Outlander, Episode 5: Mandi and Michelle share their takes
Mandi: We are already halfway through the first season of Outlander. Sadness! Thankfully, it's already been renewed for season two. Whew. In episode five, we go on a road trip, 18th-century style. I have to say, it looked awfully cold and sparse, but our dear Claire looked fresh and beautiful every day! If I could look that good after sleeping a night in my own bed I'd be a happy lady. It must have been all of that frigid stream washing that freshened her up and made her hair perfectly windblown.
Dougal, Jamie, Claire and some others head out on the MacKenzie land to collect rent from those unable to make it to the feast. While the men bonded over lewd jokes and cooked rabbit, Claire sat by herself most of the time feeling left out. But in true Claire fashion, she doesn't keep quiet for long. She lashes out at their lewd jokes and the way they always talk in Gaelic to make sure she doesn't know what they are saying. When Dougal collects his "special" rent at night, for his own pockets (which we come to learn is really for the Jacobite rebellion), she makes her opinion known. When Dougal takes a hungry family's goat for rent, she definitely makes her opinion known. The tension between Claire and the other clansmen was very intense in this episode, with poor Jamie once again caught in the middle of his fondness for Claire and his place with the men in the clan.
It ends with a smile, though, as the clan comes to defend Claire's honor when other men call her a whore. They make sure she knows they are allowed to give her a hard time, but no one else is.
After this scene, my smile quickly faded. The red coats have arrived and want to come to Claire's aid. The episode ends with them asking Claire if she is with the MacKenzie clan by choice as Dougal stands by. What will she say?? Can Dougal be trusted? With a price on Jamie's head, will he be safe? Will we see up Jamie's kilt next episode? … What? I'm asking the important questions. We'll see what happens next week in the episode titled The Garrison Commander.
Michelle: Wow, now this episode certainly did end with a cliffhanger. When those credits rolled, I wanted to yell, "Wait! Claire hasn't answered." You can feel the decisive shift in the pace and turning point of this story. Things are about to get REAL. And I'm ready.
Through Claire's point of view, I've learned the key players, the politics, the hard lessons of survival and fallout from rushing to judgment. And I've watched with a mixture of fascination and a touch of "glad that I'm not in that era" to arrive at a healthy respect for this MacKenzie clan. Dougal is going to be a fierce laird when it's his turn. I might not always approve of his methods, but he does know how to sway a reluctant soul. He's like a roaring dragon. Get too close and you might get burned. I do like to see him rushing at Claire like an irritable bull. She stands her ground, pushing back in her guts-and-glory way. She's willing to match his snarl, any day, any time.
OK, I may not have knelt and gave my oath to Colum at the Gathering, but I'm kinda in their camp. So when the English soldier stepped forward to "rescue" Claire, I was ready to see the MacKenzie clan kick his behind. FYI, I'm also speaking Gaelic in my imagination with correct intonation and pronunciation. And when the opening song is played, I'm right there, for honor and glory, with the Highlanders. In the meantime, I'll keep my British passport out of sight.
My takeaways from episode 5:
1) Please, please, may I pay my mortgage with the groundhog taking residence in my yard? I'll even throw in the deer that walks through the property. Maybe I can make up the rest with some crickets. Got plenty of those irritating insects. And then, there would be no hackers and passwords to create havoc.
2) I've heard of urine to set the dye in fabric, so I didn't recoil in horror. BUT singing while slapping down on the saturated cloth is "a pee splash into an open mouth" waiting to happen. Too much for my brain to process because that would trigger a gag reflex.
3) Jamie, bless him. Uncle Dougal, you're special. I don't think that with all the ripping of the shirt, night after night, that there would be much to sew together.
4) I have to remember this is a TV series and not a medical reality show. I have the urge to write to Claire with my ailments and have her tell me what herbs to smoke, drink, sprinkle like fairy dust around me. I do have a nagging cough. She sure is a treasure to have around this wild bunch, Jamie included.
Can't wait for next week to hear Claire's response. See you then.
Mandi Schreiner started romance review blog Smexy Books in 2009. She is obsessed with reading romance novels and collecting fictional boyfriends.
Michelle Monkou celebrates her upcoming digital release in Evernight Publishing's Executive Assistant anthology, writing as Michelle Rhys. Her website is michellemonkou.com. You can also connect with her on Facebook.