For some time now, one of our biggest fears was that we wouldn’t like the Outlander adaptation once it was translated into the big or small screen. When it was announced that it was actually happening and things seemed to be going ok, we started worrying that we wouldn’t survive seeing Jamie come alive. We invite you to browse through our . Last year, we were writing about how we wouldn’t survive seeing Jamie’s first photo. Or that the fact of watching the first trailer, where we would hear our favorite quotes, would literary kill us.
Well, we’ve seen photos, trailers and footage aplenty and we are still breathing. So that’s good. We are way more relaxed than before. Starz is doing an incredible job and nailing every single casting choice, location, wardrobe and whatnot. We love every single little thing that we see from the show. So we are not afraid anymore. We are happy. Anxious. Desperate for a release date to be announced!!! (Seriously!)
We’ve already seen little teasers and some small footage but on Friday last week, Starz released a somewhat longer trailer for the show. And it was awesome!!! We still consider this clip to be a teaser, though. Think movie-wise. A teaser is a clip about a minute long, where they show you stuff but don’t explain much. We Outlander fans get every scene and reference. But a non-initiate won’t understand a thing. It’s all too vague. On the other hand, a full-length trailer has to be over 2 minutes long. Almost 3, sometimes. With dialogue. And where they do actually explain the plot. So here’s hoping for a longer trailer!!!
Let’s talk about the trailer for like 5 minutes, ok? Because, seriously, that’s what we’ve been doing all weekend long!
ALLY: Ok, let’s see… Trailer opens with nice music and very nice car. I don’t think it’s the music theme they’ll use for the show, right? It must be like a standard stock music…
GWEN: I don’t really know, but I was going to say, I kinda like it. It sounds very ‘Ellie Goulding-esque’. It’s more on the modern side, it has a nice beat and I like how it goes with the images. Like when the action starts in the trailer and the music picks up the beat, it made me really excited for the show. So I hope it’s the same kind of music they use for it. What did you think of it?
ALLY: I can’t wait to listen to Bear McCreary’s music. That will be awesome!!! I liked the music they used for the trailer, but it’s too generic. Like… I need bagpipes and a bodhran for it to feel Outlander-ish…It’s not like I was expecting “Amazing Grace” or “Flower of Scotland”, but a little bagpipe would have been nice. Or maybe that’s just me cuz I read the books with Celtic music as background…
GWEN: I had no idea you did that!! Awwwww!! You are right, a bit of bagpipes and a bodhran would have been nice. But I wish it was done in a more “modern” kind of way, with a nice beat and other instruments. Is that totally sacrilegious of me???
ALLY: hahahaha! YOU HERETIC!!! No, it’s no sacrilegious. It would have given the trailer another rhythm though… By the way, in the next scene… is that Cockamon Rock what they see? Was that even the name? You know what I mean? The rock formation Claire and Jamie see when they are attacked on the road and Claire gets her bearings from it? Like… she uses it as a landmark to guide her way back to Craig Na Dun. Am I making any sense?
GWEN: Yes, yes you are. I know exactly what you mean. But I have absolutely no idea if it is. Although, they must have put it there for a reason, so it has to be. It’s the first sign Claire has of still being in the same place, but out of time, so it’s a pretty important scene.
ALLY: I KNOW! And I can’t believe I can’t remember the name! hahaha! Oh! And I absolutely love that they used the lines from the book’s prologue. I swear it gave me chills listening to those lines!!! It brought me back to when I first read the book. I was so excited!!! I like Caitriona’s voice for Claire, but then… I sort of have a girl crush on her. So I don’t think my opinion really counts. It’s interesting that they had Frank and Claire visit Castle Leoch on their honeymoon. I think it’s a great addition to the book, don’t you think? It’ll be a huge contrast once Claire goes back in time.
GWEN: I know what you mean about her voice, and even though I don’t have a girl crush on her, I feel the same way. I do have to say, it was shocking hearing those lines spoken in an English accent, because even though I know she’s English, in my mind, she always sounded like me! LOL! With an American accent and stuff, so hearing those words spoken like that is what gave me chills. I must say, though, the true “goosebump” moment for me was when I heard Jamie ask if her husband was not alive. Instant goosebumps. I don’t know why, but my stomach gave a little flip at that. I know, I’m weirddd. I’m on the fence about them adding stuff that isn’t in the book, specially something like making Frank and Claire visit Castle Leoch. I mean, there’s a reason why Diana didn’t include that on the book, right? It just feels too obvious to me, and like they’re going to have her still pine for Frank for longer than they should, or longer than she actually did. I mean, if they play the “I miss my husband so much, I wanna go back to him” card for the whole of the season, it’s going to really suck. So I’m not entirely sure I like that addition just yet. I have to wait and see…
ALLY: Well… I do think they are sort of tuning up the whole Frank thing. I mean… we are all here for Jamie, right? But even though the trailer is only 1:14 minutes, Jamie doesn’t appear until 00:45!!! The whole first part of the trailer is all Frank: in the car, at Castle Leoch, walking through Inverness, holding hands (OMG! The gold wedding ring, btw), sex scene, at Craigh Na Dun… And then, during the second part of the trailer (which is Jamie’s part), we also get glimpses of Frank!!! I do like Frank, I do. But isn’t there a bit too much of Frank and too little Jamie? The thing that gives me goosebumps is the stone circle. Those few images of the druids at Craigh Na Dun, or the images of Claire there give me chills. Like I get this knot in my throat… You know I love the books dearly, and I would defend them to the end of my days, but it doesn’t bother me that they may add to them. Only if it keeps with the spirit of the books and the characters. Like… they said the show starts with scenes from Claire being a nurse during the war. That’s not in the books. But it totally sets Claire’s character in like one scene.
