Unfinished Business

So glad to have some more Outlander on the viewing menu, but unfortunately it was so long between bites I'd completely forgotten what happened last episode.

The pluses were Fantastic scenery. We could watch practically anything set in these locations and enjoy it.

The characters.

I've said it before but Jamie Fraser could be reading the yet to be invented phone book and it would still be enjoyable and he delivered well on his character of a strong but caring man, a role model and let's face it eye candy for the ladies.

The minuses It was hard to figure out what was happening as so many of the characters arcs happened years ago, let alone the gap between this episode and the one before it.

I was a bit lost and without going back and rewatching the first series and single episode appearances in 2,3,4 I couldn't remember what the business with Laoghaire Fraser/ MacKenzie was. Still don't from this episode.

We should have gone straight back in on the cliffhanger of the kidnapped child, but we hardly go any on that.

So it was good to be back, but it was badly assembled for the viewer to the point of frustration. Motivations seemed off, as mentioned by others. It's not like Claire can hop on a plane back to the new world to help a guy shot months earlier. That didn't make sense at all.

I do understand why everyone seems so put off by the new Jenny (let's face it, yes the wig is awful but the poor woman had big shoes to fill) and plot holes galore (Claire getting a letter from Lord John where the poor wounded nephew has probably been dead for weeks) but...! Come on, it's finally back! If you've read the book, you know there's loads to come. It's actually one of the best books in the series. For those who have just enjoyed it without reading, you've got so much to look forward to. I'm not going to spoil it, but it'll be worth it - I promise.

I had a few tears during the touching scenes with Ian Snr and Young Ian. They're both superb actors. In fact, I think Young Ian stole the episode. Bless him.

As always Roger Mac is charisma personified. Not that I'm biased because he's very easy on the eye but he acts with his eyes and his solo journey through the stones was poignant. Can't wait for more of that.

Well, I'm looking forward to the rest of this season and season 8 anyway.

The amount these guys travel would be insane for today's couple. Going from America to Scotland for only a night or two is insane by plane. By boat and carriage is just madness. As others mentioned in their reviews any gun shot victim who can live for months doesn't need urgent care. Stupid storyline, it's like the author has some allergy to the U. K. and must get back to America as soon as possible. Makes me very sad.

Every character is just boring. I would have loved to see more cultural references to how funerals were done in those days. I thought that was perhaps the whole reason for poor Ian sr dying. But looks like the researchers couldn't be bothered. No magic in this show. It's supposed to be magical and about time travel. Claire trying to learn another culture and time and we all learn with her but the show has been on for too long now. I remember watching the show and being so inspired by the costumes, googling stuff they mentioned to see if it was true. I haven't done any of that in years and I feel like everyone else is the same. I used to see so many blogs and YouTubers making costumes and recreating the recipes etc. Guess the show just isn't inspiring any more.

Claire gets a letter from America asking her to come back to operate on a friend who has a musket ball that needs removal. In 1778 if a ship crossed the Atlantic going west in 8 weeks it was considered good time, and the opposite way a month was good. And the mails took longer than that. So, from the time the letter was mailed until the time she would show up in America was at least three months and most probably more. So the odds are that the guy would be long dead before she ever got there. But this was not even considered in her decision to go and leave everyone in Scotland. Either the show's writers just decided to ignore this fact, or they actually had no knowledge of the time it took news and people to travel in those times.

The long wait for this episode would've been alright if the show carried forward at least the mediocre quality of the first half of the season. Instead, we're getting an hour of something that feels like a surveillance camera footage.

Each and every scene can be summed up by " 'member this? ", with characters reminiscing about the past, and naming each other. All the conversations are so sappy and vacuous that I feel nothing except for boredom and mild irritation.

If this is what the creators had in store, they should have had the good sense to close the series instead of trying to keep milking this dead cow.