#mod's thoughts

So I am both disappointed by and incredibly happy with Outlander 5x08. Mostly pretty happy. It’s a weird contradiction but I'll try to explain.

The Disappointments:

We only got like a minute of them saving Roger and that was it. PLUS it was told via silent film style. Which mean it was quick, in black and white, and SILENT. 

I’m so utterly pissed off over the fact that they included my favorite Jamie/Roger line BUT IT WAS SILENT!!! Jamie told Roger, with a hand over his heart, “You’re alive. You’re whole. All is well” BUT IT WAS SILENT! I DIDN’T GET TO HEAR JAMIE SAY IT TO HIM!!!! I’M SO MAD ABOUT THAT!!! I WANTED TO HEAR IT SAID OUT LOUD SO BADLY!! I LOVE THAT LINE!!!!

I also really wanted to see the life saving surgery Claire performs on Roger and it was all shown via silent film style and I did not like that at all. I feel like it really took me away from the moment and as a whump lover I desperately wanted to see this moment in all of its brutal glory.

We didn’t see any of the 3 months of recovery!!!!!! Absolutely none of it!!! Not one second!!! I'm SO pissed!!!

Honestly that was pretty much it. I was so severely disappointed as a whump fan that those scenes didn’t happen and that we cut straight to 3 months later. So fucking pissed we never saw Claire take care of him or how afraid Bree was to leave his side for fear he’d die. That we never saw Roger want to tell them what happened to him but be unable to because of his voice and his hands. Jamie talking to him or how his words were an anchor for him when he woke up. I’m so mad we got none of that. UGH!

Oh I with there had been more moments with him and Jemmy because the book had Jemmy has a big reason why he works on his voice and begins to heal and in this episode Jemmy was kinda nothing to him.

The Happy:

This episode was entirely focused on Roger!!!!! I was so worried it wouldn't be because his story is often set aside for other stupid things but this episode was all Roger baby!!! THE FOCUS WAS ON ROGER FOR A MAJORITY IF NOT ALL OF THE EPISODE!!!!!!!! That’s what he deserved and I am beyond thrilled about it!!! 

Roger teaching!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE SAW OXFORD PROFESSOR ROGER WAKEFIELD AND I DIED!!! He’s an amazing teacher and I loved seeing him as a professor.

Richard Rankin portrayed Roger’s trauma and ptsd so incredibly perfect I have no words. The way that man is able to portray Roger’s fear, sadness, loneliness, and despair without saying a single word is a true testament to his acting abilities. His eyes spoke volumes

I got so emotional every time we saw Roger alone because that’s how he feels. He’s lost and scared and alone and I just wanted to hug him. I think the most poignant moment for this, for me was the dinner scene where there was an empty chair, Roger being conspicuously absent during that scene only for us to see that he's actually alone in the cabin trying to sing again and having flashbacks. It's so freaking heartbreaking!!!

Each flashback Roger had throughout the episode. I loved that not only were these moments throughout the whole episode but they were shown through Roger's eyes. I loved that the feel of the burlap bag sent him into a ptsd induced flashback, how Marsali kept pulling the Hanged Man card for his tarot reading and it gave him flashbacks, the nightmare and the flashback he had by the cliff. All so emotional and all wonderfully showed how deeply scarred Roger is by this trauma.

Roger crying. Look I love whump and emotional whump is my favorite thing in the world so every time Roger let some tears loose I loved it. When he cried hearing Brianna sing Clementine to Jemmy and then when he let one tear drop while Bree told him to fight I LOST IT OKAY I LOST IT AND I CRIED BOTH TIMES RIGHT WITH HIM

The astrolabe. I absolutely loved how it was included in the episode and how Ian used it to calm Roger after he had a nightmare. Amazing. "Wherever you thought you were, we're both still here" UGH MY HEART

Lord John Grey and Bree. I love their friendship and how at ease they are with each other and their scene was so cute and perfect. 

IAN! YOUNG IAN IS BACK AND I LOVE YOUNG IAN AND HE WAS SO GOOD IN THIS EPISODE

The scene of Marsali playing with the tarot cards with Roger was cute until it was sad. I thought it was cute that she was taking time out of her day to sit with Roger and play cards with him and just be with him. She thought about how alone he must be and decided to keep him company. And then it all went to shit when she pulled the Hanged Man card twice and Roger had a flashback and then I cried a lot. 

The paper airplane. That was a wonderful way for Bree to connect with Roger. It wasn’t demanding or aggressive. It was sweet and open and full of meaning for him. I loved it.

