1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,920 Hi and welcome to K Let's Talk, the podcast where we breakdown 2 00:00:03,920 --> 00:00:07,440 storytelling across books, television and film with a 3 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:09,800 special love for book to screen adaptations. 4 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:13,520 Here we talk about craft, character arcs, structure, 5 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:17,040 dialogue, visual language, and the creative choices that shape 6 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:19,480 how a story lands. If you like thoughtful, 7 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:22,560 conversational, deep dives into the stories you can't stop 8 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:24,240 thinking about, you're in the right place. 9 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:28,560 Let's talk This will be my Outlander Season 8 episode 7 10 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:31,160 review titled Evidence of Things Not Seen. 11 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:34,600 As always, if you are looking to avoid spoilers from the book or 12 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:36,720 the TV show, please do keep on scrolling. 13 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:40,480 So the episode opens with Jamie walking up a mountain with 14 00:00:40,480 --> 00:00:45,280 Frank's voiceover explaining that it's the autumn of 1779 and 15 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:48,480 Kings Mountain presented A serene Vista that was 16 00:00:48,480 --> 00:00:51,960 reminiscent of Culloden Moore. Right away, we as viewers 17 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:55,400 understand that Jamie has read this passage in the book that 18 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:59,760 Frank wrote and is thinking about his words as he ascends 19 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:03,440 this mountain. As Frank makes a connection of 20 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:08,600 Kings Mountain and Culloden, Moore being a serene Vista 21 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:11,040 before Cullodens historic bloodshed. 22 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:14,720 I personally found that to be a stretch because having visited 23 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:19,240 Culloden more myself, it is a very, very flat bog and this is 24 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:21,400 a mountain. Frank goes on to say. 25 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:25,520 As history would record, this tranquility was nearly the calm 26 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:28,040 before the storm of iron and fire. 27 00:01:28,320 --> 00:01:31,800 Major Patrick Ferguson and his loyalist militia established 28 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:35,080 their stronghold at the summit. Commanding the high ground 29 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:37,120 below. The over mountain troops 30 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:40,400 gathered, their resolve firm as the earth beneath them. 31 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:43,280 Many rebels were picked off as they climbed up the 32 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:45,880 mountainside. The battle was swift and fierce. 33 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:50,760 290 loyalists, including Ferguson himself died and only 34 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:54,160 28 of the rebels fell. This is when we see Jamie 35 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:58,960 pulling out the book and saying out loud the words including me. 36 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:02,360 Jamie then stands on top of this mountain overlooking the land 37 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:05,760 below and we hear this Gallic song beginning to play. 38 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:10,240 The lyrics say Farewell to Lock a Bar, which is the name for the 39 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:12,760 region in the western part of the Scottish Highlands. 40 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:15,280 When we get. This really beautiful wide angle 41 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:18,560 shot where we can see just how high up Jamie is actually 42 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:20,480 standing on the top of this mountain. 43 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:25,240 It gives us a visual as to what this battle would have even 44 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:30,040 looked like given the terrain, and it also puts Jamie at this 45 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:33,720 very visually important location, standing atop a 46 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:36,360 mountain. In many ways, we know that he is 47 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:39,800 trying to mentally prepare for the fact that he may be slain 48 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:43,360 during this battle, and him going through the motions and 49 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:47,720 walking through everything that Frank is laying out is a way 50 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:50,280 almost for him to practice visualization. 51 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:53,160 It's at that point that we get the title card for the episode 52 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:56,720 which says evidence of things not seen and we can see here 53 00:02:56,720 --> 00:03:00,800 that a lacemaker is starting to make some black lace and that's 54 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:04,720 followed by an image of the black lace being rolled out on a 55 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:07,480 bed. This is obviously foreshadowing 56 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:10,920 2 events that will happen later on in the episode surrounding 57 00:03:10,920 --> 00:03:14,600 Fanny and her grandmother and Jamie and Claire and their time 58 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:17,280 in France. We then jump over to the big 59 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:21,000 house and Jamie and Claire are talking about Jamie's experience 60 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:24,440 standing at top of Kings Mountain reading Frank's words 61 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:28,800 and seeing the place himself. Jamie admits that this all makes 62 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:32,600 sense to him and that Frank's words appear to have a lot of 63 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:34,360 merit. Then the show does something 64 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:37,440 that has bothered me a few times this season, which is repeat 65 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:41,360 dialogue to make sure that we as viewers don't forget the very 66 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:44,880 specific message that the show wants us to know, which is that 67 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:49,240 Jamie and Claire don't know why Frank wrote the book. 7 episodes 68 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:53,520 in, they still don't know why Frank wrote the book if it was 69 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:55,400 meant to torment them or warn them. 70 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:58,760 I understand that when you're working with a big ensemble like 71 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:02,840 this and multiple storylines, that you have to remind the 72 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:07,760 viewer of small plot points that might have happened seasons ago 73 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:12,880 or years ago in the past, or very far in the pasts of these 74 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:15,520 two characters. But they have repeated this 75 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:19,519 sentiment every episode of this season, and to me, that feels 76 00:04:19,519 --> 00:04:21,279 like very lazy, repetitive writing. 77 00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:26,000 We then jump over to Fergus at his print shop in Savannah and 78 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:30,280 we see him teaching his boys how to print a printed page and 79 00:04:30,280 --> 00:04:34,360 Henri Christian expresses interest and wants to try but he 80 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:37,840 is afraid of disappointing Fergus because he is different. 81 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:42,280 Fergus has made a stool for him to use and we see him and German 82 00:04:42,280 --> 00:04:45,000 roll out the paper and successfully print the page 83 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:48,480 without smudges, and Fergus tells them both that one day the 84 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:51,760 print shop will be theirs and that the pen is their sword. 85 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:56,920 This again is being used as a narrative callback setup because 86 00:04:56,920 --> 00:05:00,280 we know how this episode will end and it's establishing early 87 00:05:00,280 --> 00:05:04,280 on that both the boys have an interest in the practice of 88 00:05:04,280 --> 00:05:07,920 printing, but ornery Christian in particular has more of an 89 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:12,200 interest than German. This scene also reaffirms to us 90 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:16,560 that Fergus has become very, very fond of Henri Christian, 91 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:20,080 which you'll remember in the previous season he was initially 92 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:24,640 very much rejecting of him. They have made a point to show 93 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:27,960 us different instances of him and Henri Christian becoming 94 00:05:27,960 --> 00:05:32,040 very close with one another and that their bond is very, very 95 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:34,120 tight. That is when we leave the print 96 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:37,320 shop and we see the finished portrait of Amaranthus and 97 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:40,760 Trevor and find William looking at it in the living room. 98 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:45,520 We can see right away that he is upset, and when Amaranthus 99 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:50,240 approaches, he tells her that he has found Ben and confronts her 100 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:54,680 for knowing that he was not dead, and also informs her that 101 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:56,400 he has risen to the rank of general. 