Outlander Season 1-3 | Review

*SPOILERS*

Based on the Novel Series by Diana Gabaldon

Developed by Ronald D. Moore

Oringal network Starz, now on Amazon Prime

I always found Amazon Prime boring compared to Netflix, the thought of having some things for free and then having to pay for others always annoyed me so I was put off watching it for so long, one day I couldn't find anything to watch on Netflix so I browsed Prime and came across Outlander, a show I had seen people raving about for ages but I wasn't sure if I would like it so never bothered to give it a go. Well, that day I was so bored and not feeling too well that I put it on, once the first episode had ended I was hooked, the writing and storyline had me wanting to know more and I ended up finishing the first season far too quickly. I haven't included everything that occurs in each season as I felt I would just highlight some of it from each season, so would appreciate no comments trying to correct me and tell me I missed bits out.

Outlander is about a young Nurse named Claire Randall (maiden name is Beauchamp) her husband and her visit Inverness in 1946, they love their surroundings and take in the Scotish history around them, both are English and very much in love. Whilst staying as guests the woman of this home asks Claire if she would like her to read her palm and Claire agrees, this woman tells Claire she will have two husbands at the same time which blew Claire's mind and it stuck with her for a good long time. One day Claire is taken back in time just by touching the standing stones at Craigh Na Dun because she was wearing a gemstone at the time of touching them she was able to be thrown into 18th century Scotland which was far from 1946 kind of lifestyle. When she appears on the other side she is rescued from the British Redcoats by the Scotish Highlanders who are part of Clan MacKenzie, they take her in and welcome her into their home but make her marry one of the Highlanders called Jamie Fraser. 

I wouldn't say no to him that's for sure he is a fine beautiful red-headed mad! Whilst in the 18th century Claire realises she is unable to use her married name Randall as her first husband ancestor Captain Johnathon Randall (Randall) is alive and well in this time period, she realises what a crawl and awful man Randall is and decides it would be best to use her maiden name. The clan has suspected Claire to be a spy for a while now and they stop her from ever leaving and made her a healer for them, she tries her best to get away but eventually falls in love with her husband and is torn between two worlds and two men.

Claire knows how the war between the Red Coats and the Scots end and tries her best to warn Jamie of how it ends , he was very spooked and obviously knew that if Claire carried on speaking this way she would be called a witch so he tells her to keep these things to herself, what I love about their growing relationship is that Jamie has grown to love Claire so much that he listens to the nonsense she tells him, they are very passionate and just want to protect each other, so when Jamie is captured by Randall Claire does her best with the help of the Clan to free him from the torturous bastard Randall. He has messed so badly with Jamie's mind that Claire doesn't know what to do she tries her best to help him and they both eventually decide to leave for Paris for a new life, this show isn't set solely in Scotland, we do see them in Paris for a while once they move assuming that when Jamie was rescued Randall was crushed to death.

When they arrive in Paris (Season 2) they quickly make themselves at home as they are expecting their first child which Claire found out she was pregnant with when they were making their way to France, they made a plan to sabotage the Jacobite's rebellion in order to try and stop the Battle of Culloden, this battle spelled disaster for the Highlanders and would put an end to their culture so Jamie trusted what information Claire had told him and put his time into helping stop it from happening. This all took place after Claire pissed off Comte St. Germain by getting his shipment on a boat destroyed because she diagnosed one of the men working on it with smallpox and he warns her that she will pay for his loss of money and profits just because she confirmed smallpox.  

A step back in time to a world full of rough and ready Scots doing all they can to save their clan.

Later on in season 2 Claire finds out the Randall is still alive through his brother and keeps it to herself as she doesn't want this to affect Jamie again and just hopes he doesn't turn up whilst they are around, they eventually bump into him and Jamie is happy Randall is alive because that means he could kill him himself, which is fair enough, to be honest after everything he puts Jamie through. Not even that long into their stay in Paris Claire is poisoned she knew exactly who put her life in danger but was not yet able to prove it until later on in the season when a young girl named Mary Hawkins who Claire had befriended was *TRIGGER WARNING* raped whilst Claire was with her walking back to their home for a party Claire and Jamie were hosting, when they arrived at the house a lot of things were muddled up in words and Mary's boyfriend Alex Randall is accused of raping Mary. Jamie and Claire had made an agreement for Jamie not to kill Randall for a year until Franks ancestor is born so that Frank isn't erased from history but one day Jamie catches Randell trying to have his way with a young boy called Fergus who Claire and Jamie had raised as they own, he asks Randall for a duel and this is when Claire finds them fighting and see's Jamie stab Randall in his groin and Claire think that Frank has been killed and goes into early labour with her and Jamie's baby.