Claire worrying that Roger plans on killing himself and voicing those concerns to Jamie. Any time we get Claire worrying about Roger makes me happy and now we got Jamie worried too and yes! LOVE IT! 

This episode was a great discussion of how Bree and Jamie and Roger all deal/dealt with trauma differently. Jamie got lost for a while like Roger. Brianna had to fight and act normal and be normal. Roger is lost and broken. People respond to trauma differently. 

Sophie’s singing!! She sings so beautifully! It was so nice to see her singing to Jemmy but then I got sad because Roger could hear it and he started fucking sobbing because he’ll never be able to sing to his son again and I thought about the promise he made and now i’m gonna cry

The moment when Roger returns from the surveying trip and finally speaks to Bree and tells her what he’s been going through. God it was hard to watch but so so good!!

Honestly the whole trip with Ian to survey the land was perfection. 

THE END CREDITS!! ROGER/RIK AND BREE/SOPHIE SINGING CLEMENTINE TOGETHER!! PERFECTION

I liked that this episode really showed how Roger’s voice is his identity, his strength, and how lost and afraid he is without it. This whole season has been trying to show how Roger fights not with his hands or with a weapon but with his words. He talks to people, he sings to them and we’ve seen the effect it has. Without his voice Roger is utterly lost. His whole identity is shaken and hes afraid. What will he do now?

Was Disappointed by At First but Came To Love by the End:

The silent film flashbacks.

I'm really very conflicted about the flashbacks. I hate it because it took away from my whump but I also thought, by the end, that it was the PERFECT way to show Roger's flashback episodes because when you have a trauma related flashback like that it really can be just specific scenes playing over and over in your mind. And for Roger this is just how it happens. Silent, jarring, and disjointed. Silent film style was kind of the perfect way to encapsulate that feeling inside of Roger for the audience. 

As I thought on it more and more I think showing it to us only as silent film only to show the whole hanging scene in all of its technicolor glory was fucking brilliant because not only were the silent film parts showing us how its seen in Rogers head but when we see it in full is the moment Roger is able to take a step forward in his recovery. He sees it all clearly for the first time and is able to accept it and begin to move forward and I think that amazing. 

So even though I still wish the saving wasn't in b&w silent film style I do love the use of it throughout the rest of the episode. They could have done the Claire surgery part in normal and throw in the silent film flashbacks between moments and the continue to use it for the rest of the episode like they did. It would have made Roger seem to be coming in and out if consciousness, seeing his hanging and then jumping into the tracheotomy and back to silent film hanging and then bam its Brianna whispering for him to open his eyes then bam hanging silent film and zap Jamie is speaking and end with a fade out and then fade into the 3 months later. That's how I'd have done it i guess. 

The changing of the first time Roger speak

I was so pissed that they didn’t have Roger say Brianna’s name after he shouted at Jemmy to not touch the hot stove but it made the moment when he does say her name after returning from the surveying trip so much sweeter. And at the time, he was still really broken and scared to speak so saying her name at the time wouldn’t have been right. I liked that even though he said something he was still broken and not ready. It was the right time for it in the books but not for this episode.

Ian coming back early

I had a feeling Ian was returning when I saw that promo pic of Claire and Jamie smiling with Jemmy and I was soooooooo worried he was going to overshadow Roger but he didn’t! Even when he arrived and killed the boar I was like oh god was that all of Roger we're gonna see now that hes back!? But that didnt happen at all!! In fact, they were great parallels to each other and helped each other heal in a way that was so much better than the book. And I loved that Roger was the first to hug Ian and he tried to thank him and speak but couldn’t and sort of ran away. It was great. the actors worked so well together

Roger's surveying trip

I was mad at first that they shoved Ian in with Roger on his what is supposed to be a personal healing journey because I was worried this would take away from how healing this job becomes for him. He uses this surveying job to find his way again and I didn’t want putting Ian with him to disrupt that. Roger’s story hasn’t been treated well so I get worried a lot that his time is gonna be taken by someone else. But this was an amazing idea and the whole trip was remarkably better than the books. I hated the whole fire and seeing Fanny Beardsley thing that went on in the books so I’m very glad it happened like this. This was way better. Ian and Roger were able to help each other and I loved that Ian was kind of looking after Roger during the trip. I wonder if Jamie or Claire asked him to do that. It must have been really hard to film those scene with only Ian being able to talk but the two of them were amazing together. I loved it.