102 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:00,840 Amaranthus owns up to knowing that Ben is alive, but claims 103 00:06:00,840 --> 00:06:03,840 that she could not dissuade him from joining the army. 104 00:06:04,280 --> 00:06:09,200 And this is when we get to the crux of their argument with one 105 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:12,120 another. Because rightfully so, William 106 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:16,160 feels incredibly betrayed by both Ben and Amaranthus. 107 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:19,960 She calls out that the Grays are very stubborn and tells William 108 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:23,120 that it was only after she expressed what exactly the 109 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:26,880 repercussions would be for Trevor to Ben to have a father 110 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:30,400 who was a traitor that he decided to fake his own death. 111 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:35,240 This whole scene takes place in chapter 118 of Go and Tell the 112 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:38,160 Bees that I'm Gone, and almost all of the dialogue is pulled 113 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:39,880 directly from the source material. 114 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:43,440 She admits that she wanted a coward, a man who would avoid 115 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:46,920 conflict and peril. William then asks if she thought 116 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:50,520 that that might be him, and she says that she did at first, 117 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:53,880 because John had mentioned that he had resigned his Commission. 118 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:57,360 But she saw the truth of William quickly and knew that he was not 119 00:06:57,360 --> 00:07:00,280 like that. You can see right away how much 120 00:07:00,280 --> 00:07:03,840 that affects William, that her first inclination of him was 121 00:07:03,840 --> 00:07:06,960 that he may have been a coward. This is when she spots the 122 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:10,760 bruise on his cheek and William tells her that he must tell Lord 123 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:14,400 John and Uncle Hal that Ben is alive and Amaranthus doesn't 124 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:17,440 want him to do that because she's afraid that they will hang 125 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:20,040 Ben. And that's when William can see 126 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:23,840 that she is still in love with him despite agreeing to marry 127 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:25,520 William. That's when she starts to 128 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:28,400 backtrack and argue that nothing has changed, they can still get 129 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:31,120 married. And it's at that point that Lord 130 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:35,040 John enters the room and catches them with Amaranthus's arms 131 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:37,720 wrapped around William. In the book, it's made very 132 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:41,560 clear that Lord John has been watching these two very closely 133 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:45,520 and has inferred from that that the two of them are growing 134 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:48,240 close to one another. This is just another instance 135 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:51,080 when he catches them in the act that kind of reaffirms his 136 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:54,480 suspicions about them and he informs the two of them that Hal 137 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:57,160 is on route from London to learn of Ben's death. 138 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:00,600 And that's when William tells John that Ben is actually alive. 139 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:04,280 And at the Continental camp, John can see how upset 140 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:08,280 Amaranthus is and apologizes to William for not believing him 141 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:11,280 that Ben might still be alive. And that's when he starts to try 142 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:15,080 and console Amaranthus because he recognizes that she must be 143 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:17,000 incredibly shocked to hear this news. 144 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:20,360 He tells the two of them that he had been dreading telling Hal 145 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:23,480 that his son was dead, but Amaranthus wants to tell him 146 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:27,840 news and John decides to fetch Brandy instead. 147 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:31,200 We know because we were just Privy to the conversation 148 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:35,080 between Amaranthus and William, that she is afraid that if 149 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:39,600 people find out Ben is alive, it will impact their son Trevor and 150 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:42,360 also her because she was in on the lie. 151 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:46,360 To her credit though, she recognizes that William is not 152 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:47,920 going to keep the secret from her. 153 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:51,800 He is upset about discovering that Ben is alive as well, and 154 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:53,840 that also Amaranthus had lied to him. 155 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:58,000 And it puts their impending wedding in jeopardy as well. 156 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:01,480 So it's a bigger mess than simply finding out that Ben is 157 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:04,600 alive now that her and William have entangled themselves with 158 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:07,800 one another. And I think that she is playing 159 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:10,480 the long game here, knowing that she'd rather get ahead of this 160 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:12,920 news than have it come from William. 161 00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:14,880 She'd rather it come directly from herself. 162 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:18,800 Back in Savannah we see Brie and Marsley walking town briefing 163 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:21,280 each other about Fergus being the son of the Comp Saint 164 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:25,320 Germain and how Fergus does not want to be a pawn and fears that 165 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:27,680 this is a way to undermine the rebel cause. 166 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:30,920 Bree agrees that John has claimed Percy to be a slippery 167 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:34,840 person, and Marcely starts to imagine how that wealth would 168 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:38,080 change their lives. And so she asks when Roger and 169 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:42,000 Bri are going to leave, and then is out in the open when Bri 170 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:45,600 divulges all of their plans to meet with the rebels tomorrow to 171 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:49,920 give them gold and get rifles. I did not like this because in 172 00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:54,720 no way would Brianna do this out in the open in public. 173 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:57,720 And yet here we are, having this scene take place in the middle 174 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:02,440 of this open forum where anyone could hear them talking, and 175 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:05,640 it's at the same time that Marsley has a tomato thrown at 176 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:09,400 her for being the printer's wife and is warned to tell her frog 177 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:11,400 of a husband to mine what he prints. 178 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:15,200 This, of course, is our first bit of foreshadowing into what 179 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:18,920 the core climax of the episode is and the key conflict 180 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:21,280 surrounding Marsley and Fergus moving forward. 181 00:10:21,680 --> 00:10:26,200 At the Cairn, Claire and Fanny are beside the water and Fanny 182 00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:29,320 is holding a Locket that says Faith on it that we saw in 183 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:33,680 season 7 and she asks Jane if she minds if she wears it. 184 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:37,880 Feeny's conversations with Jane are used as sort of info dumps 185 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:42,440 in the series and she expresses in this scene how much she 186 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:45,560 misses Jane. But also, it's a way of showing 187 00:10:45,560 --> 00:10:49,960 us her trinkets and the things that she has kept close and on 188 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:52,280 her person that belonged to Jane at one point. 189 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:55,840 And that serves as the perfect vehicle to introduce something 190 00:10:56,120 --> 00:11:00,200 that serves as connective tissue that's not used in the books. 191 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:03,600 And in this instance, it's the lace that we saw in the title 192 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:05,760 card. Fanny is afraid that she has 193 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:09,120 lost a piece of lace on the journey to the Fraser's Ridge, 194 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:12,320 and she reveals to Claire that her grandmother had made it 195 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:14,920 because she was a lacemaker in Paris. 196 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:18,800 Claire in the book books makes a point to not ask Fanny too many 197 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:22,240 questions because she does not want to reintroduce trauma and 198 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:26,640 pain surrounding the death of her parents and her journey over 199 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:29,960 the ocean theoretically to America when she was young. 