The only reason I gave 9 is that I was so confused at the start, I thought I had skipped an episode but when I realised, I thought it handled the transition so well running things in parallel, I should be used to it after all these years. Costumes are again amazing and I wish so much that we could have someone arrange to exhibit them in the UK for fans here. I find it so hard to imagine how Claire can resume a relationship with Frank when all she will see is his ruthless and evil ancestor. Jamie, whilst still so handsome, makes a better Scot than Frenchman..bring back the kilt! Thanks to all involved in the writing, acting, filming and showing of this incredible story and remaining so truthful to it.
11 Reviews
Great episode indeed
vimrodl9 April 2016
A lot of excitement has been building up for this Season 2. Fans of the books knew this season was a great challenge to adapt, while fans of the series were left in shock by the end of Season 1. This first episode was excellent! It was able to bring you back to both sides of the story with the main characters dealing with heartbreaking emotions and at the same time setting in motion a plan to change history. Costumes and set design are absolutely incredible, a joy to watch in itself. The music score is fantastic and the performances truly immerse you back into Jamie's, Claire's and Frank's lives. Ron D. Moore and his team of producers, writers and directors have started this new season exceeding all expectations!
great episode
mjzettle-175989 April 2016
The Tidal of this episode so reflected the mood and feel of the story. The situation Clair and Frank were put in was not going to be easy to resolve. It was truly like look through a glass window into a gathering storm. I do have to say that the directing was above and beyond my expectations . The performance the directed evoked out of Tabias Menzier was unbelievable. So, So very passionate. And I haven't even touched on the costume and sets. What a pleasure to watch true professionals at work. I applaud all of you. Great Job Great Job. My husband was in tears. Your raised the bar for your future episodes. I do hope that they also are presented in the same Professional Manner.
Outlander returns to second season with great first episode.
giladgur10 April 2016
Warning: Spoilers
A great beginning of the second season. It was worth waiting. The two eras combined effortlessly and beautifully. I got a great portion of all that I like in this program; Clothes, accents, story line... Usually I prefer actors who play differently, different roles. Tobias Menzies is just great in it. Frank Randall is played so differently from Jack Randall. Even the hints to some similarities in their personality brought to us gently. No wonder that, Outlander as a whole and this episode itself are one of the few series I grant 10 points to. The only thing that was a bit of a downside is the poor CGI of Manhattan's skyline shown from the airport. Reminded me some 60's technology more then a 2015 production. Other then that, I'm awaiting for the next episode...
Happy that Outlander is back!
mmqmbd13 May 2016
Really enjoyed the first episode of the second season of Outlander. As a book reader, I never thought too much about what Frank was doing during Claire's disappearance. Great to explore another part of the world of Outlander, but I was happy to get back to Claire and Jamie. The surprise of the time jump for show-only fans is nothing to the one that we book fans endured. I honestly thought I had picked up the wrong book in the series. Book fans often report throwing Dragonfly in Amber across the room during the first read. I did appreciate the show allowing us to adjust to the change in scenery from Scotland to France by not dropping us directly into the French royal court. I'm looking forward to seeing the court sets & production design by Jon Gary Steele and the costume designs by Terry Dresbach.
Great episode!!!
mariusus-807-92266525 July 2021
One episode in, and it's already better than the book
Avwillfan8910 April 2016
Warning: Spoilers
In Dragonfly In Amber, the story starts off in 1968, with Roger Wakefield helping Claire and her grown up daughter Brianna to find out what happened to the Scottish clansmen after Culloden. She ultimately finds out that her beloved husband Jamie might very well have died during that awful battle. This scene dragged on and on, and all I wanted to know was how did Claire's first husband Frank Randall take it when he found out his wife was back? And what were Claire's feelings when she first came back to the 20th century?
All this is presented within the first few minutes of the episode and carries on throughout, exploring the relationship between Claire and Frank after three years apart.
After that, we take leap back in time: taking us back where the last season ended. Jamie and Claire get off the boat into France, and almost as soon as they put their feet down on the ground, they make an enemy of Le Comte St Germain.
This promises another truly fantastic series, making me impatient for the next episode.
All this is presented within the first few minutes of the episode and carries on throughout, exploring the relationship between Claire and Frank after three years apart.
After that, we take leap back in time: taking us back where the last season ended. Jamie and Claire get off the boat into France, and almost as soon as they put their feet down on the ground, they make an enemy of Le Comte St Germain.
This promises another truly fantastic series, making me impatient for the next episode.
Ready for More Pain? Welcome to Season 2 of Outlander
jmansmannstjohnslrev28 February 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I have to say, the first time I saw this episode, I was completely baffled. To see Claire back in 1948 at the start of the episode was mystifying to me. Why on earth would Outlander diminish the events of the rest of the season by giving us the outcome in the first episode. I was a fool of course. Caitriona Balfe doesn't take long picking up where she left off from last season. Her shrieks of agony upon returning to future heralding a change in the type of story that was coming in season 2. If season 1 was a romance, it is clear from the start that season 2 is going to be a tragedy. If you were hoping that the feelings of hope in the season 1 finale were going to herald a more light-filled, optimistic story, boy does Outlander have a surprise you.
