Episode 202: NOT IN SCOTLAND ANYMORE explodes with vibrancy, culture, intrigue, darkness and a lot more humor. My favorite scene involves Jamie running into his old crush, Annalise de Marillac, at court. Sam Heughan’s expressions are priceless and jump from one hilarious face to the next. Personally, I think Murtagh steals the show. This is my favorite episode of his so far because we view him in such a wide range of situations from perilous to lascivious. Here’s hoping he gets some while in France.
Claire takes to the streets of Paris, looking gorgeous in her new wardrobe. Jamie and Murtagh don’t look too shabby either in their Parisian finery. Claire and Jamie’s new digs equate to a small palace. (What’s French for McPalace?) And I’m wondering if Murtagh prefers to sleep in the stable.
This is quite a different world which makes Season Two feel like a different show. The Frasers have adapted to their rich surroundings without any trouble, though, at the same time, seem out of place in this superficial environment. I’m eager for Claire to begin work at the hospital and for Jamie to find out his greatest enemy is not dead. Patience, I know.
Lots more Jamie in this episode, but I still donated a few spots to Murtagh and one other new character introduced at court. With that, here are my Top 30 Looks for Episode 202: NOT IN SCOTLAND ANYMORE. Enjoy!
#30: Alexander’s “Little Brother” Face
#29: Murtagh’s “Denial” Face
#28: Murtagh’s “Smiley” Face
#27: Murtagh’s “Scotland” Face
#26: Jamie’s “Can’t Sleep” Face
#25: Jamie’s “Saves Murtagh” Face
#24: Jamie’s “Hates the Duke” Face
#23: Jamie’s “Action” Face
#22: Jamie’s “Royal Honor” Face
#21: Jamie’s “Off to Meet the King” Face
#20: Jamie’s “Hates the English” Face
#19: Jamie’s “Saves the Duke” Face
#18: Jamie’s “Man of Substance” Face
#17: Jamie’s “Lucky Wife” Face
#16: Jamie’s “Red and Green” Face
#15: Jamie’s “Close Shave” Face
#14: Jamie’s “Brooding Chess” Face
#13: Jamie’s “It Was One Time” Face
#12: Jamie’s “Honeypot” Face
#11 Jamie’s “Defends Honor” Face
#10: Jamie’s “Lard Bucket” Face
#9: Jamie’s “Likey” Face
#8: Jamie’s “Dead Man” Face
#7: Jamie’s “Disapproving” Face
#6: Jamie’s “Ironic” Face
#5: Jamie’s “Advocacy” Face
#4: Jamie’s “Breakfast of Choice” Face
#3: Jamie’s “Not an Assassin” Face
#2: Jamie’s “On My Honor” Face
#1: Jamie’s “Sleepy” Face
Hi C, Welcome back and greetings from London! Fun recap, great pics and rhymes, thanks… I didn’t enjoy episode 1 due to the subject matter (the episode was very well done, but it didn’t make me happy! Although I preferred the show version to the book version). But I really liked ep2– sumptuous, gorgeous, naughty, fast-paced, and of course, lots of Jamie! It felt like “Outlander” was finally back! (in a way that Episode 1 just didn’t). Great stuff, lots to love…
On the other hand, there were some surprisingly careless mistakes in this episode. I’m a fluent French speaker, and OMG, the French spoken by Jamie and Claire is atrocious. With the amount of money spent on this show, and the number of French actors and extras on set– how is it possible for there to be so many errors in the language? I found it distracting and annoying. (i.e. Claire refers to Louise as “Marquis” instead of “Marquise”– in other words, she calls Louise a man. Claire says “Je ne serais pas longue” for ” I won’t be long” which is like a bad Google translation. She basically said I won’t be long as in six feet long. Long in “time” is “longtemps” not “longue.” And Jamie’s pronouciation of French words is mostly incorrect throughout all his French speeches). Am curious how French fans will respond to the fact that their language has been butchered.