200 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:33,400 And so she really doesn't poke and pry into Fanny's past. 201 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:36,400 But she was old enough to remember certain things and in 202 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:38,800 the book she brings them up on her own here. 203 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:41,960 One of those things is that her mother lived in Paris when she 204 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:43,920 was a girl. They would visit there 205 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:46,840 sometimes. And her grandmother lived in 206 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:50,800 Paris and made lace. Claire is asking her name and 207 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:53,280 you can see that she's now trying to connect the dots. 208 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:58,680 So again, this show only change is being used as a vehicle to 209 00:11:58,680 --> 00:12:03,200 further emphasize this Faith storyline and reaffirm another 210 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:07,560 piece of the puzzle that would suggest that not only did Faith 211 00:12:07,560 --> 00:12:12,600 live, but lived in Paris, existed in Paris, grew up there, 212 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:15,800 and then would go back with her own daughters. 213 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:19,520 Back in Savannah at Lord John's home, we see Amaranthus owning 214 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:22,880 up to knowing that Ben was alive and John is rightfully upset. 215 00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:26,920 This is when William actually tries to defend her actions and 216 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:30,280 John starts to point out that becoming a widow has been quite 217 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:33,640 lucrative for her. That's when she snaps. 218 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:36,760 She rightfully asks John if he has ever had to be hungry 219 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:40,360 before, because she has, and she would never allow that to happen 220 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:43,880 to her son if she had any say in it and wanted to prevent him 221 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:47,320 from having the same fate. And so in her anger, she throws 222 00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:50,280 her drink into the fire and walks out of the room, which 223 00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:53,760 leaves William and John alone to digest this news. 224 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:57,320 John very quickly admits that he was a little harsh and then 225 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:00,960 confronts William and says that he knows that William and 226 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:04,720 Amaranthus are are close because as we the viewers just saw, 227 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:07,720 William was angry with her but then was very quick to defend 228 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:10,800 her. And John is not unaware of that. 229 00:13:10,840 --> 00:13:12,840 He sees it happening in real time too. 230 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:16,120 But now that we know that Ben is actually alive and Amaranthus is 231 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:21,480 indeed not a widow, he sees this as something he needs to warn 232 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:25,040 William about because it is now at this point very improper for 233 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:29,040 him to entangle himself with Amaranthus given that she still 234 00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:31,880 has a husband. This is when William counters 235 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:34,680 that he has no interest in entangling himself with anyone 236 00:13:34,680 --> 00:13:37,760 who deceives him. And we get to another key 237 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:42,560 element of the storyline here, which is that both William and 238 00:13:42,560 --> 00:13:46,240 John are at an impasse with how to handle the news of Jamie 239 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:49,520 being his father. And it's something that is still 240 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:52,480 a very deep wound in William, that he has not yet found a way 241 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:55,760 to heal and that John cannot heal for him. 242 00:13:56,000 --> 00:14:00,160 And that means that every time that John parents him because he 243 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:04,800 is his parent, William rebels against it and lashes out in 244 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:07,040 anger. And we see that happen multiple 245 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:10,240 times in this episode, this one being the first example of that. 246 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:13,800 We then jump over to see Marcely cleaning her clothes when Fergus 247 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:16,960 approaches their house and spots a letter in the door. 248 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:20,480 It ends up being another Riddle and it says Lady Bird, Lady 249 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:23,160 Bird, fly away home. Your house is on fire and your 250 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:26,720 children are gone. But the word bird is spelled 251 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:30,920 BURD. Fergus then recites another one 252 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:34,440 who killed Cockrobin? I said the Sparrow with my bow 253 00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:38,320 and arrow. And so we get very quickly the 254 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:41,120 sense that this is not new for them. 255 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:43,960 They've been receiving these letters for quite some time now. 256 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:46,640 That's when we see Henri Christian again trying to learn 257 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:49,560 how to print and Fergus imparting more wisdom on him 258 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:53,160 before he runs inside. And the two of them, Fergus and 259 00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:56,280 Marshall, are left smiling at how proud of him they are. 260 00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:59,320 This, of course, is meant to again, establish that really 261 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:03,240 close bond between Fergus and Henri Christian, which I think 262 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:06,280 would have felt more effective if this took place in an episode 263 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:09,880 outside of this one, because all of these scenes with them 264 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:13,640 together seem very strategically placed in order to have big 265 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:17,040 impact in the same episode. But for me, a lot of the times 266 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:19,960 when you're trying to build a narrative impact like this or 267 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:24,040 something that we can grasp onto and feel really deeply, it has 268 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:26,560 to be established over a long period of time. 269 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:30,040 And the show, given the condensed nature of this final 270 00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:33,800 season, isn't doing that. And so it does feel almost like 271 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:37,480 product placement to stick these scenes in where they are because 272 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:42,240 the conversation that follows is in service of establishing that 273 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:47,720 narrative and it feels more like info dumps or context driven 274 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:51,280 dialogue rather than realistic dialogue that would take place 275 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:54,640 between Fergus and Marceli here. Her saying that she does not 276 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:57,560 want idle threats to scare them away from something that brings 277 00:15:57,560 --> 00:16:01,720 her son so much joy is so specific. 278 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:05,480 It doesn't feel like natural dialogue that the two of them 279 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:08,880 would be exchanging here. But the scene does allow us to 280 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:12,040 see them be flirty with one another and Fergus references 281 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:15,640 their future children, which Marsley jokes is him trying to 282 00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:19,240 populate the entire colony. We do ultimately get this really 283 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:22,400 beautiful scene of the two of them together in their bedroom 284 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:26,440 with all the eager kids running around outside the doors and her 285 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:29,120 having to lock it so that they can have a moment alone. 286 00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:32,960 And it's such a great parallel to how we saw them in Season 3. 287 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:36,640 Their relationship still has that fire and passion even after 288 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:39,000 all of this time with all of their kids running around 289 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:41,200 upstairs. And it's a really beautifully 290 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:44,640 shot scene between the two of them where we can see that they 291 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:47,960 still have that chemistry. And it's also laced with plenty 292 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:49,920 of humor between the two of them, too. 293 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:52,400 And I thought that the way it was shot was just really 294 00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:55,280 beautiful, beautiful, quick, intimate scene between the two 295 00:16:55,280 --> 00:16:59,400 of them that again establishes that the two of them are still 296 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:02,600 so, so in love even after all of this time and all of the 297 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:04,119 children that they have had together. 