Come sail over the sea to Skye with us this summer, as we take a trip through the stones to the first season of the television adaptation of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander book series. First published in 1991 with Outlander, Gabaldon’s multi-genre novels features the time traveling love story of Claire (Caitriona Balfe), a 1940s woman who finds herself out of time and place in Scotland in the era of the Jacobite rebellion. The U.S. pay TV network Starz debuted the Outlander TV series in 2014, with the show concluding its fifth season last year. In celebration of the ninth novel out this autumn and the sixth season of the TV series debuting in early 2022, we’re spending our 2021 summer vacation at Castle Leoch.
Break out your finest tartan, it’s time for the nuptials of Claire and Jamie. Except one problem: Claire’s already married in 1945. And the prospect of a marriage, no matter how charming Jamie is, puts a pit in Claire’s stomach as it leaves her one step farther away from going back home.
It should also be noted that Outlander is very much an 18+ series, with graphic violence and sexuality throughout. And of course, spoilers within for both the tv show and the novel series.
1. A Wartime Wedding
Before we have a Highland wedding reception, we get to see Frank and Claire’s engagement in the 20th century, a spur-of-the-moment proposal in front of the city hall. It’s not clear when in the 20th century this takes place, but I have to presume this is the late 1930s or early 1940s, before they both went off to war. You’ll recall that Claire referred to their 1945 second honeymoon early on as a chance to get to know her husband again, after the war – – so I can’t help but think that Frank’s proposal, while romantic in its spontaneity, had more wartime urgency behind it than romance. But also credit to him where credit is due, recognizing that a wedding is about the bride and groom, not the trappings of the celebrations around them.
We don’t get to revel in that newlywed madness for long, though. As Claire accepts Frank’s proposal with a kiss, we jump back in time where the new Mr. and Mrs. Fraser are exchanging their first kiss as husband and wife. And do my eyes deceive me, but it looks like Claire is enjoying things, if only for a fleeting moment. But it still disturbs her how, even if bit by bit, the trappings of her 1945 life are slipping away from her.
2. Swoon-worthy Jamie
There was someone who in this marriage who could have said no to this: Jamie. He’s young, he’s titled, he’s certainly not bad to look at – – in short, he can have his pick of fine ladies of Leoch. (And we know from past episodes there’s one with her sights set on him!) All this, and yet he still agrees to marry Claire, because he knows firsthand the ruthlessness of the English. He does not want to see this Sasssenach suffer the same fate. And if there’s anything even more sexy than that ginger hair and smile, it’s his values. Even when he throws out Rupert and Angus who want to, ahem, check in, on the newlyweds, and protecting her from the lecherous wedding reception guests after they’ve done the deed, you’re immediately smitten. Practically swoon-worthy, and it’s starting to become hard for Claire to resist all of it. (Who wouldn’t?)
The romance is thwarted for now, as each spend their wedding night talking, drinking, and learning about each other. It’s something that was clearly missing in Claire and Frank’s courtship, and she’s enjoying it. In Jamie, she has foundations and roots: something she’s longed for all her life. A betting man or woman would put money on this marriage being longer lasting, as it has all those building blocks that was missing from the one in the modern times.
3. The Eros of Undressing
A favorite, if perhaps little-known, film of mine is The Age of Innocence, the 1993 adaptation of Edith Wharton’s novel starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Winona Ryder. (Call this one of those high school books I had to read that I actually liked.) The film and book’s climatic romantic scene is Day-Lewis unbuttoning Pfeiffer’s glove and kissing her hand. It never goes farther than that, but the longing between these two that will sadly never be is so electrically charged and more passionate than any sex scene. Claire and Jamie’s undressing of each other has that same potency: longing, anticipation, apprehension, all mixed with a little bit of excitement. This sexual tension reaches its climax (pun intended) with the lovers doing what the law (and biology) want them to do, albeit less romantic and more rough. Jamie may be a virgin, but he’s not a monk.
Continued belowAnd much to Claire’s chagrin, she enjoyed it.
4. The Preparations
This is an episode built on the foundation of flashback and character moments, opening us up more to Jamie’s family, the history of the clan, and just how much Claire has won them over. Everyone goes the extra mile to ensure the wedding meets expectations. A gift of a brooch from Murtagh to Jamie, a brooch that belonged to his mother, because Claire reminds Murtaugh so much of Jamie’s beloved mother. The efforts to secure a priest on Jamie’s insistence that he and Claire be wed in the eyes of God. (The church wedding that Claire thought her husband wanted!) Ned’s trip to a brothel to find Claire a wedding dress. (Of all the wedding tasks, Ned certainly enjoyed his the most!)
Jamie’s recall of every detail will once again make you swoon, from these silly stories to describing seeing Claire for the first time as seeing the sun come outside on a cloudy day. It’s no doubt over the top romance novel prose, but dammit if it doesn’t give you the heart eyes. And to add: they both look stunning in their wedding finery.
Claire’s recollections are perhaps less detailed, no doubt due to a raging hangover that morning. But one thing she does remember: she’s a bride still wearing her former (future?) husband’s wedding ring. Hold on to that thought for a moment.
5. Sexytime
If you’ve been waiting for the sexytime reputation that preceded this show, you’ve got it in the final third of this episode with several emotionally charged lovemaking sessions between Claire and Jamie, filled with more passion on both sides than their wedding night coitus which certainly had its efficiency. After all those weeks of sexual tension, we’re all shouting at our TV and computer screens “FINALLY!” Dougal as well confirms that Claire is not also safe from Black Jack Randall’s clutches, though perhaps not his as he has a fondness for the Sassenach as well.
The episode ends on a tableau of objects: a gift of pearls from Jamie to his bride, pearls that belonged to his mother. Jamie’s wedding day kilt that Claire wraps herself in (along with the pearls) when they make love again. And then there’s two rings on Claire’s hand: Jamie’s wedding ring, and her wedding ring with Frank. Her dual lives and identities, visible to her every waking hour. That inner conflict is going to make facing down Black Jack Randall look like child’s play.
The Lost Papers of Black Jack Randall (Our Afterthoughts Section)
- The events of this episode correspond to Chapters 14 and 15 of Outlander: “A Marriage Takes Place” and “Revelations of the Bridal Chamber”
- Not only do Claire and Jamie have to show proof that they are married, but proof that they’ve consummated the marriage. And during the ceremony, Dougal cuts Jamie with his sword, tying his bleeding hand together with Claire’s. Gotta love some of those bridal customs!
We’ll see you next week for “Both Sides Now” and do let us know what you thought of the episode in the comments.
As of this writing, the first season of Outlander is available for viewing on Netflix, where seasons 2-4 are also available (except in the UK). In the UK, the show is available on Amazon Prime Video UK. All five seasons of the show are also available via Starz (in the United States).
