Don’t shoot me. Hear me out before throwing stones at me, ok? I mean, I DO love the show. I’ve been reading the books for 10 years and the show it’s even better than what I expected. It is. I love everything about it. The scenery, the fact that they actually shot it in Scotland, the music, the casting (Good Lord, the casting!), the clothes, the fact that the dialogues are direct quotations from the book. Everything is perfect. Except maybe the one thing.
Don’t keep on reading if you haven’t read the books. Spoilers ahead.
In just 2 episodes we’ll have the wedding. Chills, you guys! I can’t wait to see that. That episode will have some of my all time favorite scenes. A lot of them. And I’m super nervous about watching it. But…
Don’t you feel like the show hasn’t built the relationship up to it? Don’t get me wrong. I love the fact that the show centers around Claire and her story. She is the protagonist of the show and she leads us through this strange world. I’m so glad they recognized that and kept it. I would have hated for them to turn this into a bodice-ripping / Fifty Shades wanna be. The important thing here is Claire and her life through the stones. Not the fact that she swoons over a hot Highlander. This ain’t a romance novel after all.
But last Saturday’s episode made me think. In the book, Claire still wants to get to Craigh Na Dun and go back to Frank, but she is also intrigued and kinda drawn to Jamie (as are we all). There are several scenes or lines of dialogue or even some inner-monologues where you can see Claire becoming quite attached to the young Scot. So when the wedding comes, there is a tiny bit of a romantic element to it. Know what I mean?
Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I was expecting a little bit more romance. At least to establish the relationship. But after this last episode, I realized that the moment she hands him the blanket and their fingers touch and they have this sort of awkward, tense moment, that there haven’t been a lot of scenes like this in the show. So the wedding will come as a sort of weird thing. And I don’t want the cute, sweet scenes just to have a shirtless Sam Heughan do puppy eyes to Claire, but to build the foundation of their relationship. In the book, the readers wants Claire and Jamie to get married. In the show, there aren’t many moments when you can go: “OMG Jamie! Just kiss her already!!!” Am I making any sense?
What do you think? Am totally on the wrong here or were you expecting some more little moments of romance leading up to the wedding?
Ok, recap for episode 5 is coming up soon. And I’m doing the experiment of having friends who haven’t read the books watch the show. We’ll see what comes out of that! I’ll keep you guys posted!
I have not read the books, but I’ve read enough in articles and blogs (with yes, some spoilers) where I agree with you completely. I know the marriage is coming up very quickly and and I keep thinking they haven’t advanced the relationship enough yet for it to make a lot of sense. At least not on her part, unless she is going into it without ‘love.’ I’m hoping I’m wrong.
Hey Lisa! Since you haven’t read the books, I don’t to spoil anything for you. But… since you already have read some spoilers, they don’t marry because of love, they are forced into it for several reasons. Still… there was a lot of attraction an chemistry between them even before they said their “I do’s”
I have heard this complaint several times and since it has happened so often, I believe we all need to address it.
I have to say, I both agree with you and disagree with you.
I agree in that I *want*, desperately, the romance that you are talking about. I can’t wait for the wedding, for Jamie to finally kiss Claire – and for her to kiss him back and mean it. Can’t happen soon enough!
I disagree with you in that in the story itself, there isn’t a lot of romance until after Jamie and Claire are married. Yes, she is attracted to him, and yes, the show has (sadly) omitted a few lines that I have truly missed establishing that – but there isn’t really anything between the two of them until there are wedding vows.
So, I think the show is doing a *great* job or showing that Jamie is a man of honor and truly cares about Claire. I also think the show is doing a great job of showing the bigger picture – that Jamie is just one piece of this gigantic story. I do think there have been a couple of slight stumbles – a few lines or moments that I, as a long time fan, have personally missed. (I really, really missed the ‘get this lassie off my chest’ line.)
My only explanation of all of that is that the writers and producers of the show are attempting to make this more of a saga and less of a bodice ripper romance. They are scared of alienating a whole group of potential fans – mainly men – if Outlander gets labeled as a ‘romantic, chic flick’ That’s just my opinion, of course. Great post Ally!!
Hey Jen!!!
I also missed the “get this lassie off my chest” line! LOL! That one was epic!
As I said at the beginning of this post, Im SOOOOOOO glad that they are not turning this into a bodice-ripping romance, because it isn’t one. It would loose so much of it’s significance if it was just turned into another romance novel. Don’t get me wrong, I do live romance novels and I’m an avid reader. But Outlander isn’t one. And I’m so happy they kept it that way. I agree with the fact that Jamie is just another piece in a much bigger puzzle. That’s one of the things I love about these books.