298 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:07,640 Back at the big house, Claire tells Jamie about the lace going 299 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:10,839 missing with Fanny and how it was made by Fanny's grandmother, 300 00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:14,640 who was a lacemaker in Paris. Jamie says he remembers A 301 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:18,599 lacemaker across from Master Raymond's apothecary, and while 302 00:17:18,599 --> 00:17:21,160 he was walking by, he had heard a child's cry. 303 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:24,119 And the two of them wonder if it's possible that that was 304 00:17:24,119 --> 00:17:26,760 Faith. Claire says that she thinks 305 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:29,960 Mother Hildegard chose the name Faith because she wanted Claire 306 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:33,440 to hold on to her Faith in a moment when she was so scared to 307 00:17:33,440 --> 00:17:34,880 lose Jamie. And the show. 308 00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:41,480 Kind of twists that narrative idea to encapsulate not only the 309 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:45,880 faith of it all, but also this impending worry she has about 310 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:49,320 the Battle of Kings Mountain and her questioning how she's able 311 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:52,680 to have faith that everything will go OK when they don't know 312 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:56,440 what the outcome's going to be. Jamie then delivers a line about 313 00:17:56,600 --> 00:18:01,120 the unseen threads behind them. They're woven by a hand far 314 00:18:01,120 --> 00:18:05,240 greater than our own and asks Claire to hold on to him. 315 00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:08,880 And Claire then says always. Like almost every scene we've 316 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:13,320 had between Jamie and Claire in Season 8, this narratively felt 317 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:16,440 like it was in service of other storylines and didn't feel like 318 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:19,800 a tender, quiet moment between the two of them. 319 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:25,440 It once again is setting up narratively the date storyline 320 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:28,760 of it all, and to me it feels like a lot of these moments that 321 00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:33,280 we are really desperate to have time with Jamie and Claire ahead 322 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:37,360 of this battle that's been looming is quick and also 323 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:41,080 completely in service of. Everything but their. 324 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:44,440 Relationship Back in Savannah, we see poor John outside 325 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:48,440 drinking when he is approached by a horse and carriage, and 326 00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:50,800 inside we see Percy Beauchamp emerge. 327 00:18:50,920 --> 00:18:54,560 John very quickly asks why have you come, and that's when Percy 328 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:58,280 says he has information for him. This is the first time that 329 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:01,880 we're properly reintroducing the Captain Richardson storyline 330 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:04,200 because it's been a few episodes since that has come up. 331 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:07,800 Percy tells John that Richardson was seen boarding a ship in 332 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:11,440 Charlestown and intends to make his way to Savannah, which is 333 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:14,280 all excellent news. After their business is done, 334 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:17,440 this is when Percy starts to flirt with him again and brings 335 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:20,720 up the day of their parents wedding and says that he 336 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:23,280 remembers everything. If you have not read the Lord 337 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:26,440 John novellas, I highly highly highly recommend that you do 338 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:30,280 because they're fantastic. But also, the storyline between 339 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:35,080 John and Percy is so dense and complicated that it would be 340 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:38,120 very hard for me to encapsulate exactly the nature of their 341 00:19:38,120 --> 00:19:42,000 relationship in this video. But John sums it up perfectly by 342 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:44,120 saying that he's. Tried very hard to forget it 343 00:19:44,120 --> 00:19:46,080 all. That's when Percy starts to 344 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:49,360 lower drop a bit with his dialogue, and the music implies 345 00:19:49,360 --> 00:19:53,200 John's memory working to recall those moments, and Percy tells 346 00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:56,120 him he wanted to go slow, but John was very hungry for him 347 00:19:56,120 --> 00:19:58,160 back then. Percy points out that there was 348 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:01,440 a time when John loved him, if only he was honest with himself 349 00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:03,400 to admit it. And that's when he kisses him. 350 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:06,680 And John kisses him back, perfectly timed with William's 351 00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:09,000 entrance. One of the lines that I really 352 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:12,920 liked in this scene between John and Percy is that John calls him 353 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:15,920 perseverance. Never was a man so well named. 354 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:19,440 Perseverance means a continued effort to do or achieve 355 00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:22,760 something despite difficulties, failures or oppressions, which 356 00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:25,920 is so appropriate for this situation between the two of 357 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:27,360 them. And it's also great 358 00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:31,000 foreshadowing for what is going to come in the storyline between 359 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:33,640 Percy and John. It's going to be different in 360 00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:36,840 the show than it is in the book. So I think that's important to 361 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:39,040 note here. And again, I would encourage you 362 00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:42,000 to go and read the Lord John novellas because they're really 363 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:45,040 fantastic. John, for the first time, is 364 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:48,640 being honest with himself when he chooses to kiss Percy back 365 00:20:49,120 --> 00:20:53,360 and admit with his actions that there was in fact a time when 366 00:20:53,360 --> 00:20:57,080 John had loved Percy, and it's in the exact moment that John 367 00:20:57,080 --> 00:21:00,880 allows himself to feel that that William walks in and sees them 368 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:03,720 kissing. John obviously tries to play it 369 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:07,360 off like it's nothing, but William is clearly flustered by 370 00:21:07,360 --> 00:21:11,040 the entire interaction and chooses to say the most cutting 371 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:14,920 thing that he can think of in this moment, which is that he 372 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:17,600 thought there was nothing worse than having a traitor for a 373 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:21,920 father in Jamie. But now he is seeing what John 374 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:26,120 is, and that is worse in William's opinion. 375 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:28,640 And that's the moment when Percy takes his leave. 376 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:32,040 Keep in mind that for William, this is John who essentially 377 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:35,680 puts bumpers up in his own life in order to prevent William from 378 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:38,800 stepping out of place or talking out of turn, and he carries 379 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:41,040 himself with such honor and nobility. 380 00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:45,640 And so for William to find him in this position is really 381 00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:48,760 unnerving for him. And for months now, William has 382 00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:51,320 been mulling over the information that John was the 383 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:56,240 warden at Ardsmere Prison, where Jamie was kept, and how he could 384 00:21:56,240 --> 00:21:58,360 connect the dots between the two of them. 385 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:02,880 And then John being entrusted with William's care after Jamie 386 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:05,960 leaves, it's clear that William wants an answer to that. 387 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:09,840 So he confronts John about it. And John counters by saying that 388 00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:12,880 he and Jamie were friends and they had gone through great 389 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:17,000 lengths to protect William and tells William to never speak to 390 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:20,080 his own father that way again. And that is when William 391 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:22,720 counters by saying he does not have a father. 392 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:26,200 The acting in this scene in particular I think is some of 393 00:22:26,200 --> 00:22:29,720 the strongest of this episode. I really love any scene in 394 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:34,240 between these two, and I think that there's a really great job 395 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:40,200 done to convey just how deeply William actually loves John 396 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:44,120 because he would not be affected in this way or this much if that 397 00:22:44,120 --> 00:22:47,720 love for John was not there. William lashing out in this way 398 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:52,200 obviously is in large part due to the shock of what he's walked 399 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:55,440 in on and what he's now discovered Lord John to be. 400 00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:59,160 But I also think that this scene in particular in the acting 401 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:03,280 surrounding it, does a really great job of subtly implying 402 00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:07,360 that William's anger stems mostly from how much he loves 403 00:23:07,360 --> 00:23:13,480 John, and this realization that maybe John didn't raise him out 404 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:15,640 of pure love. There was something deeper going 405 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:20,560 on that once again puts William in this dicament where he 406 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:23,560 doesn't feel like anyone wanted him truly. 