#s5e05

Roger, Bree and Jemmy Also Tie Into the Central Three Storylines

Although it was painful to watch Bree and Roger fighting about Bonnet and Bree’s belief that he is probably Jemmy’s father, there was a tie in with the central storylines. Graham Menzies death propelled Claire to invite her daughter to Britain so that she could finally tell her the truth about her biological father. Claire’s memories back in time help to guide her to give Roger good advice about whether to tell Jemmy the “truth” about Bonnet. Her advice also helps Roger to realize he does not want to be “careless” with “the time” he has left with Bree. 

In the past, it is Claire who needed the advice, and both Joe Abernathy and Father Beggs (another call back to Father Anselm) served in the capacity of advisers to Claire, helping her to realize what was important to her (i.e., the love she shared with Jamie and the outcome of their love--their daughter Bree).

Jamie, Lieutenant Knox and the Question of Which Was the Righteous or Good Man

My heart is breaking about how Knox and Jamie’s relationship was resolved. Jamie always does what he feels he must to protect the ones he loves but I couldn’t help but feel that Knox did not deserve what happened to him, merely because he felt obligated to do his duty. (However, maybe the show’s writers had Knox kill the Regulator earlier in the season, so he would not seem a completely innocent victim of circumstances,)  

Knox asks which of the two of them is the “righteous” man.  Knox believes they cannot both be righteous. But I believe they both were generally righteous men whose circumstances put them at odds with each other.

Still, neither was a purely “good” or “righteous” man. Knox and Jamie have some dark aspects to their natures (as do most human beings). Knox showed his darker elements when he killed that Regulator. Jamie’s actions regarding Knox at the end were understandable but also displayed Jamie’s darker tendencies. That these two men who were so alike ended up with such a tragic resolution to their “friendship,” still has me reeling. 

“The Impetuous Pirate” vs Stephen Bonnet

It is noteworthy that the show’s writers worked The Impetuous Pirate a “romance novel” that Claire reads in Voyager (1997/ 2004) into the plot during an episode when Bree confides to Roger that Bonnet “haunts” her and that she “see(s) him everywhere.”

What Bree describes is part of a PTSD reaction of her having been raped by a pirate (Bonnet). This is a completely different reaction than the one the heroine has in the mid-20th century romantic fantasy The Impetuous Pirate. In that “novel” the pirate insists on having sex with the heroine Tessa--and of course in true “rape culture” fashion, it is implied that Tessa secretly wants to have sex with the pirate, despite her protests. 🙄

The stark contrast between the reality and the fantasy is nicely symbolized by the writers choosing to mention The Impetuous Pirate in this episode.

Finally, Wee Adso!

Seeing wee Adso at the end of the episode, helped me feel better about what happened earlier between Knox and Jamie. However, I have only one objection to how the show introduced Adso.

In the books, Jamie finds Adso deep in the forest. This time, he finds him in an alley behind the building where he has just murdered Knox.

Jamie has a conscience and he frequently thinks about the people he has killed. I hate to think of Adso as being a reminder to Jamie of what happened to Knox. 

On the other hand, maybe Jamie’s finding Adso helped Jamie to remember at a very difficult moment that life goes on and even if he had to take a life he could feed and help this kitten continue to live and grow up. I’d prefer to think that this is what Adso would bring to mind for Jamie whenever he remembers how he found him.

[edited]

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