What I meant was that in the book, there were a few more scenes that established the fact that both Jamie and Claire were attracted to each other and that they rely on each other. Little things Jamie does or says. And some inner monologue by Claire. Even the scene where they just got to Leoch and she is mending his shoulder. When she sits on his lap because he is comforting her because she is crying about Frank, he caresses her back and mumbles in the Gaelic. And she says something like “now I understand why he is so good with horses. If I was a horse, I would let him ride me anywhere”. or something like that.
I know they marry because they are forced into it. And I know the fall in love after the marriage. And I know that a lot of things Jamie does out of love for her before they were married, we get to know way afterwards. But I feel like there should have been a little bit more of these scenes leading up to the wedding episode.
Totally agree! Can’t wait to see what happens on Ep. 6, but hopefully after that episode, we’ll be like – ah hah! Now, I see it.
I totally understand she’s not in love with him when they marry, but there is a bit more to it than what we’ve seen. And, actually, for as little as we’ve seen Jamie, I think he has more “looks” that tell you how he feels about her. For instance, when she first fixes his arm in the croft, he gives her a longer than necessary look. When she fixes the bullet hole on the road, you see his look. When she’s fixing his wound at Leoch and you see his face, not just when they’re staring into each other’s eyes, but when they show his face when he’s hugging her – he looks physically pained that she’s crying. Then, his attention to her when they’re sitting with Laoghire, the stare when she’s looking at his wound in the surgery, the look he gives her (that she doesn’t see) as he’s leaving the great hall with Murtaugh after he gives his obedience to Colum, etc. etc. etc.
The list is indeed long of moments that you see Jamie falling in love with her – not to mention him pretty much telling her his deepest darkest secrets about his back, having a price on his head, etc. I feel on her end, there isn’t as much depth. That all being said – I’M IN LOVE WITH THIS SHOW, this story, this book and cannot get enough!!
Oh Natalie, I’m so in love with this show as well. Having been a fan of the books for so long, I was scared about the show. But it turned out to be perfect and so much better than what I could have hoped for.
It’s true what you say. Jamie / Sam says a lot with his eyes and his looks. You can see he is fascinated and intrigued by her. When they go to the Black Kirk, she is all about the plants but he can’t take his eyes off her!!!
Hi Ally!
I agree with all your points about the show being totally amazing! It has been such a treat to watch, with the actors, the settings, the costuming, and the music being my top faves. While I totally appreciate what you are a bit disappointed about with the show (lack of a more romantic prelude to Jamie and Claire’s union), I must admit that re-reading Outlander while I am watching the series is giving me a different appreciation of the idea of Jamie and Claire from their earliest days.
So I first came to the books right before the August 9 premiere, and I mean in a hard and fast way! I read Book 1 in three days, and made it through Book 3 two weeks later. Wow, my poor kids and family! I was hooked, but decided to come up for air. I was totally engaged in Jamie and Claire, their relationship, their joys and sorrows, their imperfections, their admirable qualities. Total fangirl over the whole thing.
So, to help fuel my new Outlander obsession, I took it upon myself to re-read Outlander as best as I can as the show progresses. While this takes a small amount of guess-work, I have been able to read the chapters that roughly go with each episode, and I have found that my highly-charged reverie for Jamie+Claire has been quite clouded with what follows their wedding (beginning with the wedding night and ALL that is happens thereafter). I do agree that there is some nuanced inner-dialogue that accompanies Claire’s observations of Jamie that aren’t appearing in the show (and which are great little comments), but in general, my re-read has her being quite warm towards him in a friendship way, but he is definitely not present in her mind at all times and is not on her radar as a real candidate for an intimate relationship – no one is – as she is all about Frank and her fidelity to him. (She definitely notes Jamie’s attractiveness, but never really suggests that she would act on any attraction she might have for him.)
I am expecting to see some fantastic chemistry and full-on sparks when they finally DO get together in the show. I am almost nervous as we have seen NO preview images or scenes (that I can tell) for that/those episode(s). I think we are all about to go nuts with the anticipation!!
Sorry for the ramble, but I wanted to share, as I think you are expressing what I have seen many people mention. I would be interested to hear your take if you should re-read the first part of the book (is there enough time in the day!? I know!) in conjunction with viewing these first episodes. It’s been fun to re-visit the book, and I am paying greater attention to details and character traits this time around. I feel like I am learning new info with each re-read of each chapter.
Thanks for reading. Cheers!
Beth, never apologize for rambling! Specially when talking about Outlander! I can’t get enough of it!
First let me say, I am in no way disappointed. I couldn’t love the show more even if I had done it. LOL! It’s totally superb.
I loved reading your story of how you came to the books and how you went through the first 3 books in less than 2 weeks. Welcome to the madness and addiction that is Outlander. I’ll love knowing what you think about the next books. Keep me updated in your progress.