407 00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:27,720 You can understand then that if William were to believe that the 408 00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:33,200 circumstances surrounding John adopting him and taking him from 409 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:37,640 Jamie were suspicious in any way, it would imply then that 410 00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:41,280 William was not wanted by either of the men that he views as 411 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:45,320 father figures. He cannot hear from John in this 412 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:50,000 moment how deeply he is loved and was wanted by him, and that 413 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:52,440 him raising William was out of that love. 414 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:56,880 He's unable to hear those words and feel them 'cause he's so red 415 00:23:56,880 --> 00:23:59,720 with anger right now. Back at the big house, we see 416 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:04,720 Claire putting honey in jars when Jamie tells her of a letter 417 00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:07,880 that came from Ian, who had stopped at the brothel where 418 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:11,240 Jane and Fannie were raised and had collected information about 419 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:14,880 them, along with some notes that the man took while speaking with 420 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:17,640 Jane before her death. So this is a way to tie us back 421 00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:23,320 to a scene that we saw a partial portion of in Season 7. 422 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:27,400 It also introduces A flashback narrative where we get to go 423 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:31,520 back into that room where the man was interviewing Jane and 424 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:34,000 fill in some of the gaps from that conversation. 425 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:38,400 And they're using that again to beef up the storyline with 426 00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:43,560 Fanny, Jane and Faith. Jane tells him of a strange man 427 00:24:43,560 --> 00:24:46,840 coming into their grandmother's business and asking her to look 428 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:49,320 after a baby. And he had said that if he 429 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:52,880 didn't come back to find a lady Brock Torok, which is Claire, 430 00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:57,240 her grandmother then went to find this lady was sent to the 431 00:24:57,240 --> 00:24:59,960 House of a wine merchant, but was told that the lady had 432 00:24:59,960 --> 00:25:03,880 already left the country. And so her grandmother raised 433 00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:07,800 her meaning Faith. And when Faith grew up, Jane and 434 00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:10,840 Fanny's mother had learned that the woman lived in the mountains 435 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:13,680 of North Carolina. And all of their family, 436 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:17,120 including Jane and Fanny, were on their way to find her when 437 00:25:17,120 --> 00:25:20,640 their ship was taken by pirates and Jane and Fanny's parents 438 00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:23,280 were killed. This narratively ties back to 439 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:27,480 the opening scene of the season where Jamie and Claire are 440 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:30,800 talking to that pirate. So it closes the loop on that 441 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:33,400 storyline. But it also is an example of how 442 00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:37,480 the showrunners are trying to find weak points, so to speak, 443 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:41,120 in the original source material where they can insert 444 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:44,880 information and find ways to make it work. 445 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:49,600 So the mysterious ways in which Jane and Fanny's parents died on 446 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:54,000 the boat, they can now provide a story to plug that narratively 447 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:57,400 into this greater overarching one that they're building around 448 00:25:57,400 --> 00:25:59,400 Faith. And so they're creating this 449 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:03,960 character, which is going to be this woman that ends up with the 450 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:08,440 baby and holds that baby for Master Raymond and raises it as 451 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:13,160 her own and happened to be a lacemaker across from the 452 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:16,160 church. Somehow that woman in France 453 00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:21,600 would have been able to give this faith child any context 454 00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:23,960 about where she came from, who her parents were. 455 00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:28,400 We have no idea how they were ever going to discover that Lady 456 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:30,680 Brock Turok ended up in North Carolina. 457 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:34,400 I guess the show's not going to give any sort of context to that 458 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:35,960 either. So we're just supposed to 459 00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:40,960 believe that that's the case. And Jane told this writer that 460 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:44,680 she wanted Fanny to know she was at peace with dying and that 461 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:48,920 none of this was Fanny's fault. That God owes Jane and will help 462 00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:52,280 Fanny to find this woman when she's gone so that she has a 463 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:56,240 chance to be safe and loved. I'm selfishly glad that we got 464 00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:58,800 more Jane on screen because I think this actress did a great 465 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:01,280 job with her. But I also think that it's 466 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:06,600 important to remind viewers that this is now a confirmed relative 467 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:11,760 of Claire's, which means it's a confirmed relative of Williams. 468 00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:16,880 And as much as they're trying to connect Claire and Faith and 469 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:21,720 Fanny and Jane together, it also connects people that shouldn't 470 00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:24,520 be connected. So it's, to me, just a very 471 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:26,560 messy approach to this storyline. 472 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:29,800 I've said from the beginning that I can understand why for 473 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:32,240 the shock value, the show would want to introduce this 474 00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:36,280 connection, but I just don't see why it needed to be there. 475 00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:40,200 Because when Claire and Jamie realized that Faith was coming 476 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:44,080 to find them when she died, there is no payoff. 477 00:27:44,080 --> 00:27:47,960 It just feels like there's no point to it because she's dead. 478 00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:52,560 All it does is cause more pain for Claire and Jamie. 479 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:57,120 And once again, we've gone the entire season with them speaking 480 00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:00,840 in ways that only further other storylines. 481 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:03,320 We haven't had a single conversation between the two of 482 00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:06,640 them that hasn't been in service of another storyline. 483 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:09,840 That's when we go back to Savannah and we see smoke coming 484 00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:12,920 through the door and a fire starting at the print shop where 485 00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:15,200 Fergus and Marsley and the children are sleeping. 486 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:19,520 This is a scene that I have dreaded seeing on screen because 487 00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:22,560 it broke my heart when I was reading the book, and it plays 488 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:27,240 out so differently in the show in a way that I really still 489 00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:29,160 have not been able to wrap my mind around. 490 00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:32,720 Fergus tells them all to leave the house quickly wakes the boys 491 00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:35,200 up, but they're not in their beds and Marshley says that they 492 00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:37,880 must be upstairs on the roof because they always like to go 493 00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:39,960 up there. And so Fergus goes up on the 494 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:42,920 roof and finds the boys. And that, to me as a book 495 00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:46,280 reader, is when I started to get nervous, especially when we see 496 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:49,400 that the stairway that he goes through ends up engulfed in 497 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:51,640 flames. Brie and Roger arrive fully 498 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:55,160 dressed when they see the house burning and Marshley looks up 499 00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:58,600 and she's covered by a blanket by someone out in the street and 500 00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:00,560 we see Roger go to help with the water. 