Episode 502 - "Between Two Fires"

[jo]

SPOILERS, SPOILERS, SPOILERS!!!

This was one of those transition/exposition episodes that can be a bit hit and miss. Given some of the comments I've read online, that's pretty much the fan reaction -- equal parts loved it and hated it. I thought it was very well done and enjoyed the episode.

The title of the episode, "Between Two Fires" comes from a line Murtagh says, explaining Jamie's predicament to fellow regulators -- Jamie is caught between his oath to Governor Tryon, and his knowledge of what is coming, having to walk a delicate balance between his duty and the future. But it also is the dominant theme of the episode, with most of the main characters finding themselves caught between proverbial rocks and hard places, namely:
 

• Claire -- who faces two different fires: first, the issue of how much of her medical knowledge and skills can she use without being accused of being a witch, and second, loving having her family (Bree, Roger and Jemmy) in the past with her, but also wanting them to go back to the safety of the future;
•  Bree -- who would be happy to stay in the past, but knows Roger doesn't want to;
• Marsali -- who may be fighting some conflicting feelings between her love and loyalty for her mother, Laoghaire, and her growing love and respect for Claire.

Speaking of Bree and Marsali, the showrunners decided to swap out their book roles. While not a fan of blood and gore, book Bree does assist her mother with some of her doctoring. The showrunners openly explained that they wanted to give Lauren Lyle's Marsali a larger role in the show, and hence she's now Claire's apprentice. This initially made me wonder about the future plot line involving Malva Christie, but the showrunners explicitly stated that Marsali would be helping Claire "for a portion of this season". The Christies arrive on the Ridge only late in The Fiery Cross, so I don't know if that means that story line will be moved up, or if it is simply a reference to the fact that we learned in episode 501 that Marsali is pregnant again, which will eventually limit her ability to aid Claire.

Other slight deviations from the source material -- the autopsy on Mr. Farrish. In The Fiery Cross, there is an autopsy, but Claire performs it on one of Jocasta's slaves she believes was murdered. Matt Roberts explained that they couldn't incorporate that later in the series, when it occurs in the book because of how they were developing the story, but did want to include a scene of Claire doing an autopsy, so brought it forward. Which is fine, except the reason for the autopsy made much less sense? In the book, Claire is trying to prove that the slave's death was murder -- in the episode, she was fairly certain that Mr. Farrish died from peritonitis from a burst appendix (and not helped by folk medicine treatments). The autopsy confirmed that, but hardly the same impact of confirming that someone was murdered.

I also wonder why they changed the diagnosis of Roger's eyesight issue? In the novel, he lacks binocular vision, which is why he can't shoot well. In the episode, Claire says he's slightly nearsighted in one eye. Odd thing to change.

I've read plenty of comments critical of some of the more graphic violence depicted in this episode -- namely the tar and feathering in Hillsborough, and the Bonnet duel (as well as the fight between the two women). Both of these scenes are not explicitly in the book (although there is a tar and feathering in A book -- maybe book 6?), but both are important, in my view, in establishing some context going forward.

With regards to the tar and feathering of two officials at the hands of the Regulators -- led by Murtagh -- I think it was important to show that both sides in this growing crisis were not exactly above reprimand. Yes, maybe the taxes were too high, but does that justify tar and feathering someone? Both the government and the Regulators had justifiable causes to defend, and used unjustifiable means to defend them. As a Canadian, I also wonder if the showrunners wanted to play against the likely natural tendency of an American audience to see everything from a pro-American POV, if that makes sense? I also think the impact this had on Jamie -- especially when he learned that Murtagh had been present, overseeing events in Hillsborough -- was significant. He maybe didn't think his godfather would go to such extremes? Maybe even knocked Murtagh down a few pegs in Jamie's eyes?

ETA: Matt Roberts explains the tar and feathering scene (and the women's fight club).

The scenes with Bonnet at the end established a couple of important points: 1) Bonnet's future business relationship with Forbes, an important plot point, and 2) that he hasn't forgotten Brianna's news that she might have been carrying his child and that this idea intrigues him. This too will likely make future events (I think episode 510) make more sense.

One thing I really liked about this episode was Claire's realization that she can't just go forward with her 20th century medical skills and knowledge. In the books, when Claire would tell people to wash their hands, boil implements, take this instead of that, people would sometimes look at her funny, but largely, everyone just accepts what she says. In the show, they clearly demonstrate that people won't easily listen to her advice, not just because of long-ingrained folk medicine approaches, but BECAUSE CLAIRE IS A WOMAN, and as such, no way can she know more than a male "physician". Having Claire start a "newsletter" of sorts under the name of Dr. Rawlings was a nice touch, since book Claire does, way down the road, write a book under a man's name.

One thing I liked less -- Claire baking tons of loaves of bread. Mrs. Bug was rightly critical of that. Would Claire really be THAT wasteful? Yes, she does use bread to try to grow penicillin, but scraps -- bread that was already going off. She doesn't use up what looked like a crop's worth of flour to bake a couple dozen loaves. She can't possibly have room to stash all of those samples anyway. It was just really daft.
 

I am slightly dreading next week's episode -- the one about the Beardsleys...