Well Outlander fans, Droughtlander is officially over after the premiere of Season 3 and we canna deny it was well worth the wait!
Last season was very different in comparison to the first season with our beloved couple touching down in Paris in attempt to prevent the Battle of Culloden from happening and there they faced many trials and triumphs. Just like Season 2, it seems as though this season will be no different with Jamie and Claire living apart and in separate times.
At the end of Season 2, the Battle of Culloden finally came to pass and Jamie sent Claire and their unborn child to safety through the stones of Craigh Na Dun whilst he headed off to battle. The Season 2 finale jumped back and forth between 1746 and 1968 with Claire’s now grown daughter, Brianna, discovering her true heritage. But ultimately, the most important part to us all, was that James Fraser still lives on and Claire now wants to go back.
The Battle of Culloden
The episode opens with the confronting scene of mounds of bloodied, bruised, and battered bodies lying upon the ground of Culloden Moor. The British are skewering those who still live and alas, we finally spot a beautiful redhead barely alive and a British soldier lying dead on top of him. Jamie (Sam Heughan) begins to recall the events that have occurred, including sending Claire (Caitriona Balfe) through the stones, and then to returning to battle and charging towards the British.
The scenes are nothing short of glorious and it does justice to such a critical event we have been waiting for over the course of two seasons. From Jamie smothering a soldier with a tuft of grass and a short reprieve with Murtagh (Duncan Lacroix), these pale in comparison to the moment Black Jack Randall (Tobias Menzies) and Jamie see one another.
In a somewhat romanticised way, the two battle it out with Randall injuring Jamie significantly and almost delivering a killing blow. However, Jamie manages to fight back until they are the last ones standing. He finally receives the vengeance he has so long desired when Randall can no longer stand from his wounds and collapses onto Jamie where the two fall in a near embrace.
Waking to find Claire walking towards him, her beauty unfortunately turns into Rupert (Grant O’Rourke) who saves Jamie from the battlefield, but the wounded Scot drops his gift from Hugh Munro, a dragonfly in amber.
Welcome To Married Life in America
Frank and Claire appear to be a typical married couple when they arrive in America, but a jump forward to a very pregnant Claire shows she is facing the same issue as she did in Paris with being a mere housewife. At a Harvard function, Claire speaks out and she is quickly shushed by an American man who says Frank needs to pay more attention to what she reads. She’s also told she must be happy to have more fitting and domestic concerns than being a combat nurse, and we all know how that didn’t sit well with Claire.
A little further forward sees Claire asking Frank to apply for an American citizenship as she feels at home in America, and she has never felt that before, not even in England. Their relationship seems normal with their banter and discussion, but she moves every time he tries to touch her.
Naturally this leads to an argument about Claire still living in the past and Frank attempts to keep his anger under check (side note: I will be very sad to see Tobias Menzies go, he is beyond brilliant actor), but instead, Claire is the one who begins to throw things at him.
A Bloody Lucky Redhead
Rupert, Jamie, and a group of wounded Jacobites hide out as the British remain on high alert for traitors. Jamie calls for Murtagh, however, nobody has seen him since the Battle.
The group is soon discovered by the British and they are told they are to be executed. Despite Rupert’s anger after Jamie killing Dougal, the pair still attempt to be humorous despite their circumstances. This was a nice scene to see as shortly after, Rupert says farewell and he is executed. I’m all for seeing the show progress, and even though it’s inevitable, it’s heartbreaking to see so many great characters be killed off, like Angus and now Rupert.
Jamie then volunteers to go next but when he is asked his name so it can be recorded, Lord Hal Melton (Sam Hoare) stops him. Jamie is asked if he is actually ‘Red Jamie’ and if he recalls a young boy named John Grey who tried to kill him. He recalls the boy and the debt that he offered, but he would rather die instead.
Luckily for Jamie, George won’t dishonour his brother’s word and helps Jamie escape because he believes Jamie will die from his wounds anyway. He is soon sent on his way and he wakes to find himself at Lallybroch with Jenny and Ian.
A New Redhead is Born
After Claire and Frank’s argument, he struggles to sleep and instead begins writing to Reverend Wakefield to ask him if he can research a Highlander by the name of James Fraser! However, Claire soon interrupts him as she has begun to go into labour.
At the hospital, Claire awkwardly reveals she had a miscarriage as she hadn’t told Frank about it. She is soon whisked away and quickly knocked out despite her cries against it. Claire soon awakens in hysterics reminiscent of those when she woke at the hospital in Paris to find her baby was stillborn, but Frank walks in with her baby and she is overwhelmed.
The birth of little baby Brianna allows Claire to open up to the idea of really beginning anew for them and she even allows Frank to touch and kiss her several times. Their happiness is somewhat short-lived when a nosy asks where Brianna got the red hair from and it causes the tension to rise once more.
Overall Thoughts?
I am a little more than biased because Outlander has easily become one, or if not the most, favourite series of mine. Although there was quite a bit of back and forth to get used to, this well definitely help set the tone for the upcoming episodes as our pair won’t reunite until episode 6.
It’s definitely going to be a big change for Outlander fans to get used to Claire and Jamie being apart for so long as well as the two different time periods, but it will only make it all the more worthwhile when they reunite after twenty years apart.
Overall, the Season 3 premiere was quite impressive. The cinematography for the Battle of Culloden was breathtaking and the way there was very little talking in the first 13 minutes really built up the anticipation. I perhaps would have liked to have seen Black Jack Randall say more and taunt Jamie, but then again, so many words and emotions have been shared between the two so it does make sense for it to be all action.
What did you think of the Season 3 premiere? Sound off in the comments below!
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