501 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:04,120 Fergus ties the boys with rope to try and get them down from 502 00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:07,880 the roof, tells them to be brave and lowers them down slowly and 503 00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:11,640 we see Andre Christian refuse to leave his side because he wants 504 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:15,440 to stay with his father. And again, this is another point 505 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:19,440 in which the story is trying to beef up the relationship between 506 00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:21,560 these two. Because if you've read the book 507 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:24,480 then you know that the outcome of this scene ends with Andre 508 00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:27,240 Christian's death. And the show does play on that 509 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:31,920 when we see Fergus lowering the boys by the rope on the roof and 510 00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:34,120 asks them to be brave and ornery. 511 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:38,360 Christian does in fact fall. This is when we get this shot 512 00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:41,160 that was in the trailer of Marceline screaming. 513 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:46,280 But in the show, we see that Roger ends up catching him so he 514 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:49,280 does not fall and die. We can see the relief on 515 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:52,960 Marcely's face and I for a moment believed that we were in 516 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:55,120 the clear. But then the show had to go and 517 00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:58,160 break my heart. As soon as I realized that this 518 00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:01,280 scene was not going to play out the same way as it does in the 519 00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:07,080 books and Roger catches Henri Christian, I immediately started 520 00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:10,240 to fear for the worst. And unfortunately, that was 521 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:12,880 confirmed for me in the scene that follows. 522 00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:18,400 The fact that this scene ends with Fergus looking directly 523 00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:23,760 into the eyes of his wife and Marcely seeing him and making 524 00:30:23,960 --> 00:30:28,040 eye contact with him before the roof collapses and Fergus Falls 525 00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:34,880 through and right into the fire. It just felt cruel to me. 526 00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:40,000 And the one thing that I would say is a relative bright spot of 527 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:44,960 this change is that Lauren Lyle, who I've long believed to be one 528 00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:49,400 of the strongest actors on the show, gives an unbelievable 529 00:30:49,400 --> 00:30:52,080 performance in the moments that follow this. 530 00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:56,560 She is so underrated. I think she deserves all the 531 00:30:56,560 --> 00:31:00,240 flowers in the world. And as an actress, I would have 532 00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:04,160 to imagine that digging into this was very satisfactory for 533 00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:06,760 her. But as a fan of the show and 534 00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:11,000 someone who has read the books, I just could not understand what 535 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:15,600 the goal of this was. Other than shock factor and 536 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:21,160 shock factor for us as viewers. Sure, but why did we need to put 537 00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:25,440 Marceline through this? Her losing her child in the book 538 00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:31,200 sets off a series of events between her and Jermaine that we 539 00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:33,520 are now no longer going to get in the show. 540 00:31:33,840 --> 00:31:38,480 Which that's its own separate argument, but you have literally 541 00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:42,640 ripped this woman's heart out of her chest and are going to end 542 00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:46,080 the series with that notion in mind. 543 00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:50,360 I just don't understand why she didn't deserve a happy year 544 00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:52,840 ending. And when Jamie wakes up to the 545 00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:56,160 sound of her sobbing and instantly knows something is 546 00:31:56,160 --> 00:32:00,920 wrong and he says something's wrong and then tries to fall 547 00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:04,240 back asleep and can't again. Yeah. 548 00:32:04,240 --> 00:32:07,600 You could use this as a way of pointing out that Jamie still 549 00:32:07,600 --> 00:32:10,800 has his powers. I don't know how you want to 550 00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:17,440 spin it, but it just felt like an empty narrative decision that 551 00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:21,080 didn't need to be here. Fergus has long been one of my 552 00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:23,360 favorite characters. I think he's one of everyone's 553 00:32:23,360 --> 00:32:25,760 favorite characters. And as someone who reads the 554 00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:31,280 books and he is still very much alive, I I just don't know why 555 00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:33,400 he had to be the low hanging fruit here. 556 00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:36,320 Why did any of these characters have to go through with this 557 00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:39,680 painful loss? I don't know what it's setting 558 00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:41,920 up in the long term. It doesn't feel like it's 559 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:44,680 setting up anything. And similarly to how I feel 560 00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:49,160 about the Faith storyline, it felt like they were going for 561 00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:53,440 shock factor without weighing the possibility that maybe for 562 00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:56,800 once in the end of this. Show we just. 563 00:32:56,800 --> 00:32:59,520 Wanted a happy moment back at Lord John's. 564 00:32:59,520 --> 00:33:03,240 We see Bri and Roger sitting on the couch and Bri asks Roger if 565 00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:06,040 anything were to happen to her, would he stay in this time with 566 00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:07,360 the kids or. Would he leave? 567 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:11,080 And Roger confirms, you know, you just lost your brother, 568 00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:13,360 which means for us that Fergus is dead. 569 00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:16,720 Roger says he would stay because that's their home, their whole 570 00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:18,880 family is there, they belong there. 571 00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:21,880 And when he says the four of them belong there, that's when 572 00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:25,880 Bree corrects him and says the five of us and tells him that 573 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:28,240 they are pregnant. Now it might just be me, but I 574 00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:32,600 feel like the two of them slept together days ago, so I don't 575 00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:35,600 know how she would know already that she is pregnant. 576 00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:39,600 So this again feels like a continuity error to me because I 577 00:33:39,600 --> 00:33:42,760 don't think they've been in Savannah that long. 578 00:33:43,120 --> 00:33:46,640 They just reunited with one another after Roger came back 579 00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:50,120 from the continental camp. In that reunion is when 580 00:33:50,560 --> 00:33:52,440 theoretically, she would have become pregnant. 581 00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:56,080 How so soon after would she know that she's already pregnant? 582 00:33:56,320 --> 00:33:58,920 When Bri goes into the room where Marceline and the children 583 00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:01,800 are staying, she sees that Marceline is on the floor 584 00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:05,400 looking at the kids in the bed. And again, what a moment for 585 00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:07,880 Laura and Lyle to showcase her acting chops. 586 00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:09,880 She broke my heart in this scene. 587 00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:14,120 Everything about her performance is so nuanced and so raw and so 588 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:18,840 human and I feel wrong almost saying that. 589 00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:23,000 I'm glad the show gave her this opportunity to showcase her 590 00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:27,239 acting prowess because I don't think narratively it needed to 591 00:34:27,239 --> 00:34:29,480 happen. But I really hope she gets 592 00:34:29,480 --> 00:34:33,560 nominated for something for her work in this in this scene, and 593 00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:36,320 even in the episode that follows this, because she really, really 594 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:38,760 nails it. Bree tells her that Jon can get 595 00:34:38,760 --> 00:34:41,679 her another room, but Marxley admits she's afraid to let the 596 00:34:41,679 --> 00:34:43,400 children out of her sight ever again. 597 00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:47,080 And when Brie joins her on the floor, she tells her to sleep 598 00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:48,840 and that she'll watch over her children. 599 00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:52,280 And that's when Marshall admits that someone had left them a 600 00:34:52,280 --> 00:34:56,040 note in that poem. Or the Riddle that we read, It 601 00:34:56,040 --> 00:34:58,880 was about a fire. And at the time Marsley and 602 00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:01,800 Fergus laughed about it because they would get them from time to 603 00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:03,880 time and they would always choose to make fun of them. 604 00:35:04,560 --> 00:35:07,400 And that's when we get one of the most beautiful lines of 605 00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:11,320 dialogue in this moment, which is when Marsley says, after all 606 00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:13,960 these years, I didn't can where I ended and he began. 