Beautiful Season 03 review (some indirect spoilers)

[jo]

This is a beautifully written, insightful review of the first few episodes of season 3. Some hinted-at spoilers for non-book readers, but nothing that will ruin the episodes for you.

As Jamie sees his world crumble around him and his identity slowly stripped away, so Claire is faced with the daunting task of an emptiness that needs to be filled at least for the sake of the child if not her own progress. Throughout the ensuing episodes, we see this and other dualities meticulously and beautifully portrayed as Jamie and Claire struggle to live without each other, and yet are never without each other’s presence, whether by influence or memory, in nature or amongst society, in the taste of a snowflake or the anxious hesitancy of physical contact. To be haunted by one’s own missing piece tempers both the blessings and burdens of their years apart, and this season strikes a brilliant balance for both leads as both objects and agents of change.