Claire plots to escape during the castle's Gathering ceremony, but encounters with Jamie and a drunken Dougal alter her plans.
The majority of Clan MacKenzie see Claire as a miracle worker following her healing of the boy "possessed by the devil" last week. She strengthened her bond to this place, with the only possibility of leaving being to plot an escape attempt. And that she does. The clan is having yet another big party which proves to be just the kind of cover she needs. She plans out everything. She's a very smart and capable woman. She's able to ditch her personal bodyguards and thwart off advances from several drunken Scotsmen including Dougal. And then, all of her hopes come crashing down after Jamie says her plan was destined to fail all along. It's devastating and she's left at Castle Leoch doing the bidding of Colum and Dougal. Despite all that planning though, she does in fact get exactly what she wants by hour's end. She has earned the trust and respect of Dougal. Sure, he tried to force himself on her the previous night. But he was gracious and appreciative of the way she helped ease a fallen comrade into his death - by reminding him of his peaceful and beautiful hometown. Dougal recognized all her valuable skills. And now, she's on the road with him and his group of warriors to collect rent amongst the villages in their land. It's all flung together quite quickly. Claire has no time to react. She simply has to pack her bags with the medical necessities and she's on the road. Anything can happen on the open road. But she'll have to think quick on her feet if she's ever to escape Dougal. And that is a very exciting way to close "The Gathering."I love how quickly Outlander has been able to establish itself and the world. It's the story of Claire's journey. Things naturally progress from episode to episode even though they follow the same structure. Last week Claire had a plan to escape her dungeon and get back to the rocks that sent her back in time. She put a lot of thought and planning into that strategy and it backfired on her. This week she has a plan to escape her dungeon and get back to the rocks. And yet again, it backfires on her. If she's ever going to be free, it's going to be because of spontaneity. That's what this new journey promises. The structure of this week's episode and last's was fine but couldn't have occurred every week. Now, a new situation presents itself and I'm eager to see how she adapts to her ever-changing circumstances.
Furthermore, "The Gathering" is a lot of fun even though it is also quite tragic. This is a fun time of year for the clansmen. They take an oath for Clan MacKenzie, party, play games and they go out to hunt boar. And bagpipes score all of it. It's a great way to further delve into this unique world. It's a culture that both feels very familiar and yet completely engaging and fresh. The stakes are quite high. Jamie has to decide what to do once he's forced to go to the gathering ceremony and a man dies while on the hunt. However, the show continues to offer this rich texture of events. It's varied and therefore quite interesting to watch.
Some more thoughts:
- "The Gathering" was written by Matthew B. Roberts and directed by Brian Kelly.
- There was lots of great moments during the gathering ceremony. And yet, my favorite had to be Claire giving Laoghaire the "love potion" and telling her to recite "There's no place like love" three times! Ha!
- The possibility of Jamie becoming laird after Colum's death should become very important later on in the series.
- I still can't quite put my finger on Geillis and what that character is all about. She gets this decent-sized monologue about the life she has now and "the surprise of the path we find ourselves on." It's all still very cryptic.
- Did you catch the cameos by author of the "Outlander" book series Diana Gabaldon and showrunner of the Starz series Ronald D. Moore?
