Tobias Menzies is Amazing and I Will Miss Him!

Outlander, Epsiode 3 Review, SPOILERS!

This week on Outlander, Tobias Menzies gives good face. In the future, we get a few eras in the Randall household. In the first scene, Frank wears cricket whites as he cooks a classic English breakfast. Claire discovers his goal is to teach his daughter how to be English. It’s a cute moment of domestic bliss and Claire suggests they do something crazy like see a movie. Frank becomes uncomfortable and comments that he’s seen the movies. Claire did agree they could see other people and he’s being discreet. Claire seems thrown, but thanks him for his discretion.

In the next scene, Claire wears a white cocktail dress. Brianna snaps pictures of Claire and Dan Abernathy, then Claire and Frank. He becomes nervous when as he learns she’s leaving later than anticipated. The doorbell rings, it’s Frank’s mistress. Claire is furiously embarrassed as the mistress enters her home in front of Claire’s med school friends on the eve of this momentous occassion. The fight carries into the evening. Claire accuses Frank of only doing it to embarass her on her big day. She offers him a divorce, but Frank wants to be a part of Brienna’s life.

We seen Brienna hit a major birthday and then graduate from high school as the proud parents look on. Then Claire sitting in the living room. She’s vulnerable and reflecting on a surgery that went poorly. Frank interrupts, he recognizes the sign of distress and inquires after her well being. Then asks to take Brienne for England permanently, and give Claire her divorce. Claire erupts, he can have his divorce, but not her daughter. She wonders why they bothered being married all these years at all if Frank was going to just end it. They yell and at the end Frank acknowledges “we were never good at faking it.”

He leaves and that’s it. At the hospital, Dan finds her in her scrubs. “It’s Frank.” Claire sprints to the morgue and Frank lays there broken and gone. Claire leans over him and weeps — “If you can hear me, I did love you.”

The episode built up my dislike and resentment for Frank (though less than in the book), but in this moment, Claire reminded me how beautiful and true their love had been. And I wept with her.

Since we’ve gotten past the most depressing part of the episode, let’s talk about what happened in Scotland. Jamie is in prison with Murtaugh, who miraculously survived the Battle of Collodun (not how it went down in the book). Always the leader, Jamie has been come the leader of the clansmen in the prison and speaks on their behalf to the warden.

The new warden is a major book character, Lord John Grey. We are introduced to the prison setting by Grey. We see the rats, the men who are dying in the cells, and the miserable weather on the highland moors. Grey invites Jamie to dinner and Jamie entrets the Lord for basic neccessities for his men, blankets and medicine.

The two form a strange friendship, based on respect and shared circumstances. As Jamie points out, the prison is hell and even the officers who were sent there must have done something wrong.

The prison takes an exciting turn as an elderly clansman arrives and speaks of the lost rebellion gold. Jamie is called to serve as a translator and hears the man refer to La Dame Blanche. Jamie is immediately elated; Claire was once known as La Dame Blanche. Could it be?

Jamie escapes into the moor to look for her. John has the moor searched. None of the red coats can find him until Jamie sneaks up on him and reveals that he remembers the young boy who once tried to slit his throat. They bond over who has the most honor and end their journey back at the prison. They share a fancy meal and tales of lost love. Jamie mentions Claire’s name and smiles as he remembers her. John speaks of the man he loved, who perished at Culloden. The sweet moment turns wrong when John makes a move on Jamie.

Suddenly all the men are pulled out of the cells and will be leaving the prison. Most are heading for the Americas, where they will serve as indentured servants. Jamie is bound for an estate known as Hellwater. Lord John has arranged for him to remain in England, where he can go visit him quarterly.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Ruther Bader Ginsbergs. This episode took me on an emotional roller coaster. It finally felt like the plot of the season is moving. Can’t wait to see what comes next. Tobias Menzies is such a phenomenal actor and will miss him dearly.

Stray Observations:

• I’m excited to see what becomes of Murtaugh since he’s definitely dead at this point in the books.
• The wardrobing in the ‘60s and I love their house decor!
• Brienna — Love her or hate her? Accepting thoughts!
• I hope they show more of the friendship between Claire and Dan! I love their friendship in the books.
• Another change from the books — it’s very interesting that they decided to write Claire and Frank as having an open but discreet relationship. In the books, it was Frank having a series of affairs.
• RIP Frank Randall. Tobias Menzies you will be missed.