Episode 313 and Season 3 General Discussion

[jo]

***WARNING: This post and discussion may contain spoilers for anyone who is not current with the Starz series Outlander
(including seasons 1 and 2) or who has not read the first three books in the series.***

Episode 313 (December 10, 2017) -- "Eye of the Storm" written and directed by Matthew B. Roberts (Matt's directorial debut!).

Synopsis: Claire is forced to play a game of cat and mouse with an old adversary as she searches for Young Ian. The Frasers race through the jungles of Jamaica to prevent the unthinkable.

Feel free to discuss the season 3 finale as well as your thoughts/feelings about season 3 as a whole. Also -- how do you plan on filling the void until Season 4 starts (likely fall 2018)?

Bonus: Interview with Exec Producer Ron D. Moore about season 3, season 4 and more...

Comments

[jo]

Considering how much ground was left to cover in this regular-sized episode, I am very happy with it. I do wonder how some parts may have played out for non-book readers -- there were a couple of scenes in the finale that might have caused some confusion.

I am finding it difficult to talk about this episode only -- I keep thinking about what it means for the show going forward. But if I do try to focus on this episode only, Lotte Verbeek was again superb as the magnificently unhinged Geillis. The hurricane scenes aboard the Artemis were really well done. Maybe not quite as spectacular as The Storm episode of Black Sails, but I still found myself holding my breath a few times.

I really liked the flashback (or was it a flashforward?) opening, with Claire apparently drowning. And I loved the Jamie-Claire scene aboard the Artemis before the storm hit. That was such a great scene in the book, and I thought we weren't going to get it because it occurs much earlier in the book. But we did get it, and it was great. Sam and Cait are so good together as Jamie and Claire in those moments.

Looking back over the season, I think they did a spectacular job. Voyager is a fairly straightforward novel (compared to the political and other complexities of Book 2 and other upcoming books), but it has countless subplots, many of which the exec producers either condensed/merged or ignored altogether. I think that's where some of the complaints about things being rushed came from. That reality is only going to become a bigger issue going forward. The issue won't be just the number of subplots, but the growing cast of characters. The first 2 seasons were really all about Jamie and Claire. With season 3, we now have Young Ian, Fergus and Marsali, and Bree and Roger added to the mix. They all have bigger roles going forward, and I really don't know how realistic it will be to stick to the one-book-per-season formula. I guess we'll get a sense of that with season 4. That said, I think the other books would work better broken up because it's a fairly continuous storyline starting with book 5. Meaning they're largely in the same place, dealing with one main background event (the American Revolution). Maybe that will be part of the negotiations with Starz going forward.

I am looking forward to re-watching the entire season from start to finish, which I will be doing hopefully soonish with my husband. He doesn't watch it "live", but will rewatch it with me once we have all of the episodes. Maybe we'll tackle that over xmas...

[anoyo]

I kind of have all of these same feelings. Just. I DON'T KNOW WHAT I THINK. At least, not outside the context of the series as a whole. Also I watched it while feeling like I was dying, so that took some of the oomph out of it.

[suzy]

My fear for the finale was that it was going to be messy because I felt there were so many loose ends to tie up and I wasn't sure if they WERE going to tie it up or continue in the next season. I had read previously that the book Voyager kind of has a natural end, that it could end there if the author had wanted it so I thought there would be no continuation of the ongoing plot.

And they did tie it up. Very fast at that too. That surprised me. With the Geilis plot I felt everything got explained very well. I wasn't confused anymore as the previous episode had left me feeling.... it was concluded in
a neat and efficient way. So that was good. And Lotte is so so good as Geilis. She and Cat together just great to see.

I did feel Geilis end came way too abrupt though. It wasn't hard to figure out how it was going to end as I think we all knew at this point that it was Geilis bones that Joe showed Claire... but it was still so... bam, she's dead. Too quick in a way. Not that I wanted a longer fight scene. Guess I just wanted more of Geilis/Claire trying to... "talk-fight".

I definitely wanted more of Lord John and Jamie. How he put the "captain" in place! It was so awesome. But then it was just ok, thank you for saving me again and a quick goodbye. At the very least I wanted another handshake if not even a hug but I get that that may be too much for Jamie and all he wants is get to Claire. Still. I love LJG so I wished he could have had a longer scene with Jamie after his very excellent rescue.

Seeing Yi Tien Cho and Margret get a happy ending was just so sweet. They were adorable. I am wondering about one thing... when Margret is channeling Brianna. I am not certain what monster she was referring to. Was it Geilis or is something else going on that we don't know about?

The sexy time was very sexy.

That storm. Wow. It was done very well I think. It must have been a massive undertaking. You could kind of see it was CGI but it was still scary as hell. And the underwater scenes were amazing.

My main complaint about this episode would be the lack of Fergus. Or really, not only in this episode but in general. Him and Marsali haven't really had many scenes that made me connect to them. There were little moments but it's not enough. My hope for season 4, if they are still in the story is that we can have a little bit of THEIR story as well and not just scenes were they are significant to Jamie and/or Claire. They need to have their own story if we are to connect with them.

As always, the Jamie and Claire scenes are pure love. I love them so so much. I'm so sad it's over. I've never experienced the droughtlander before so this is going to be a long wait. :/

[jo]

when Margret is channeling Brianna. I am not certain what monster she was referring to. Was it Geilis or is something else going on that we don't know about?

I'm pretty sure the reference was meant to be to Geillis since they changed the prophecy to make it sound as if Brianna would have to die to make the prophecy come about. If I recall correctly, in the book, I don't think Bree-thru-Margaret references a monster, just something horrible, which could be a reference to either the cave itself (Abandawe) or Geillis. She begs Jamie "don't let Momma go there alone" -- meaning into the cave at Abandawe. In the book there is more emphasis on Abandawe itself -- that it's a powerful, evil place.

My main complaint about this episode would be the lack of Fergus.

I voiced the same concern in my post, not just re: Fergus-Marsali, but the growing cast of characters. In future books, several characters have their own voice (meaning chapters about them). The first two books were just from Claire's POV, Voyager gave Roger and Jamie their own chapters, and going forward, more and more people have their own chapters: Claire, Jamie, Bree, Roger, Ian, Lord John, William (Jamie's son)... Fergus and Marsali do not fall into that category, but they are very central figures nonetheless. I really don't know how they will balance all of that.