I call all kinds of B.S. on the second half of this episode. Seriously. For the entirety of the first half of this episode I was lost as to how, one: Claire was going to get to Jamaica and, two: how she was going to get there before everyone else. And in the second half of the episode, those two problems and, well, all of her problems really (the immediate ones at least), were magically solved. I. Call. B.S.!
By the time she had been found by Father Fogden Claire had lost, at the very least, two days since she’d literally jumped ship. Which was even worse than how much time I thought she had lost judging from the preview of this episode in the last one. If catching up with and passing the Porpoise was impossible then, it was beyond impossible by that point. According to Fogden, it would have taken her three days to get to Jamaica, essentially doubling the lead that the Porpoise had on her. And she still thought that she could do it! Talk about delusional.
I understand that, as a romance series, the whole point of all of this is for it to be sweet and romantic and this grand gesture of how much Claire loves Jamie and how devoted she is to him. Like: “Look how far she went to save Jamie. She almost died!” But it was a dumb ass plan to begin with. Not well thought through at all. Her desperation to save Jamie from the authorities made her incredibly stupid. She put herself at a huge disadvantage that was pretty much insurmountable. There was absolutely no way that she could have done what she had set out to do.
Which is why the second half of this episode was one, giant, ass pull. Seriously.
When Mamacita said that a “China man” had killed their goat and Claire instantly got excited, certain that it must have meant that Jamie was on the island, my first thought was: “First of all Claire, Willoughby is not all of China.” I know that this series takes place prior to emancipation, so the post-emancipation immigration period hasn’t happened yet, but Willoughby couldn’t be the only Chinese man in all of the New World. So I fully expected her to run to where Mamacita had found the goat and find someone completely different. But nope! It was Jamie and company.
Never before has this show pulled me out of it as much as it did then. Really? They just so happened to land on the exact same island Claire was on, not too far from where she was being nursed back to health? Really? Sure, in the last episode they alluded to the fact that the Artemis was going to run into trouble, freeing Jamie because they needed all hands on deck and all, but really? I know that magic is real in this show, but even that stretches the bounds of plausibility. It was such a plot convenience.
The writers wrote themselves into a corner with Claire’s ridiculous plan and the consequences of her actions. She was never going to get to Jamaica in time to warn Jamie. Not the way the story was going. There was no plausible way for them to get themselves out of that. So, of course, they went with an implausible deus ex machina. It was really the only way to get out of that situation. That doesn’t make it any less absurd, frustrating and annoying. There have been plot contrivances and conveniences in this show before, none of them, however, have been this far and away outrageous. Not for me. I could not with this.
That being said, I was still at the edge of my seat and cheering her on as she ran to the beach, hoping that she would make it to him in time. When Jamie and company got back on to the ship, I thought that was it; that they would sail away and he would never know how very close he got to reuniting with her. But then that one crew member said that they wouldn’t be sailing away until night fall and I knew that all was well. Even more so when Claire took out the mirror to signal to Jamie. Was kind of annoying how he had to row back to shore, though.
One thing that came out of it that we wouldn’t have otherwise gotten was the bonding moment between Claire and Marsali. Laoghaire wasn’t there for Marsali to talk to as she was about to get married, so Claire was all the girl had. It was more than that though. As Marsali said, Claire and Jamie had the kind of marriage she wanted to have with Fergus. Furthermore, the girl doesn’t want to be a mother yet. On both fronts, Claire could help her out. So despite her rudeness immediately before talking to Claire, she sucked it up and asked for help and advice.
It was also very sweet how Jamie gave Fergus his last name. Honestly, I thought that had been done already.
Random thoughts:
- The title of this episode and the setting make me thing of the Uncharted games.
- How far inland did she really go that she is still waking on sand?
- Why is he talking to a coconut?
- Is Abandawe another portal?
- Does this priest like to get everyone high?
- Did Willoughby get Claire high?
Outlander airs Sundays at 10 Pm on Starz.