607 00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:17,560 And now there's barely anything left of him, not even a body to 608 00:35:17,560 --> 00:35:22,640 hold, just ashes and bones. And Bree tells her that he is in 609 00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:25,400 every single one of their children and she will always 610 00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:27,880 have him with her. And that's when Marsley breaks 611 00:35:27,880 --> 00:35:31,320 down further. And again, just wonderful, 612 00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:33,320 wonderful acting from Lauren Lisle. 613 00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:36,320 She's truly phenomenal. I can't wait to see what else 614 00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:39,680 she does because I just think she's so unbelievably talented. 615 00:35:39,920 --> 00:35:45,680 And the emotions in this scene I think are worthy of the loss of 616 00:35:45,680 --> 00:35:48,720 Fergus. But I don't feel like the scenes 617 00:35:48,720 --> 00:35:53,240 in the aftermath really hammer home just how big of a loss this 618 00:35:53,240 --> 00:35:54,680 is. We don't have enough time to 619 00:35:54,720 --> 00:35:57,760 breathe with this loss, in my opinion, because of how rushed 620 00:35:57,760 --> 00:35:59,920 this episode and this season has been. 621 00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:03,480 The two of them, though, I think did a really wonderful job of 622 00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:09,440 conveying just that bone deep pain that she's experiencing in 623 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:12,880 this moment. And the two of them are at this 624 00:36:12,880 --> 00:36:16,880 impasse because Bree doesn't know how to support her in such 625 00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:21,040 an unbelievably raw moment, and Marsley doesn't know how to go 626 00:36:21,040 --> 00:36:24,160 on existing at this point. The way it ends, with Marsley 627 00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:29,680 screaming out and almost silently crying, I, I can't 628 00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:32,160 emphasize this enough. I think this is the one scene of 629 00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:35,600 this season so far where it affected me viscerally. 630 00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:38,280 And kudos again to Lauren Lyall for that. 631 00:36:38,600 --> 00:36:42,160 Back at the Big House, we see Fanny reading the letter from 632 00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:46,520 Jane and this is when Jamie and Claire decide to tell her that 633 00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:51,000 their home in Scotland is Brock Thurrock and that they believe 634 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:54,880 that they are her grandparents. They lived in Paris for a bit 635 00:36:55,160 --> 00:36:57,560 and when they were there they had a child named Faith. 636 00:36:57,920 --> 00:37:01,320 They thought she had died when she was born, but now they think 637 00:37:01,320 --> 00:37:04,080 that she lived and that she was Fanny and Jane's mother. 638 00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:06,960 Again, we get this info dump where we can tell that the 639 00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:12,840 writing is trying to fill in all of these gaps that in the book 640 00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:16,600 don't exist. And so the dialogue here felt 641 00:37:16,600 --> 00:37:18,880 kind of clunky for me. It was very much like a nympho 642 00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:21,960 dump kind of moment. And we are almost in the same 643 00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:24,800 position as Fanny where we're just being like bombarded with 644 00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:28,120 all this information and trying to connect these dots and make 645 00:37:28,120 --> 00:37:33,440 it all fit properly. And I feel like as Fanny does in 646 00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:36,480 the book where she ends the scene saying she'd like to go to 647 00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:38,640 her room now, I kind of felt the same way. 648 00:37:38,960 --> 00:37:42,200 Fanny admitting that she feels Claire staring at her with tears 649 00:37:42,200 --> 00:37:46,280 in her eyes and asking her why that is opened up this 650 00:37:46,280 --> 00:37:48,960 opportunity for Claire to say, sometimes when I look at you, 651 00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:51,600 you're so beautiful, like Faith must have been. 652 00:37:51,600 --> 00:37:54,840 It makes Claire think of all the things that she missed and lost. 653 00:37:54,840 --> 00:37:58,000 And it hurts a little. I go back again to what is the 654 00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:01,480 point of putting Jamie and Claire through this pain of 655 00:38:02,040 --> 00:38:04,560 realizing their daughter lived and they missed out on all that 656 00:38:04,560 --> 00:38:06,640 time. We've had that happen already 657 00:38:06,920 --> 00:38:10,720 with Jamie and William. We've had that grief happen with 658 00:38:10,720 --> 00:38:14,600 them over the loss of faith. Why are we doing it again? 659 00:38:14,840 --> 00:38:18,480 Fanny playing Devil Defecate asks how would her mother have 660 00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:21,400 known the song that Claire sang to her if she was only a baby? 661 00:38:21,720 --> 00:38:23,080 And they admit that they don't know. 662 00:38:23,080 --> 00:38:25,960 So that Tees up the end of the episode when we get that 663 00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:29,560 question answered. This is also when we circle back 664 00:38:29,560 --> 00:38:33,320 to the lace from the title card, where Claire explains she had 665 00:38:33,320 --> 00:38:37,120 something made very special of lace, a veil, and she believes 666 00:38:37,120 --> 00:38:38,920 that it was made by Fanny's grandmother. 667 00:38:39,120 --> 00:38:43,720 And again, the show goes back to season 2 and finds anything that 668 00:38:43,720 --> 00:38:46,160 they can recontextualize. And in this case, it's what 669 00:38:46,160 --> 00:38:50,000 Claire was wearing when they were in the churchyard at what 670 00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:54,080 they believed to be Faith's grave, and making that the 671 00:38:54,080 --> 00:38:56,480 connective tissue between these storylines. 672 00:38:56,720 --> 00:39:00,000 Claire says she'd left that veil in Paris, but it makes her happy 673 00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:02,840 to think that she had had something of Fanny's 674 00:39:02,840 --> 00:39:06,320 grandmother's, because Fanny is a part of her just as much as 675 00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:08,480 she is a part of Claire. Then we get this line of 676 00:39:08,480 --> 00:39:11,840 dialogue about family being like lace, fragile and delicate, full 677 00:39:11,840 --> 00:39:15,560 of holes and gaps, but strong threads that are hard to tear 678 00:39:15,560 --> 00:39:17,600 apart. I feel like the sentiment for 679 00:39:17,600 --> 00:39:20,560 that didn't land fully for me. And while Fanny doesn't 680 00:39:20,560 --> 00:39:26,120 downright reject this, I think her overwhelm is a mirror to how 681 00:39:26,240 --> 00:39:29,160 the viewer feels because I felt overwhelmed with all this 682 00:39:29,160 --> 00:39:32,920 information and trying to figure out if I could buy into what 683 00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:35,120 they're selling here. The scene ends with Jamie and 684 00:39:35,120 --> 00:39:38,640 Claire holding each others hands because they realize that Fannie 685 00:39:38,640 --> 00:39:42,000 is overwhelmed as well and Jamie admits perhaps they should have 686 00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:44,440 waited. Back at Lord John's house we see 687 00:39:44,440 --> 00:39:47,640 the kids making the bed with Brie and Marsley is asleep on 688 00:39:47,640 --> 00:39:50,840 the floor and that's when Andre Christian tries to wake her. 689 00:39:51,160 --> 00:39:54,000 He tells her that they have to go back to the print shop and 690 00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:58,000 bring news to the people and Marsley tries to tell him that 691 00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:00,440 he needs to go and join his siblings, they don't need to 692 00:40:00,440 --> 00:40:02,800 work today. So again this is reaffirming 693 00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:06,800 once again that Andre Christian wants to take up the mantle and 694 00:40:06,800 --> 00:40:09,960 run the print shop. Marsley is now a widow with all 695 00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:12,920 of her many children and has to figure out what. 696 00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:16,200 She's going to do next with them and where she's going to live 697 00:40:16,200 --> 00:40:18,720 and Bree tells her she will always have a home with them at 698 00:40:18,720 --> 00:40:21,120 the Ridge. But it's also when she brings up 699 00:40:21,120 --> 00:40:25,040 the offer from Percy Beauchamp again and Marsley knows that 700 00:40:25,160 --> 00:40:28,640 despite Fergus not wanting it, it's something she has to 701 00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:32,080 consider. This storyline and having her 702 00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:37,480 entertain this offer is something that again, is only 703 00:40:37,480 --> 00:40:40,680 really happening in the show. And Bree being the one to tell 704 00:40:40,680 --> 00:40:46,040 her that despite Fergus not wanting to take this gold, he 705 00:40:46,040 --> 00:40:49,280 would have wanted Marcely and the kids to be taken care of 706 00:40:49,280 --> 00:40:53,560 more than whatever argument he was making in favor of the war. 707 00:40:53,960 --> 00:40:59,320 And Marcely wanting to live alone and away from her family 708 00:40:59,320 --> 00:41:02,440 as a widow is the only thing that to me makes zero sense in 709 00:41:02,440 --> 00:41:05,400 this equation. Yes, she wants to be supported 710 00:41:05,400 --> 00:41:08,000 and have money, but she could have that by moving to the 711 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:10,920 Ridge. So I'm really not sure what this 712 00:41:10,920 --> 00:41:14,040 angle is with the land and the Percy of it all. 713 00:41:14,480 --> 00:41:18,360 It doesn't need to happen in order for Marcely to relocate 714 00:41:18,360 --> 00:41:20,200 with all her children and be supported. 715 00:41:20,800 --> 00:41:24,160 Back at the Ridge, Claire goes looking for Fanny and she's not 716 00:41:24,160 --> 00:41:28,800 in her bedroom and we see her at the Karen again and Jamie and 717 00:41:28,800 --> 00:41:32,520 Claire both go to find her. There they apologize to her for 718 00:41:32,520 --> 00:41:35,840 telling her too soon about her mother, and they know that she 719 00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:37,560 might not believe them without any proof. 720 00:41:37,560 --> 00:41:39,360 But Fanny says she does believe them. 721 00:41:39,720 --> 00:41:42,280 But for Fanny, the bigger problem is that she loses 722 00:41:42,280 --> 00:41:45,280 everything and everyone she loves, her whole family. 