Also, the repeated date stamp of 1745 is INCORRECT, and should have been corrected before airing the show– it throws off the entire timeline of the show… so really they should do something about it,…
Finally, I found it a bit jarring that Claire repeatedly says to Jamie “It’s OK, It’s OK.” In 1745, Jamie would have no idea what “OK” is. Also, OK is an Americanism. I live in London, and even to this day, Brits don’t say “OK” very much. They will usually say “all right” rather than OK. The scriptwriters are American…but again, I’m surprised with so many Brits on the set, no one picked up on this before the final edit.
I adore this show and am a huge fan, I think the producers and writers are brilliant, and have been meticulous up to now– but I’m surprised these careless mistakes were allowed to remain in the final edit without being corrected… (sorry for being nitpicky!) Hope the French gets better in the next ep, fingers crossed!
PS– Also, kudos to the producers on casting of the new characters!
Louise– soooo saucy, love her, could watch her all day! Bonnie Prince C– fabulously deluded. The King– so louche. The comte– deliciously wicked. The finance director– jolly. Mary– looks really right as a teenage ingenue. Master Raymond– what a face! Alex Randall– really does resemble Tobias Menzies!
I actually haven’t read the book yet (started it, and put it down after the beginning reveal– which depressed me! Will read the whole after the show airs). So I don’t know how well the casting matches the book. But I LOVED the new faces…they all seem to have lots of personality.
Hi, Irene. Thanks so much for stopping by. I encourage to pick up where you left off. Don’t worry. Everything will come around and you’ll love how Diana does it. Book 3 – Voyager – is my absolute favorite of the series. You can’t read that if you don’t read DIA!
Hi Candida, thanks for your reply. I will certainly finish the DIA book, but no matter how good Voyager is (and many people have told me it is the best of all the books), I still can’t get over the fact that a 20 year separation is something Jamie & Claire will have to endure, and Jamie will never see his child grow up. Yes, they’re back together in middle age, but their youth will have been spent separately. (unless there’s some magical time-travel trick that turns them young again…).
On a separate note, and on the matter of reading the book after watching the show: I think somehow watching the show first has made me biased toward the show. After reading the “Outlander” book, I still liked the show better than the book. I wonder if it will be the same with DIA, tbd… (as I mentioned, I liked the show reveal– 1948 rather than 1968– better than the book…but I guess it depends what happens in the rest of the season…)
Finally, on another separate note, I have a cousin who is an extreme book-fan. She dislikes the show for what she considers one very fatal flaw: The show overall depicts Jamie as much less intelligent, strategic, wittty, and insightful than book-Jamie. Nothing wrong with Sam’s performance, but she feels the writing and editing leaves his character very shortchanged. Having read “Outlander,” I think she has a point. There are many instances where RDM has cut out scenes which highlight Jamie’s cleverness, and I’m starting to think that show-Jamie is too dominated by Claire. I’m hoping this dynamic will lessen as Season 2 progresses, fingers crossed.
Hi ! My mother tongue is french and “Je ne serai pas longue” is totally correct. (on the contrary “longtemps” is not, in this case). To be honest, I don’t find their accent atrocious, it’s very charming (and sensual) ! Our language is not butchered. For the record, they’are not supposed to be native french speakers but to speak french fluently …
We love it, no doubt 🙂
Hi Nathalie, Thanks for your thoughtful reply. I love the show (really) but I respectfully disagree with you about the language. When Claire calls Louise “Marquis” and Jamie says “mon epousse” instead of “epouse” it isn’t just accent, but mistake (in fact Caitriona has quite a good accent). But anyway, I watched episode 3, which had almost no language errors- hallelujah! (J & C actually spoke much less French in ep 3).
Hey ! As a French fan, I don’t think their French is that awfull. Of course the pronunciation is not very good, but I am honored that the actors learned to speak French, instead of just speak English as if anyone in Paris does so. For me it’s normal that they don’t pronounce all the words the right way and I perfectly understand them when they speak (despite sometimes Jamie mumbles a little)
“Je ne serai pas longue” is totally right in French, it’s just kind of an archaism, although some people still use it.
I think their improving their accent throughout the episodes !
Oh and as a French fan, I apologize for my poor English !