, right?  …Just us?

Knives & Axes & Heads- Oh My!

Hugh Munro flags Jamie down with Claire’s note.  Jamie, you’ve got a brain, man, please don’t fall for this!  Two great things about this scene were the Hugh-Jamie sign language, and how genuinely offended Murtagh is by Claire’s shoddy attempt at Gaelic.  Give her a break, Murtagh!  Have you ever seen the way things are written in Gaelic?

“She’s even misspelled help!” -Murtagh

Claire is fretting by the window and sees Hugh Munro coming towards the house.  Good thing there are legit secret passages in this big house, because Mary Hawkins chooses this moment to go find her good buddy Claire!  Then Mary Hawkins saves the day by getting Claire out and warning Hugh of the real plot that’s afoot!  Oh wait, no she doesn’t, she basically does nothing because she can’t possibly talk to a beggar!  Please, Claire, rescue me, but I don’t want to do anything to help you! Oh, Mary.  Claire tries to sneak out through the kitchen using some great secret passages again, and there’s some great scoring to the escape from the house.  She creeps into the kitchen, and UGH!!!! Sandringham again!  Because it was so quiet, we just knew it was coming!  Sandringham & Claire settle down to eat something, because why not.  The Duke just wants to talk about the death of the Comte.  Any plan Claire can even begin to come up with, the Dude cat and mouses, and nobody can do cat and mouse like Sandringham (except maybe Black Jack Randall from season 1’s “The Garrison Commander”) Mary walks in and unfortunately, she’s still Mary.  But it appears as if she’s gotten the drift that the situation is rather serious, because she’s put on her big girl pants and manages to warn Hugh.  Danton is back, and grabs her, bringing her to the Duke, and things move like lightening until the end of the episode: Jamie leaps over the wall and manages to get into the kitchen, but valet/rapist Danton is there and he has a knife and goes for Claire.  The Duke has to pop his wig on, because Jamie.  We’re at a standoff!  Or are we, because Murtagh is also there!  And Claire confesses that the French butler is why Claire was attacked!  Then Jamie gets the upper hand, and Mary finds out why she was raped!  Jamie looks like he’s gonna let the Duke go with a look at Murtagh that is positively chilling, so we know Jamie might not be choking the Duke but it is going down.  Then Mary decides to make a pin cushion out of the Butler, which is basically insane because she looks like she has no soul while she’s doing it, and mousy little Mary just stabs him and looks at him with cold dead eyes.  Mousy little Mary’s transformation kind of becomes our favorite thing after being so wishy washy, and while Claire is being shocked from that, Murtagh turns Sandringham around so he face him and takes a blunt axe and starts hacking his head off.  Then he picks up the head and kneeling before them, presents it to Mary & Claire (even though it was Jamie he promised to lay vengeance at the feet of).  Then Mary utters the understatement of the century and it’s a wrap on 211.  Did you catch all that?  Told you that ending was a roller coaster!

“I think we’d better go.” -Mary Hawkins

Conclusion: How many missing body parts?

This episode had loads of action and more drama than an episode of General Hospital circa 1985.  The tension, oh lord, the tension!  We loved the Jamie and Claire interactions and as over the top as it was, we appreciated Simon Callow really doing his thing.  We’ll miss you, Simon!  In Diana Gabaldon’s first outing as a television writer she does a good job, and we hope she’ll continue to write an episode or two over the next seasons, but we actually think she could’ve had a little more fun with some more book diversions.  It’s a tricky balance, being so close to the material.  The episode actually had a lot of the flavor of her writing- an interesting but slow build towards some insanely massive bombshells that have you saying, “Oh my God,” to your television.  So where do we go from here?  Obviously our band is marching up towards Inverness, Mary Hawkins newly in tow, Culloden battlefield a short skip and a jump away.  We are just not ready for what we know is coming!  Did the rest of Jamie’s men make it to the rendezvous point?  What are they going to do with Mary now that they’ve got her?  Will we be able to survive Claire and Jamie’s parting?  Stick with us, the end is almost here!

Questions, Comments, & Concerns

• We noticed the “wink” easter egg (in the books, Jamie can’t wink, so we chuckled when Rupert asked Jamie to give Claire a wink when he rescued her).  What other easter eggs from this episode did you notice?
• Really, what are they going to do with Mary now that they have her?  Is she an orphan?  She left the house in a nightgown.
•  Why does Caitriona Balfe look amazing in all those clothes?  It doesn’t matter what they do to that woman, she always looks fantastic.  Unfair, Caitriona.  Unfair.
• Who else would’ve liked to be there while they were doing the effects for the Duke’s beheading?  Who else really wants to see the head??  Can’t just be us.
• How many tissues do you think we’re going to go through in the next two episodes?  Predictions?
• Will Diana Gabaldon write another episode in seasons three and four?  What are your guesses?