Outlander: Blood Of My Blood reached it's first season finale last week.
I'm not there yet.
I had at one point resolved I was not going to allow myself to get sucked into this Outlander spin off.
Well, I'm 4 episodes into the 10 episode season and God, I hate this show.
How dare it make me care?
Damn it!
The show tracks the formative years of the people who became the parents of Jamie and Claire.
I gotta give props to the casting of Harriet Slater as Ellen MacKenzie and Jamie Roy as Brian Fraser. I can so easily see them producing a child that will grow up to look like Sam Heughan's Jamie Fraser.
Although the path to the destiny is at the moment far from sure. The death of patriarch Jacob MacKenzie has left Clan MacKenzie in a disarray. While Ellen is far and away the best person to lead the clan, the patriarchal stranglehold on Scottish society in the 18th century is absolute and the leadership will fall to either of Jacob's sons, the intelligent and conniving Colum or the brutish Dougal. Meanwhile Ellen has been bargained away to Clan Grant to marry Malcolm Grant.
Ellen's opinion on the matter was not considered.
Meanwhile, she's in love with Brian Fraser which presents it's own problems.
Fraser is the bastard son of Lord Lovat, the laird of Clan Fraser which is destitute and extremely unliked, mostly due to Lovat being an ammoral, brutal, lying asshole. A MacKenzie associating with a Fraser and a bastard Fraser at that, well, that would be quite the scandal.
Not that Ellen is concerned about that.
The other part of this series concerns Claire's parentage, Henry and Julia Beachamp.
Again, casting is key with Hermione Corfield as Julia and Jeremy Irvine as Henry looking like the parents of Caitríona Balfe's Claire.
Outlander: Blood Of My Blood introduces an heretofore unknown time travel element to the story of Henry and Julia. We know from the Outlander series that Claire is an orphan, her parents lost in a car crash when she was very young.
Well, we see that car crash as the automobile spins out of control into a raging river in Scotland. But Henry and Julia are able to extricate themselves from the river.
But as they trudge off across the Scottish countryside to look for help, they come across that magic time travel stone circle. First Julia vanishes and then Henry follows.
Our couple wind up separated. Julia is abducted and sold into slavery to Clan Fraser. In addition to dealing with the rough existence of life in 18th century Scotland and staying just ahead of the handsy/rapey Lord Lovat, Julia is pregnant with her and Henry's second child.
Meanwhile, Henry winds up in the employ of Clan Grant as a bladier, a legal and financial advisor or counselor for a clan, similar to a lawyer. Henry's skills as a solicitor from the 20th century endears him to laird of Clan Grant but also puts him at odds with the brutal and dull witted laird. But the position provides cover for Henry as he continues his search for Julia.
While Ellen and Brian have some degree of plot armor (we know they live long enough to have some sexy times and make a baby Jamie), Henry and Julia do not have that same protection. All Claire knows in Outlander is her parents died in a car wreck shortly after the end of World War I. She has NO idea of their time travel excursion to 18th century Scotland.
We have no idea if Henry and Julia or their 2nd child survive.
The problem with prequels is we know what's going to happen. Except in the case of Claire's parents, we don't.
Man, I hate this show!
I don't want to not know what happens next.
I don't want to have to care about the outcome for the fates of these starcrossed lovers in Outlander: Blood Of My Blood.
Whose dumbass idea was it for me to watch this show?
Oh, it was mine!
That is that for this week's Touchbase.
Coming up... the return of Abbott Elementary, George & Mandy's First Marriage and Ghosts.
Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.
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