GWEN: But that’s the thing. I know there wasn’t an actual scene of Claire being a nurse during the war, but it’s a known fact. Claire talks about it in the first few chapters of the book. She also talks about Uncle Lamb, and even if there isn’t an actual scene of them together, it wouldn’t be a made up thing to show a few flashbacks of Claire as a little girl, growing up, being with her uncle, right? BUT, in the case of them, together, at Castle Leoch, she never even mentions in passing to having visited it with Frank. So that’s why I don’t like that particular scene. There isn’t a sex scene between Claire and Frank like there is of Jamie and Claire, but it’s not a fabrication, because we all know they were married and must have had sex, right? Maybe I’m not making any sense, lol. And yes, it does bother me that there is so little Jamie in the trailer. And of course, I have an issue with the duration of the trailer itself. It should have been longer!! I just don’t like Frank as a character at all. And it’s not because of Black Jack, the first time I ever read the book, before she goes through the stones, I was just annoyed with him in those 4 or 5 chapters. He just never seemed like the right man for Claire, I don’t know why.
ALLY: You make sense. Don’t worry. I understand. We’ll just have to wait and see. It would be easier if we knew the premiere date already… So… onto the important stuff. She goes through the stones and meets Jamie. Nice little shot of them riding together. That scene is going to be a-ma-zing! I loved it in the book and I’m sure I’ll love it the series. One thing though… the next scene, when they are at Leoch next to the fire and she says something like “I’m trying to remember my husband”. That’s editing, right? Cuz it sounds like 2 different phrases. They might have cut a sound bite of her saying “I’m trying to remember” from one scene and put it together to her saying “my husband” in the Leoch scene, to make it sound like a whole phrase. Besides, she has shirtless Jamie right next to her, why would she be trying to remember her husband?!?! LOL! This shot has to be right before she starts crying and Jamie pics her up onto his lap and speaks Gaelic to her, right? CHILLS AND ALL THE FEELS!!! I know it’s interior monologue and all, but please let them keep the phrase “I understand why he is so good with horses. If I were a horse, I would let him ride me anywhere!” hahahaha
GWEN: Yes, I think it’s just the editing. They can pretty much make it look or sound however they want with editing stuff together. She was still in a bit of a shock and holding on to Frank those first few hours, and all she wanted was to get back to the stone circle to go back to her own time, but I don’t think that line is actually from an episode. I hope they keep that line too!! But as you said, it’s all internal monologue, so I’m not holding my breath. Maybe they still use it but in a different scene? Like, later on?
ALLY: well… Claire being Claire… she could just blurt it out. Actually say it out loud. Tell him she understands why horses love him, cuz she’d let him ride her anywhere. That would cut the tension in that scene and it would be fun seeing Jamie flustered and blushing… Talking about Jamie… JESUS H. ROOSEVELT CHRIST! The voice on this dude!!! That line “is he not alive?” totally vibrates, his voice is so deep. And his accent is perfection. Thank God we watched this trailer all together because I would have spontaneously combusted if not…
GWEN: And when he says she shouldn’t be scared as long as she’s with him!?!?! I want one of thoseeeeeeeeeeee!!! Also, Sam as Jamie is growing on me. I’m not crazy about him, yet, but he’s kinda growing on me… Oh yes. It was a blessing we got to watch it all of us together, physically in the same room. Just a little taste of what the very first episode is going to be like when we have our group viewing for the very first time. OMG. It’s going to be so awesome.
ALLY: Why do you think I want to know the premiere date so badly??? We have a gathering to plan!!! When he says she shouldn’t be scared so long as he is with her… I wanted to scream, jump up and down, kiss and hug the screen. Jamie Fraser has ruined me for all other book boyfriends and all other men. I should really sue Diana Gabaldon. I like Sam Heughan as Jamie. I know. I’m quite easy. As soon as I saw his first photo, I was sold. But I always thought I wouldn’t like the guy they chose to play Jamie, cuz he would be nothing like the Jamie I had in my head. And, honestly, Sam’s nothing like what I imagined. But… somehow… he fits the part. It’s weird to explain. He might not look like the Jamie I imagined, but he sure as hell *is* Jamie. And I love Caitriona when she says “and when you are not with me”? She is amazing delivering that one line!!!
GWEN: We need to plan our own Gathering, you’re right!! You’re right. That line is amazing, you can see the almost terror in her face as she lets her guard down for the first time since she stepped through the stones. It’s amazing. I have a really goos feeling about this, just from these trailers, I can tell they are doing everything right. Or at least, with the fans in mind. I think I’m not 100% on Sam as Jamie because of the haircut and the clothes. I can’t really explain it, bit I pictured them different. Messier. More “manly”? But I know once I see him take over the part, I’m going to love him. I can’t wait!!!
ALLY: Oh, I love Sam aleady. I mean… just from the scenes where he says “be careful” and the one at the end, where she is opening his shirt… THE sizzle! It’s going to be incredible!!! I can’t wait either!!!