The introduction is not a perfect episode, but it is a perfect introduction to what season 2 is going to be about. You already see what is coming from the first episode. The season is going to be about Jaime and Claire's efforts to stop the rising, to prevent the massacre at Culloden Moor. You see how Jaime and Claire have been changed and hardened by the events of season 1. They are different, colder, more calculating, more fierce. They are reading to weave a web of lies and deception to achieve their goal. The two work so well in the brief time we seek them in the first episode, convincing Jaime's cousin to assist them in meeting the Jacobite leaders. What a contrast to season 1, wherein Jaime was loathe to expose his wounds to anyone. Now, he's using his own body to his advantage. And of course, it wouldn't be Outlander if Claire didn't make new enemy, this time in the form of the Comte St. Germain.
Looking back on it, I think this episode is what makes season 2 my favorite season of Outlander, because it gives the audience a knowledge that Jaime and Claire don't have and sets up an element of time that is always hanging over our heroes heads. We know that the Frasers will fail and the Rising will come to pass. With each subsequent episode, the stakes are raised as the Rising gets closer and the Frasers desperation to ward off history increases. As an observer, it's difficult not to become more and more invested in the story and share more and more in the character's desperation. It's a tragedy because you know what's coming, you know the devastation that awaits, and that the characters, regardless of how hard they try will be unable to stop it, unable to change their fates, regardless of how hard you hope and wish it were otherwise.
Yet, this review could not be complete without mentioning the other tragic part of the episode, Frank and Claire's relationship. This theme was alluded to in some extent during the season 1 episode Lallybroch, the idea of characters being frozen in time, and you see it raise its head again with respect to Claire and Frank's relationship. You don't really see it pop up again until the end of the season but its worth mentioning here. What make Frank and Claire so compelling is that they do have some type of connection. There is a reason why Claire still wears Frank's wedding ring. There is a reason why Claire makes certain that Frank understands what happened to her before he agrees to try to make a life with her. The love of her life is Jaime, but there is still some affection, some love for Frank, and Frank certainly still loves Claire.
But, without giving too much away, you can already see a major problem in their relationship. Frank loves Claire, but he loves the Claire that disappeared in 1945, not necessarily the one standing before him in 1948. Part of Frank's condition is that he wants Claire to leave the past behind, to start over with him. That's never going to happen and not for the reason you might think. Jaime isn't the problem, though Claire clearly has fallen in love with him, the problem is for three years, Claire has been on this amazing adventure and changed as a person. Indeed, this episode shows you how Claire has changed from season 1, how she's grown more comfortable and confident, going toe to toe with the Comte St. Germain. She's not the same woman that Frank knew in Inverness. He has essentially been frozen in time, or better, his view of Claire, who she is as a person, has been frozen in time.
It's these conflicts that make Outlander such a great show and why I think season 2, despite the pain and heartache that is entails, turns out to be the best season of the show.
The introduction is not a perfect episode, but it is a perfect introduction to what season 2 is going to be about. You already see what is coming from the first episode. The season is going to be about Jaime and Claire's efforts to stop the rising, to prevent the massacre at Culloden Moor. You see how Jaime and Claire have been changed and hardened by the events of season 1. They are different, colder, more calculating, more fierce. They are reading to weave a web of lies and deception to achieve their goal. The two work so well in the brief time we seek them in the first episode, convincing Jaime's cousin to assist them in meeting the Jacobite leaders. What a contrast to season 1, wherein Jaime was loathe to expose his wounds to anyone. Now, he's using his own body to his advantage. And of course, it wouldn't be Outlander if Claire didn't make new enemy, this time in the form of the Comte St. Germain.
Looking back on it, I think this episode is what makes season 2 my favorite season of Outlander, because it gives the audience a knowledge that Jaime and Claire don't have and sets up an element of time that is always hanging over our heroes heads. We know that the Frasers will fail and the Rising will come to pass. With each subsequent episode, the stakes are raised as the Rising gets closer and the Frasers desperation to ward off history increases. As an observer, it's difficult not to become more and more invested in the story and share more and more in the character's desperation. It's a tragedy because you know what's coming, you know the devastation that awaits, and that the characters, regardless of how hard they try will be unable to stop it, unable to change their fates, regardless of how hard you hope and wish it were otherwise.
Yet, this review could not be complete without mentioning the other tragic part of the episode, Frank and Claire's relationship. This theme was alluded to in some extent during the season 1 episode Lallybroch, the idea of characters being frozen in time, and you see it raise its head again with respect to Claire and Frank's relationship. You don't really see it pop up again until the end of the season but its worth mentioning here. What make Frank and Claire so compelling is that they do have some type of connection. There is a reason why Claire still wears Frank's wedding ring. There is a reason why Claire makes certain that Frank understands what happened to her before he agrees to try to make a life with her. The love of her life is Jaime, but there is still some affection, some love for Frank, and Frank certainly still loves Claire.
