Episode 303 - Book-Show Deviations ***SPOILERS***

[jo]

*** WARNING! This thread is for discussing deviations between episode 303 and the source material, the novel Voyager. If you have not read the book, please understand that the discussion will contain possible spoilers for the series moving forward (including possibly beyond the current season). However, if you have no intention of reading the book, or don't mind spoilers, or are simply curious to know how things differed, proceed at your own risk! ***

If you wish to discuss episode 303, please do so on the dedicated episode discussion thread.

There were a few notable changes from the source material in this episode. How do you think these will affect the story going forward? Did you like the changes? Did any annoy or upset you?

Comments

[jo]

OK, so the big one here is MURTAGH. In the book, Murtagh is DEAD. He dies in battle at Culloden. Jamie tells Claire about it in ch. 53 or something. Now based on a few tweets I'd seen from Caitriona and Ron Moore, I was starting to suspect that maybe Murtagh wasn't going to die on TV, and I even postulated that he might replace another character from the book, one Duncan Innes. And many disagreed with me. But... He lives. He's being deported to the colonies. It looks very much as if he will be reunited with Jamie et. al. in season 4, and the logical thing is still that he replaces Duncan. Of course, they could still have Duncan, but would you need both Duncan and Murtagh? In Voyager, Jamie meets Duncan in Ardsmuir. We didn't have that character in this episode. So I'm sticking with my Murtagh is the new Duncan theory.

I know some quite like Duncan, I had no strong feelings towards him one way or the other, so I am fine with keeping Murtagh around instead. Duncan Lacroix is great in the role, so it would add an interesting twist to things down the road.

The other thing for me in this episode is that they made it really clear that Claire and Frank had a mutual agreement to basically lead separate lives and see others -- as long as they were discreet about it. Or at least, that Frank could do so. In the book, there was no such agreement, and that's why a lot of people hate Frank -- because HE CHEATED ON CLAIRE. Well, that and because he's not Jamie, but mostly because he cheats on her. But this agreement puts everything in a new light, and makes Frank far more sympathetic. I mean, in this episode in particular, I was really more on his side than on Claire's. Also, if I recall correctly, in the episode, not only do they have this agreement, but it was Claire's idea. The Frank haters are gonna hate on that one SO much.

I'm totally OK with how they did this. I never hated Frank, not even in the books.

I was a bit puzzled as to why Jamie wanted Lord John to kill him when Jamie came back to the prison after escaping. Because he didn't find Claire so he had nothing to live for again? I'm pretty sure nothing like that was in the book -- so it confused me. It's the only thing in the episode that I felt was really out of place and odd.