Outlander: The Gathering

So it wasn’t just me, this episode was a bit of a dud, right? It was comprised of three distinct parts which had absolutely no thematic or narrative connection to one another, and which all conclude in disappointing anti-climaxes.

We start with Claire continuing to plan her escape by tying hair ribbons to tree branches in the woods, covering her actions with a hunting game she plays with the local children. She’s got a horse and provisions prepared, and she believes that the upcoming Gathering – in which every man of the clan swears their allegiance to Colum – will provide the perfect distraction for her nocturnal escape. She’s even got a sedative prepared for her personal guards.

So she’s plotted her escape with a fair amount of guile, but it all comes to naught when she bumps into Jamie and is informed that the woods are guarded by extra men. Just like that, she gives up.

Oh, and I forgot to mention the requisite attempted rape, not only from a bunch of drunken men, but from Dougal, who initially saves her from the aforementioned drunks. She clouts him over the head with a stool and Jamie laughs it off, telling Claire that a) Dougal was drunk, and b) he won’t remember it in the morning.

I’m not sure how to react to this, for up until this scene I found Dougal to be one of the show’s strongest characters. He’s rightly suspicious of Claire, his rivalry with Jaime is interesting, and I’m not quite sure where he stands in regards to his brother. Is he as loyal as he says, or is he just waiting for the opportunity to slip a knife in between his ribs?

He gets more interesting material later when it comes to his interactions with Jaime and Geordie, but for me it’s always going to be tainted by his attempt to force himself on Claire. And no, I don’t want to hear the old “that’s how it was back then” excuse – rape has never been condoned in the manner with which it was depicted here, and from a Doylistic point-of-view it’s a clear indicator that we’re not supposed to trust or like any character who partakes in it.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. After her escape attempt is thwarted, Jamie offers to escort her back to the castle, only to get roped into the Gathering. Turns out this creates something of a Succession Crisis. If Jamie swears allegiance to Colum, he’ll become his legal heir and so bump Dougal out of his position, but if he doesn’t swear allegiance it’ll be considered a dire insult that demands retribution. Either way, he’ll earn both men’s animosity.

Claire is distraught, whispering “it’s all my fault”, even though it’s technically the fault of the men who are keeping her at Castle Leoch against her will, and Jamie for not coming up with a simple excuse to avoid the great hall. But luckily, though Jamie is stymied at the thought of simply not entering a room, he finds a loophole in the technicalities of the oath-swearing in a way that placates both men. The problem is resolved before you even have a chance to hold your breath.

Finally, the last quarter deals with a pig hunt that Claire is super-indignant about considering it involves the death of a poor defenceless pig. Hey, you do want to eat tonight, don’t you? But after the pig fatally gouges a man to death, Claire wins the respect of Dougal by not only handing the blood and gore, but easing Georgie into a peaceful death with talk of his home.

Oh, and early in the hunt, Dougal actually saves Claire’s life by shooting another pig that was all posed to charge her. If not for the attempt rape in the corridor, I’d be officially more intrigued by the Dougal/Claire dynamic than the Claire/Jamie one.

So Dougal commissions Claire to travel with him on his journey to collect taxes from the surrounding neighbourhood – and the episode ends on a rather ominous note as she accompanies him and the other men into the countryside.

Altogether, this episode wasn’t particularly compelling, though I liked the odd little scene here and there. Laoghaire’s request for a love potion and Claire appropriating lines from The Wizard of Oz was very cute (though I’m sure it’ll be back to bite her later on), and Geillis continues to read Claire like an open book in regards to her plans and intentions.
On that note, I love that there has so far been three major female characters on this show, and all of them (Laoghaire, Geillis and Mrs Fitz have shown friendliness and solidarity to Claire – though when the inevitable witch accusations emerge, there’s a good chance that Laoghaire will turn on her).

The voiceovers are still awful, and this week were even spliced BETWEEN spoken lines of dialogue; so superfluously that it beggars belief. The 1950s music that softly plays as Claire moves through the corridors of the 18^th century castle is a much better way of showing us what’s going on in her mind.

And we get a look at Shinty – a game where apparently the only rule was no eye gouging. Yikes.

Oh, and apparently Diana Gabaldon had a cameo appearance in this episode – she was the woman on the balcony that told Claire to “shush.”