But, without giving too much away, you can already see a major problem in their relationship. Frank loves Claire, but he loves the Claire that disappeared in 1945, not necessarily the one standing before him in 1948. Part of Frank's condition is that he wants Claire to leave the past behind, to start over with him. That's never going to happen and not for the reason you might think. Jaime isn't the problem, though Claire clearly has fallen in love with him, the problem is for three years, Claire has been on this amazing adventure and changed as a person. Indeed, this episode shows you how Claire has changed from season 1, how she's grown more comfortable and confident, going toe to toe with the Comte St. Germain. She's not the same woman that Frank knew in Inverness. He has essentially been frozen in time, or better, his view of Claire, who she is as a person, has been frozen in time.
It's these conflicts that make Outlander such a great show and why I think season 2, despite the pain and heartache that is entails, turns out to be the best season of the show.
Surprising, confusing, and good
BenignPillows5 November 2016
Warning: Spoilers
This marked a welcome return to the show after a long break, though it was also extremely confusing! I had never expected it to start the way it did. Episode spoilers follow!
Basically, Claire is suddenly back in 1940s England, having gone through the stones. Little background is given, but it clearly is a "flashforward", possibly to the end of the season. (I am now two-thirds through it btw, and still don't know why they chose to possibly spoil the whole thing like this). Anyway, it is interesting to see Claire deal with coming back, and not least Frank. Unlike many book fans, it would seem, I love the way the showrunners have fleshed out his perspective. How does Frank react to his wife not only telling an unbelievable story, but being pregnant with another man? Tobias Menzies portrays this in a moving and captivating way. What an actor that man is. He truly inhabits his characters. I was almost disappointed when the episode finally jumped back to where we left Jamie and Claire, arriving in France. It made it hard not to notice what a much more limited actor Sam Heughan is, unfair though it is to compare him to Menzies, who's in a league of his own on this show. However I really liked the transition, which played on the "outstretched hand" symbolism from the S1 posters. All in all, good episode.
Basically, Claire is suddenly back in 1940s England, having gone through the stones. Little background is given, but it clearly is a "flashforward", possibly to the end of the season. (I am now two-thirds through it btw, and still don't know why they chose to possibly spoil the whole thing like this). Anyway, it is interesting to see Claire deal with coming back, and not least Frank. Unlike many book fans, it would seem, I love the way the showrunners have fleshed out his perspective. How does Frank react to his wife not only telling an unbelievable story, but being pregnant with another man? Tobias Menzies portrays this in a moving and captivating way. What an actor that man is. He truly inhabits his characters. I was almost disappointed when the episode finally jumped back to where we left Jamie and Claire, arriving in France. It made it hard not to notice what a much more limited actor Sam Heughan is, unfair though it is to compare him to Menzies, who's in a league of his own on this show. However I really liked the transition, which played on the "outstretched hand" symbolism from the S1 posters. All in all, good episode.
Found this problematic
smartU218 July 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Like many others have mentioned, I thought that I had lost an episode or two or three in the transition between the two seasons - #one and #two. But, okay, after accepting how it was done, then, I am asked to believe that Frank Randall knew he was sterile when he's being told about Claire's pregnancy but got excited as if "they" were having a child? Perhaps, it is possible, he thought: "oh the doctor was wrong...I am not sterile." But, then, on top of all that, it seems apparent that they have not yet been sexually intimate, since his return: they sleep in separate rooms. He gets invited into her room just for a discussion. It's unbelievable to me that given the obvious emotional distance between them that they have had yet even one sexual encounter where he could have fathered a child...or does he believe that she's harboring his sperm inside her for the last two years of his absence? A highly educated man? A scholar? The writing makes no sense at all. His knowledge that he is sterile and then his joy to hear that she is pregnant which turns to outrage when he hears that it is not his - with all signs indicating that they have done nothing sexually intimate since her return is poorly thought out.
Mixed feelings
kristal-4220111 April 2016
Warning: Spoilers
I have mixed feelings about the episode. At first I was at a loss that it suddenly started off after the war. I had to check how book 1 ended and book 2 started. I actually thought that maybe I'd missed an episode from season 1. Then I found out that book 2 starts in 1968 and the ending of season 1 and the ending of book 1 aren't the same either. I was confused, but of course continued watching. The acting was really good, esp. Tobias Menzies' acting is astounding! He's got a tough job, doing two such different characters, yet bringing both to live so vividly! Truly outstanding performance. He's probably the least appreciated in the series, but maybe the best actor of them all. In spite of the good acting, great settings and costumes, I did find the episode long-winded, almost boring at times. I don't think it was the best of places to start a new season off with. Maybe they decided to do it this way so they can switch back and forth between the series' present time and the past with Jamie? If I remember correctly, in book 2 there was an extremely long section without Jamie in it, all about Claire's life with Frank and Brianna. I got really impatient with it, because I felt like "Who cares?!" I want to hear about Claire and Jamie! If they'd do the series like that, they'd probably lose 60% of the audience, if not more. I mean, let's be honest here, people want to see Sam Heughan!
Apart from all that, I do hope Jamie grows some bigger you-know-what. Sometimes he comes across as too sweet a man and Claire way too dominant.
Apart from all that, I do hope Jamie grows some bigger you-know-what. Sometimes he comes across as too sweet a man and Claire way too dominant.
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