Poor Claire gives birth to a beautiful red-headed girl who was born sleeping, usually stillborn babies aren't named but the nun in the hospital named her Faith for Claire as Claire was near death herself, a piece of placenta was still inside her poisoning her but a friend of hers manages to get it out of her. When Claire eventually comes out of hospital she learns Jamie is in prison for dueling which is illegal and she has to go and sort it out with the king, in order to get Jamie out she sleeps with him for her freedom. Once he is out they know the war isn't far off which means that they will be on the losing team, before the big battle Claire bumps into Mary who stayed with Alex so they could build a life together but Alex had become so ill she had no choice but to ask Claire for help, she agreed but warned Jack Randall that Alex didn't have long left. Alex asked his brother to Marry Mary so that their child and Mary would be looked after.

Randall eventually agrees and Alex performs the ceremony himself with Claire and Jamie as witnesses. It then clicks that Alex Randell is the link to Frank and not Randall so he could have been killed off ages ago really, I know I would love to have killed the bastard. Not long after this, the big battle takes place but before it does Jamie tells Claire she needs to go back through the stones and back to Frank, he Knows Claire is pregnant again and he just wants to protect her and the baby, Claire agrees and we see Jamie finally kill that bastard Randall on the battlefield. When Claire returns back to her time she explains everything to Frank and they both agree to raise Jamie's baby together, which was nice considering what an evil man Randall really is.

Moving on to season 3 it's a very different vibe to the first two as it now takes place in America where Frank and Claire agreed to raise the baby who Claire named Brianna, we see her growing up with them and the relationship between Frank and Claire go downhill but Claire's career in medicine flourish! Frank dies in an accident which was devastating I felt so bad because I knew Claire still loved him very much. Claire and Brianna go to Edinburgh to the funeral of the woman who told Claire she would have 2 husbands, the little boy who was there at the time was all grown up and they spoke about memories of the time she went missing. Whilst out there Claire is eventually honest with Brianna about who her real father is, determined to find out more after being weirded out by her mum she finds out Jamie survived the battle, she eventually tells her mum who chooses to go back through the stones to be with Jamie.

When she gets there she soon learns he wed the woman who accused her of being a witch and nearly got her burned alive and both women are fuming at Jamie, he does explain to Claire that there was never love between them both and Claire soon forgives him, which she does far too easily throughout Outlander. They are staying back at Jamie's sisters and all the children Jamie's sister had are grown up now and have children of their own, one, in particular, Ian loves being around his Uncle Jamie and tasks on a task to get some treasure from an island for Jamie, when he has collected it men stop him and put him on their boat. They have been ordered to find 3 sapphires by a very rich woman who baths in the blood to keep her looking young and now Ian was on his way to her which can only spell disaster. Jamie and Claire have no idea about this and decide to find a ship and crew to take them to Jamaica to find Ian. Whilst on the boat they discover Fergus (who is a young man now) and Jamie's stepdaughter have sneaked on board so they can get married away the cheeky sods! 

A lot of stuff happens on board the ship they are on but when they finally reach Jamaica Claire is taken back by the slave trade and wants to save them, she tries to save a man and causes a scene so Jamie buys the slave for Claire and she promises she will make him a free man and she did indeed keep to her word. Whilst searching for Ian they come to realise the woman who was accused of being a witch (Gellis) along with Claire was still alive, they thought she was burnt at the steak but turned out she managed to escape. She kept the boy prisoner and was still searching for the third sapphire she believed she needed all three to travel back through the stones and kill Brianna because she believes it will fulfill the prophecy that will restore the Scottish king and considering she had trouble the first time she was accused of being a witch I'm surprised that Gellis would continue with acting like one. She is stopped just in time before she used Ian as a sacrifice (which isn't needed but she was convinced it was) Claire kills Gellis to save her own child! 

Claire's stubbornness and devotion is what keeps her going in the darkest of times.

After all the panic and upset they decide to head back to Scotland but not before marrying Fergus with his wife, on the trip back there is a horrendous storm that washing both Jamie and Claire overboard and that is how season 3 ends, blimey that is a long post! But I tell you what I love Outlander it kept me hooked the moment I watched it, the way they are able to switch from different period times and portray the characters is brilliant, the costume department deserves an award for the outfits they made for the show they are stunning. The soundtrack stands out to be because they mix it up each time Claire and Jamie are in a different place, I do have to warn you though *TRIGGER WARNING* there is rape in this show so  if this is too much for anyone it's understandable why you wouldn't want to watch it, I personally found them scenes very hard and distressing to watch. Out of all 3 seasons so far I would have to say season 2 was my favourite, seeing Jamie and Claire's love grow even through the hardest time in their life was somewhat humbling. As someone who has lost a baby before I felt a sense of relief with how they addressed the baby loss. I was so glad when Randall was finally killed because his character was starting to get a little ridiculous and felt like he was able to get away with anything, I'm looking forward to seeing what season 4 will bring us and how Jamie and Claire will survive after being swept into the ocean. I rate this show 5 stars because it was unique, full of action and each episode kept me interested. 

Elle May

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