We all fall (and hard), with Outlander. I believe I read the first 5 books in little over a month. I wasn’t working back then, so I had a lot of free time. I did go to university, but apparently read Outlander more than the class text books. Oops!
I’ve been sort of re-reading the chapters or some passages as he show progresses. At least, I did it during the first 2 episodes. Then I realized that book and TV show are 2 different mediums, with different pacing and resources. And I didn’t want to miss out the magic of just watching the show. So I kinda stopped. I still go back to the book to check out some passages when they are totally spot on!
Maybe the use of the word “romance” in my post was wrong. There wasn’t any real romance before the wedding. But there were little things. Little moments.
Another thing, I know I’m doing this post ahead of time. I should have waited till the wedding episode. The show is doing an amazing job in adapting the book, so maybe after watching the next 2 episodes I’ll be happy about it. Right?
Patience, grasshopper. While Claire and Jamie are friends in the book, and seem so in the episodes, she’s still not in love with him. Doesn’t happen until after the wedding. I’m comfortable with the pacing, knowing that the wedding is a huge surprise to both of them. It’s after the wedding that their lives become so completely intertwined, and that I’m really looking forward to.
LOL! Yeah… I’m not such a patient grasshopper.
I do love the pacing. I’ve read some blogs where they complain that the show is too slow. For me, it’s totally perfect!
I’d don’t normally post comments on blogs, but I feel the need to in this case. I’m so glad I found your blog and this entry. I also am a long time fan of the Outlander books, have read, reread and listed on Audio as well. I also think that that the Starz has put together a very impressive show. So much better than I could have ever imagined. With all of that said, I have to agree with you that I’m missing so much the chemistry that Diana put into into the beginning w/ Jamie and Claire. I’m missing the chemisty, their conversations so much so that I’m having to reread the parts of the book that the episodes have covered so far just to get my fix!
So glad you decided to post here!!! And we are all re-reading bits and pieces of the book. After all, we are obsessed! LOL!
I agree that the show is beyond perfect, and I had to think really hard to find something I didn’t like. But I feel like some of the chemistry, attraction and attachment from the first chapters is missing.
Actually, the show’s had lots of “just kiss already” moments btw Jamie & Claire: he soothed her crying in ep 2, her checking his neck in ep 3, the stable scene in ep 4, then the blanket scene in ep 5.
BUT – I totally get what you’re saying. All the aforementioned moments are just flirty looks, and not very deep or meaningful. They would be fitting for a hot hookup, but not an epic romance. There have NOT been many scenes showing Claire and Jamie bonding with each other at a deeper level. The scene where she comforted him after Dougal ripped his shirt and he showed her his sword skills would have been a great bonding scene, but the show cut it, which is a mistake IMO.
Another problem is the show hasn’t developed Jamie’s character enough to make us know him at a deeper level. He’s had very few scenes, and is just eye candy for most viewers, someone to oogle at, or feel sorry for. So we’re not really rooting for Claire to be with him beyond a physical level. He’s good for a fling, but not enough to abandon a husband for. Her bond with Frank is much stronger. The show will have to do a lot of romance development to convince viewers that Claire should choose Jamie over Frank.
True enough. The moment when Claire is checking his shoulder and he gives her that smoldering look, I was screaming “kiss her! kiss her!” to my TV screen.
Maybe you have a point. Maybe this is because Jamie’s character hasn’t been developed enough. I do like TV-Frank more than I did book-Frank. And I love that. Because it really makes you understand why Claire wants to go back to him. That was a very good choice.
But Jamie is not showcased so much. And I don’t mean in the shirtless-eye-candy kind of way. His humor, his intelligence, his honor, his loyalty, his principles.
Call me crazy, but even though he is the kindest out of the lot and the one that treats Claire the best and takes her into consideration, I still love all of Angus’s and Murtagh’s and Rupert’s scenes. LOL! I love those 3!
As a newcomer to the books I think the barely there tease of attraction is spot on. It comes more from him than her. I’ve been reading the books since the first episode. In developing Claire’s character i’d be turned off if she would be so quickly tempted in so short a period of time as she is still wrestling with the knowledge that she doesn’t belong and needs to get back to her own time and husband. After years of being on the front if ww2 and remaining faithful, she shouldnt be hot and heavy for Jamie. But I recognized in hindsight of the books that Claire’s internal dialogue keeps fighting the attraction (denial) by putting him in the younger brother/friend zone. Thus the split emotion of encouraging him with laoghaire but being jealous of his attention.
Jamie’s attraction to her is clear because it would be natural with no obstacles from his perspective except for respect. Her perspective is more complicated because how could she string him along while planning to leave? But the dye is cast when they are forced to wed.