Outlander: Past and Present

Last time on “Outlander:” Wedding bells all around! Jamie and Claire got married and spend time in the 18th century version of the honeymoon suite. They talk about their families and generally get to know each other. Jamie also tells Claire about how the wedding day came together, which is good because she was buzzed for most of it. She warms up to Jamie and the rest of the episode can be summed up in this gif:

CREDITS! Are they going to update the images for season 2, I wonder. Also, another warning—there is some graphic content in this again. I’ll give you some warning. And I won’t post screen caps of them.

Outlander: Going to the Chapel…

Last week on “Outlander”: Claire and Dougal are escorted by Lt. Foster to the garrison for a meeting with Lord Thomas. Claire charms him and is thisclose to returning to Inverness when Black Jack returns. He interrogates Claire and then tells her about the time he whipped Jamie. It’s best not to dwell on that. When Dougal comes to fetch Claire, Black Jack orders him to bring her to Fort William for further questioning. To save Claire, Dougal insists she marries Jamie. Claire agrees, grabbing some liquid courage.

CREDITS! Who’s excited? Cause I know I am! BRING IT!

Outlander: The Heart of Darkness

Last time on “Outlander”: Dougal and his merry group of Scots travelled the MacKenzie lands to gather the rent from the people who lived there. Claire went along and her 20th century sensibilities ran contrary to 18th century practices. But she soon becomes one of the boys as she realizes the MacKenzies are raising money for the Jacobite cause. A British soldier arrives to check on Claire, which is where we ended.

CREDITS! I have nothing else to discuss, but I will give a warning: This episode is graphic and violent. I will not use screen caps of anything too gory, but even me talking about it could be a trigger. You have been warned.

Outlander: On the Road

Last time on “Outlander”: Everyone gathers at Castle Leoch. Claire this decides this is a great time to escape, but finds many obstacles in the form of a lovesick teenager and several drunken men. When she gets out to the stables, Jamie informs her why this is the worst time to escape. He escorts her back to the castle but they are spotted. Jamie is forced to stand before Colum, where he could risk death by either taking an oath of loyalty or refusing to. Jamie manages to say the right things and gets to play in their reindeer Highlander games. After watching how she handled the death of a man on their boar hunt, Dougal tells Claire she’s coming with him to collect the rent.

CREDITS! What to say this week…Hmm, I guess not much. I think I’ve gushed over them long enough. Sorry, guys.

Outlander: The Not-So Great Escape

Last time on Outlander: Claire got to work as Castle Leoch’s resident healer and the residents kept her busy. Meanwhile, a young boy fell ill after visiting the Black Kirk, said to belong to the Devil himself, and people believed demons took him. Mrs. Fitz’s nephew also falls ill but Claire is the only one who doesn’t believe he is possessed. Geillis warns her to stay away but she doesn’t. After a visit to Geillis’ where Claire experiences some 18th century punishment, she asks Jamie to take her to the Kirk. There, she discovers the boys ate a poisonous plant and she is able to save the boy. In doing so, she makes an enemy of the local priest and assures the fact that Colum would not let such a talented healer go. But a song about a person who fell through the stones and managed to go back gives her hope of returning to 1946 and Frank.

CREDITS! It’s now a tradition, it seems, for me to talk about the credits here. I guess now I must comment on how brilliant it was that they keep the credits faceless. You can still tell who is who, but you don’t actually see their faces. Brilliant.

Outlander Has a Heroine!

Outlander fans rejoice!

Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser has been cast! 

 She will be played by Catriona Balfe. I don't know much about her but Diana Gabaldon raved about her. Looking at her, though, I think she'll be good.

Can't wait to see!

Outlander Has Its Villain!

And no, it's not Jason Isaacs.

It's Tobias Menzies.

Let's take a look, shall we?

Outlander: Casting the TV Series

So, I'm gonna start off with a shameless plug (or two). I'm trying to be a published novelist and I'm blogging about it. Every so often, I write a "book analysis." It's when I take a book I just read and go over it. I examine it for what I believe the author did well and what I thought could've been done better. So I did it for Diana Gabaldon's book "Outlander." I thought I did it for the second in the series, "Dragonfly in Amber," but it appears I didn't. Judging by my Goodreads review, I guess I was just too fed up. Not too fed up to stop reading the series, though I have yet to start "Voyager," the third book in the series.

And not enough to be excited to see "Outlander" brought to life on my TV screen. A few months ago, Starz tapped Ron C. Moore to create a possible series based on Gabaldon's Outlander series. Earlier this month, the series received the green light.

You know what that means! Time to get really serious about casting speculation. Because we've all speculated on the chance this would happen. And I'm no different. So, I present to you my selections for the main characters of Outlander under the cut.

The Bible: The End?

Let's get the snark out of the way. As I tweeted last night: It's official, The Bible: Where No One's Name Was Ever Changed. Nope. First was Abraham and Sarah never being called Abram and Sarai, but I let that slide. And then Jesus addressed "Peter" and never "Simon." This week, they introduce Paul of Tarsus. It's almost a One Steve Limit--there was already one saul, can't have two! But there's already the precedent. Oh well. Onto the rest of the review...

And so the Bible ends. 

The Bible: Jesus' Ministry

Good timing, History Channel. The Bible will conclude on Easter. Bravo. 

This week's episode was focused on Jesus' ministry, moreso on his miracles but his teachings were included. The main focus in this episode--besides continuing the Rome was the evilest evil who ever eviled theme from the last episode--was the growing tensions between Jesus and the Pharisees. And the growing belief Jesus came to free them from the Romans. (Oh, did they watch the last episode as well?) 

The Bible: For Unto Us...

I am starting to think "The Bible" is forcing people to read it by putting in these inaccuracies every so often. 

And by skipping large portions of "The Bible." 

There's a part of me that wants to go back to when they were deciding which stories to include and which to discard. Why eliminate Jacob and his sons? Elijah and Elisha? Solomon? What were the reasons to not include these people? 

The Bible: Relationship Problems

History's miniseries, "The Bible," continued this week where it left off last time. Joshua and the Israelites waited outside the walls of Jericho, ready to conquer it. The actress who played Rahab, Stephanie Leonidas, was very good and the sequence was a good, exciting start. 

The Bible: Genesis and Exodus

"God is with us; trust in God." 

This is the message of "The Bible," or at least its first part, airing on the History channel. It doesn't start in the very obvious way: With a voice booming "In the beginning..." The first part starts with stormy seas which in my Bible (the New American Bible) is how the void is described before God starts creating. But no, it's the flood waters as we see the ark bouncing among the waves. Onboard, Noah recounts the creation to his scared family. He then goes into Adam and Eve, though they get barely a minute of screentime before we see Cain and Abel. Then Noah explains why God flooded the Earth.