723 00:41:45,640 --> 00:41:48,280 And now, since Claire and Jamie are part of her family, she's 724 00:41:48,280 --> 00:41:51,320 worried that they will leave or die or go away too, and she'll 725 00:41:51,320 --> 00:41:54,280 be alone. Obviously, with Jamie and Claire 726 00:41:54,280 --> 00:41:58,200 being aware of the Battle of Kings Mountain and Frank writing 727 00:41:58,200 --> 00:42:01,320 that Jamie dies in that, that's a bad omen for them to hear. 728 00:42:01,400 --> 00:42:04,640 Especially Jamie, who would feel tremendous guilt knowing that he 729 00:42:04,640 --> 00:42:08,960 very well might be adding his name to that list of people who 730 00:42:08,960 --> 00:42:11,920 Fannie loses. Jamie then says God tells us 731 00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:15,680 that faith is the evidence of things not seen and asks her to 732 00:42:15,680 --> 00:42:18,440 have faith in them. So again this is when the title 733 00:42:18,440 --> 00:42:20,920 card comes in, evidence of things not seen. 734 00:42:21,120 --> 00:42:24,600 We then get another big time jump when we see Claire and 735 00:42:24,600 --> 00:42:28,520 Jamie watching Bree, Roger, Marsley and the kids return to 736 00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:30,440 the Ridge. And this is when we get a 737 00:42:30,840 --> 00:42:34,320 voiceover from Claire, which we haven't had in a while and she 738 00:42:34,320 --> 00:42:36,560 says no. Two people experience physical 739 00:42:36,560 --> 00:42:39,520 pain the same way. Perhaps the same is true for 740 00:42:39,520 --> 00:42:42,200 emotional pain. But their collective love of 741 00:42:42,200 --> 00:42:45,720 Fergus was reflected in the agony of our shared loss. 742 00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:48,720 Their grief was alike. The wild look of suffering in 743 00:42:48,720 --> 00:42:52,680 Marcely's eyes was the same she saw in Jamie's, and they're in 744 00:42:52,680 --> 00:42:55,640 her own. While I loved the dialogue here, 745 00:42:55,640 --> 00:42:57,880 I personally felt like the acting. 746 00:42:58,400 --> 00:43:03,280 They didn't look sad enough, and I think that when you're talking 747 00:43:03,280 --> 00:43:07,040 about a nauseating ache and disbelief that gnaws at you 748 00:43:07,040 --> 00:43:09,840 until you're numb. Brianna doesn't look that way 749 00:43:09,840 --> 00:43:12,560 here. Claire nor Brianna looks that 750 00:43:12,560 --> 00:43:14,480 way here. Marseille does. 751 00:43:14,480 --> 00:43:17,920 But I would have to imagine that Jamie, although he's trying to 752 00:43:17,920 --> 00:43:22,360 be brave and strong for her, would fall apart or at least be 753 00:43:22,360 --> 00:43:25,840 angry or confused or shocked or anything. 754 00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:30,240 I think this, again, is evidence of why you can't rush a 755 00:43:30,240 --> 00:43:34,040 storyline like this that's meant to have a big impact. 756 00:43:34,040 --> 00:43:38,440 Because what little we've seen of Fergus in this entire season, 757 00:43:39,080 --> 00:43:43,520 none of what he was saying or doing felt exclusive to him as a 758 00:43:43,520 --> 00:43:45,880 character. All of his lines of dialogue 759 00:43:45,880 --> 00:43:50,000 were, again, to push the plot forward or beef up another 760 00:43:50,000 --> 00:43:53,600 storyline. And none of it felt really like 761 00:43:53,600 --> 00:43:56,040 we were living with that character as a person. 762 00:43:56,360 --> 00:44:00,680 And so when we lose him, the the thing that holds weight is all 763 00:44:00,680 --> 00:44:04,240 of the moments we spent with him in earlier seasons, none of the 764 00:44:04,240 --> 00:44:05,920 moments we spent with him in this season. 765 00:44:06,080 --> 00:44:10,520 Which perhaps leads to why I find the acting here to be 766 00:44:10,520 --> 00:44:13,800 slightly wooden and also the framing of it. 767 00:44:13,800 --> 00:44:17,920 Because you can literally see in this scene when Jamie is 768 00:44:17,920 --> 00:44:21,400 standing with Marsley and trying to console her, that Claire, 769 00:44:21,400 --> 00:44:25,600 Roger, Brie and the kids, they're out of frame behind 770 00:44:25,600 --> 00:44:30,080 Jamie and they're all shuffle over to the left to get in 771 00:44:30,080 --> 00:44:31,920 frame. So again, it just feels like it 772 00:44:31,920 --> 00:44:35,400 was so rushed together and none of it felt sincere. 773 00:44:35,680 --> 00:44:38,360 In the next scene, Jamie is making a coffin. 774 00:44:38,680 --> 00:44:41,160 And again, there was lots of contemplation when the trailer 775 00:44:41,160 --> 00:44:44,040 came out as to whether or not this was Andre Christian's 776 00:44:44,040 --> 00:44:46,200 coffin. Now we find out that it's 777 00:44:46,680 --> 00:44:50,080 Fergus's and this is the moment when he finally releases his 778 00:44:50,080 --> 00:44:54,560 emotions and we start to get flashbacks of him meeting Fergus 779 00:44:54,560 --> 00:44:58,200 for the first time and this reaction when he is so upset 780 00:44:58,200 --> 00:45:00,800 that he has to pause and collect himself. 781 00:45:00,800 --> 00:45:03,720 That's what I wanted in that moment with him and Marcely. 782 00:45:03,840 --> 00:45:06,880 As we start to get these flashbacks of Fergus over the 783 00:45:06,880 --> 00:45:09,880 course of the story just reminded me how much I loved 784 00:45:09,880 --> 00:45:13,080 young Fergus. He was so sweet and so funny. 785 00:45:13,400 --> 00:45:16,600 There was just Sarah reason or need for him to be killed. 786 00:45:16,800 --> 00:45:20,480 All of these moments when he just added so much to the 787 00:45:20,480 --> 00:45:22,640 dynamic between Jamie and Claire. 788 00:45:22,800 --> 00:45:25,960 He was the child that neither of them were able to raise because 789 00:45:25,960 --> 00:45:28,920 they lost faith and Jamie had to leave William. 790 00:45:29,080 --> 00:45:31,600 He gave the two of them so much purpose. 791 00:45:31,880 --> 00:45:35,040 He made them a family, He made them parents. 792 00:45:35,280 --> 00:45:39,960 He loved Claire like a mother. He looked up to Jamie like a 793 00:45:39,960 --> 00:45:42,360 father. Through them, he met the love of 794 00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:45,720 his life in Marseille, and he was supported by them 795 00:45:45,720 --> 00:45:49,160 wholeheartedly as he began to raise his own family and become 796 00:45:49,200 --> 00:45:51,920 a father himself. He had gone through so many 797 00:45:51,920 --> 00:45:55,640 emotional struggles in Season 7 that the two of them supported 798 00:45:55,640 --> 00:45:58,440 him through. He built a life with someone who 799 00:45:58,440 --> 00:46:01,400 he loved all the way up until the very end of his life. 800 00:46:01,640 --> 00:46:04,760 And so, yeah, I think that you have this moment where you can 801 00:46:04,760 --> 00:46:07,200 mourn this character. And again, the show is ending, 802 00:46:07,200 --> 00:46:10,320 and so the storyline ends for this character, but it just 803 00:46:10,320 --> 00:46:12,920 failed for me because it was so not needed. 804 00:46:13,200 --> 00:46:16,600 Sam's acting in this moment when he's reflecting on all these 805 00:46:16,680 --> 00:46:20,160 memories of Fergus, I think is far more impactful than the one 806 00:46:20,160 --> 00:46:23,800 before when Marsley and the kids show up in the front of the big 807 00:46:23,800 --> 00:46:26,040 house. And in this scene, Fanny 808 00:46:26,040 --> 00:46:28,760 approaches Jamie and tells him to come with her. 809 00:46:29,040 --> 00:46:33,080 They have made Fanny, who I actually like as a character, a 810 00:46:33,080 --> 00:46:34,640 lot, and I love the actress, too. 811 00:46:35,000 --> 00:46:38,320 They've made her almost like this savior character in some 812 00:46:38,320 --> 00:46:43,880 ways where she has come in and is tasked with kind of hearing 813 00:46:43,880 --> 00:46:47,280 all of the the hurt and heartbreak in this family as 814 00:46:47,280 --> 00:46:49,720 though she doesn't have her own to deal with. 815 00:46:49,720 --> 00:46:53,760 She is now acting wise beyond her years and coming to the aid 816 00:46:53,760 --> 00:46:57,040 of Jamie in this particular scene to try and heal something 817 00:46:57,040 --> 00:46:59,800 within him. And so when she brings Jamie to 818 00:46:59,800 --> 00:47:04,520 this Cairn that she has made and started for Fergus, it's again a 819 00:47:04,520 --> 00:47:08,360 full circle moment for when Jamie had started one for Jane. 820 00:47:08,920 --> 00:47:12,480 And she says to Jamie that even though Fergus is not with them 821 00:47:12,480 --> 00:47:15,080 anymore, perhaps Jamie can find him there. 822 00:47:15,520 --> 00:47:18,760 That's the moment when she decides to call him Granda. 823 00:47:19,240 --> 00:47:23,600 Jamie looks at her and is clearly impressed with how 824 00:47:23,600 --> 00:47:27,360 mature she is, how insightful she is, how thoughtful she is. 825 00:47:27,520 --> 00:47:30,960 She pulls out a rock for him and adds it to the pile. 826 00:47:31,360 --> 00:47:34,720 And we do get this moment where you can see that Jamie is 827 00:47:34,720 --> 00:47:38,280 realizing that she's really accepted the fact that they're 828 00:47:38,280 --> 00:47:41,920 family and that they're related and is OK with that. 829 00:47:42,080 --> 00:47:46,000 So when he takes this rock from her hand, it's it's almost more 830 00:47:46,000 --> 00:47:50,800 of a transference of acceptance. Here we watch Jamie add that 831 00:47:50,800 --> 00:47:55,200 rock and smile and thinking of Fergus, he thanks Fanny. 832 00:47:55,440 --> 00:47:59,760 And we see in his facial expression the pain dissolve 833 00:47:59,760 --> 00:48:04,080 into a sort of acceptance where his face softens and he's able 834 00:48:04,080 --> 00:48:06,480 to smile a little bit thinking about him. 835 00:48:06,800 --> 00:48:11,160 And that's when he thanks Fanny and she takes Jamie's hand. 836 00:48:11,480 --> 00:48:15,040 And so again, they're pushing this faith storyline so hard 837 00:48:15,400 --> 00:48:19,720 that it almost makes me resent Fanny because she's being 838 00:48:19,720 --> 00:48:23,600 inserted into these scenes that should be sacred moments between 839 00:48:23,600 --> 00:48:27,240 the original core characters. Which is too bad because I 840 00:48:27,240 --> 00:48:29,600 actually love Fanny as a character. 841 00:48:29,600 --> 00:48:35,440 And I don't think that it's good writing if you end up resenting 842 00:48:35,440 --> 00:48:39,240 the presence of a character in a scene that she should 843 00:48:39,240 --> 00:48:41,120 theoretically be entitled to be in. 844 00:48:41,120 --> 00:48:44,160 But it feels forced upon me. Which is reinforced by this 845 00:48:44,160 --> 00:48:47,520 entire flashback of when Master Raymond left Faith with the 846 00:48:47,520 --> 00:48:52,160 woman in Paris in 1744, where he says it's a matter of urgency. 847 00:48:52,320 --> 00:48:55,520 He must leave the city for a short time, and she's the only 848 00:48:55,520 --> 00:48:59,040 person he trusted. This random woman who makes lace 849 00:48:59,400 --> 00:49:01,320 that happened to be across the street? 850 00:49:01,520 --> 00:49:05,200 I just don't have any part of me that buys into that narrative. 851 00:49:05,400 --> 00:49:08,200 Yes, Jamie was in prison and Claire was very sick, but it's 852 00:49:08,200 --> 00:49:11,640 not like he couldn't have waited for Claire to be less sick and 853 00:49:11,640 --> 00:49:13,560 leave this baby with Mother Hildegard. 854 00:49:13,840 --> 00:49:17,880 So we get to see this Faith child very much alive and the 855 00:49:17,880 --> 00:49:21,240 woman who ended up ultimately raising her and Master Raymond 856 00:49:21,240 --> 00:49:23,800 saying her name is Faith. And then we find out that the 857 00:49:23,800 --> 00:49:27,520 reason that Faith knew this song is because Claire sang it to her 858 00:49:27,680 --> 00:49:30,000 and Master Raymond teaches it to this woman.