Episode 503 - "Free Will"

[jo]

SPOILERS, SPOILERS, SPOILERS!!

As I stated at the end of the post about episode 502, I was rather dreading this episode. I hate this part of the book. I imagined it all very graphically when reading it, and while I wasn't bothered by the tar and feathering in 502, I really did not want to see some of what unfolds in this part of the story.

I needn't have worried. The episode follows the book very closely, with only minor changes and omissions. But it wasn't at all as creepy or unpleasant as I was dreading -- probably because I knew what was coming, and there is no way the show could have matched what I'd imagined when reading. So while I'm certain some of the more sensitive viewers out there would be cringing with their eyes shut during some parts, I was left rather unmoved by the episode.

Maybe because I dislike this part of the book so much, my favourite parts of the episode were all the other parts. Jamie and Roger leading the men away from the Ridge to round up a larger militia; meeting Kezzie Beardsley and learning about the twins' past. It was our first opportunity to see the twins -- played by the same actor, Paul Gorman. I thought it was done very well -- never really felt that the scenes with both Jo and Kezzie present were in part CGI/special effects. I appreciated that they included the small scene between Mrs. Findlay and Roger, as she lets him sign up her two sons.

The one thing that did intrigue me about this episode occurred when Fergus went looking for a piece of paper on which to write down the wording of the notice Jamie wanted to publish in the local (?) paper about his militia recruitment drive. Fergus grabs a piece that clearly has writing on one side, the other side is blank. Likely notes Claire has made about something... and the camera pans to focus on Claire's penicillin experiments in the background. I have to assume this means something that Claire has written down will either be published and cause problems going forward, or will be read by someone in town at the printer's --- either way, it will be important, otherwise why include that scene with the final shot on the mold jars? This entire scene is not in the book -- Jamie does not place an ad in the paper -- so it's difficult to know why this was included and what will come of it.

ETA: I've been thinking about this and this idea occurred to me. What if because of this, Claire contributes to the official discovery of penicillin? Her notes fall into the hands of the ancestors of Alexander Fleming? Of course, not sure how they'd work that into the overall plot -- wouldn't really make any sense. More likely it's something that will just cause Claire a lot of grief...

I don't have much else to say about the episode, at least, not at the moment. Maybe once I've seen some reactions online, I will comment further, but for now, I will leave it at that.