Even having read the book, over and over again, I don’t think I can mentally prepare myself for what’s coming this weekend.
Viewers who haven’t read the book and have no clue as to what’s coming, will be glued to their TV screens, not being able to believe their eyes. But so will we, the book readers.
As I’ve mentioned oh… a thousand times before, I’ve read the book (books, actually. In the plural), dozens of times. And even though I can imagine everything and everyone in the whole series, I’ve recently discovered that I’ve never drawn a mental image of what’s coming in the next episode.
I don’t want to give anything away, so I’ll try not to include any spoilers, but what’s coming is terrible. It’s shocking, it’s brutal, it’s raw, it’s unforgettable. The books are full of terrible scenes, and you can’t believe how Diana Gabaldon puts her beloved characters through such ordeals. And this particular scene was the one that made me realize, all those 10 years ago, that this book was the real deal. It wasn’t just historic, romantic, fantastic or whatever. It was real. Because it was about the people. The characters.
And they go through such horrible ordeals in order to come out stronger on the other side. The strongest steel is forged by the fires of hell. And this is so true of Outlander characters.
I know what’s coming. But having read the book doesn’t make me any more prepared to watch it than the average non-book-reader viewer. I’ve read the book countless times, and yet I’ve never drawn a mental image. It’s so horrible, I just couldn’t picture it. So I don’t know if I’ll be able to watch it come Saturday.
And that’s the awful truth. I know what’s going to happen, I know that it is necessary, and I know what comes after, and yet… I’m not prepared to watch it, Not in the slightest. And that speaks volume of Diana’s talent and of the work done by the people behind the TV show. Diana for creating it, and the TV Show for being so perfectly true to the book, it’s characters and their spirits, that you know you’ll have your heart broken in a million pieces.
So, peeps, see you on the other side.
