Real SOfoke Hiigh-"All the way up remix".(audio)
In my review last week, I praised the level of restraint Outlander possessed in certain aspects of the story. It was an action-heavy episode with a lot of gore and intensity, and yet it left one of the most disturbing moments in subtext. There were plenty of visual and tonal cues to suggest Black Jack had raped Fergus in Best Laid Schemes. We didnt need to see it to feel the full impact of the horror. But Faith goes ahead and shows exactly what happened at the brothel when Black Jack walked into the room to find Fergus. Restraint goes flying out the window. I always find it difficult to write about rape scenes, and Outlander is really challenging me this season on that front. I just think that the story would have been so affecting without those flashbacks. Sometimes the whole showing instead of telling rule backfires. My guess is the writers thought it would be best to show instead of tell here, providing visuals to support what Fergus dictates to Claire, especially since he doesnt seem fully capable of going into detail about what happened with words, which is understandable giving the trauma hes experiencing. But the more effective example of showing instead of telling happens earlier, when Fergus hesitates next to a bottle of perfume as hes putting away Claires brush. Its a trigger for him, and even without the full picture of what happened at the brothel, I could feel his pain in that moment so viscerally. Did Outlander need to show the abuse in order to achieve effective and moving storytelling? No, it didntespecially now, since weve already seen the horrors Black Jack is capable of.
Flashbacks are a tricky thing to pull off. None of the ones in Faith work. Im of the firm belief that flashbacks within an episode to something that happened in that episode should be outlawed. (How To Get Away With Murder is guilty of this far too often.) At episodes end, Claire flashes back to being in the hospital, and at least it all leads to a part we havent seen yet, but those initial silent pops to the breaking Virgin Mary and Claire screaming for her baby arent nearly as visually compelling as director Metin Hseyin seems to think they are. And the Virgin Mary breaking was overt enough of symbolism the first time around. A second just makes it hokey.
Faith does do one thing immaculately well: It gets right into Claires head and situates itself there, probing the different layers of her brain and providing an emotionally tumultuous episode that is so sharply in tune with the heroines psyche. The episode begins in Claires perspective, as she comes to in the hospital and first realizes the possibility that she could lose the baby. From there, it only gets more devastating, and Faith allows the pacing to be slow in order for the full impact of the episode to really hit. Its a cautious, meandering episode that gives all the emotional beats so much room to breathe. Its best moments are its quietest ones, like when Claire touches her apostle spoons, taking in all that they represent and mourning what has been lost without saying so much as a word. Heres where Outlander often shines and distinguishes itself from other action-adventure dramas that look similar on the surface. Outlander puts feelings first, way ahead of the action, way ahead of the plot. When it doesnt, its starkly noticeable. Not all the direction choices of Faith work, but overall, its a haunting episode, and Caitriona Balfe is in full command of every scene. Its a taxing episode for her, with so much of the narrative hinged on Claire and, more specifically, Claires inner-self. But shes more than up to the challenge. She elevates it all with a performance surely deserving of awards consideration.
Its a strange episode, too. Outlander is often a strange show, meandering down unexpected tangents that have almost more to do with mood than story. Claire makes a desperate plea for Jamies freedom with the king of France and ends up having to sleep with him in order to get what she wants. But she also has to do something else: The king leads her down a hidden hallway to some sort of execution room where he asks for her professional opinion on whether St. Germain and Master Raymondboth of whom have been arrested for practicing the dark artsshould be punished by death. I tend to love when Claire goes full witch, like when she whispered Black Jacks date of death into his ear last season. And its admittedly quite fun here when Claire cops to being a white witch even though shes just manipulating everyone in order to control the situation. The scene puts power back in Claires handsonly to then rip it away when the king makes it clear that s*x is also part of her payment. Its an odd and anticlimactic demise for St. Germain, but the whole scene is masterfully staged. Its slow and tense, like a lot of the episode, giving full weight to what is about to happen and not just filling the space with unnecessary dialogue. Faith manages to have restraint in so many other parts of its narrative, which makes that rape flashback all the more gratuitous.
Stray observations- As Master Raymonds taken away, Claire recalls a line from The Wizard Of Oz, said by Dorothy to the Scarecrow: Im going to miss you most of all. Its a nice little reminder that Claire is not of this timeone thats a little more intimate and emotional than just her advanced medical knowledge.
- I like that its Louise who comes to Claires bedside. Its an unexpected role for her, and yet, she really is Claires only friend in Paris.
- I must admit that I dont fully understand the opening scene of the episode. Claires in 1950s Boston with her daughter Faith...is this what that timeline would look like if Faith had lived? Or is Claire going to have another child named Faith? It must be the latter, since Claire shows up pregnant when shes reunited with Frank, right?
- Im drawn to Master Raymond only insofar as I dont quite understand him, which is why Claire seems drawn to him, too. He promises that well meet again, and I hope thats true, because I need answers.
- The way Jamie is first shot as hes returning home, so that we cant quite make out his face, is a really nice choice.
- Claire finally acknowledges shes at fault for a lot of the bad that has happened. Maybe shell finally stop putting Frank ahead of everything?
- Im so glad Claire and Jamie are going back to Scotland. That was a long time coming.
Source: http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/outlander-doubles-down-season-twos-darkness-237142
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