Tag Archives: Caitriona Balfe

Outlander – The Way Out

Outlander – The Way Out, the third episode of Season 1, is a particularly interesting episode. One of the subplots of the episode is directly from the book, and the entire episode feels like it could have been pulled directly from the book (and some scenes appear to have been shuffled into this episode out of earlier chapters of the book) but if you are reading along in the novel Outlander you need only finish chapter 9.

Chapter 10, approximately page 178 of the novel, is where The Gathering begins in earnest, and as it happens, the title of episode 4 is slated to be… The Gathering.

Episode three might be one of the best episodes for those wanting to get a feel for how the book is being translated to the screen. The plot-point that was taken as a subplot directly to the screen was the one that, as a reader, struck me as significant, and telling about multiple characters. In an earlier article I remarked that it can be interesting to see what scenes in the book are so significant that every person in the collaborative process that it takes to make it a tv show is struck by that scene and agrees it needs to be on the screen. As a reader this was one of those scenes I hoped they felt the weight and impact of.

The subplot they added, the character they created, to me made perfect sense, and again spoke volumes about every character that interacted with him.

Episode three had a nice balance to it, some moments that spun on the intonation with which lines were delivered, and the body language that characters made sure only one or two others saw… it was this deliberateness in some cases, and subtlety in others that kept my eyes on the screen, and kept me interested from start to finish… and had me wanting to re-read the book yet again, wondering if there were things I had missed, things I should have noticed, things I might now understand differently because I could quite literally see them differently having just seen them on screen.

It is quite safe to say Diana Gabaldon’s series of Outlander novels stand alone quite successfully. And the STARZ Outlander television series likewise stands alone, and can be viewed independently of the books and a compelling drama unfolds before your eyes. But the two, in combination, create this extraordinary experience, where one sets you up with questions to ponder and ask as you experience the other… whichever you experience first keeps you guessing during the other even though you are pretty darn sure you know the journey you are being taken on.

Outlander – Castle Leoch

Claire and Jamie in Outlander S01E02 Castle Leoch

STARZ Outlander‘s second episode, Castle Leoch, incorporates large portions of the chapters 4 through 9 (about 4 pages into chapter 9, or approximately pages 81-162) of the Diana Gabaldon novel Outlander, but begins to feel less like an attempt to precisely translate the novel to the screen, and more like an effort to capture the most powerful and dynamic pages of the book, and present them in the best possible way in moving images.

In episode two it feels like scenes are shifted in position, aspects and conversations changed. Where in episode one minor characters from the novel did not appear, here it felt like a minor character or two was added to facilitate tension, drama, and keep both characters and the plot on track and focused. And yet, even as I was aware of all of these subtle and nuanced changes, none of them felt as though they were in violation of the book, or characters, but rather like I was simply being exposed to a different and equally compelling edit of the same story — making me glad I’ve already read these chapters, and am now enjoying the STARZ presentation.

Outlander is an epic story, set at this point predominantly in the 18th century, but the show uses a nice technique of flashing back to Claire’s twentieth century memories as she tries to adjust to her life, and use what knowledge she has, in every respect, to survive in this new life.

Watch Outlander on STARZ to catch up, and tune in each Saturday night at 9 PM ET/PT

Outlander — Fans are praising the first episode

Outlander Bandannas and Novels

Outlander fans across the internet are cheering the first episode of the show, which aired on STARZ last night. An abridged form of the story readers have loved for over two decades, the television is breathing life into beloved characters, giving longtime fans a reason to re-read a book they love, and new fans a reason to find a book they may not have read before.

Yes, as you can see in the photo above, a special re-release of the book came out as a tie-in to the show, with the images of the STARZ cast members on the cover.

Outlander STARZ Promotional Photo – Claire

With roughly 900,000 viewers, yes, that is 900 thousand folks, having tuned in to see the first episode BEFORE IT AIRED, we are eagerly looking forward to hearing how the show rated when it hit screens live last night.

What can already be said is that Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan beautifully stepped into the roles of Claire and Jaime and led a talented cast in this period piece.

Time and again it felt like the pages of the book had simply come to life.

For those who have not read the book(s), and do not see having time to do so before this season wraps up, is that a problem? After all, we keep pointing you over to the books, don’t we? No, of course not! Having read the books simply gives the added interest of wondering how closely they will be followed, of seeing what makes its way from one medium to the other — and if what you imaged, curled up with the novel in your hands, is what this grand collaborative team brought to the screen.

Reading the books might also help set expectations. I started to devour the book before the show aired… and about half way through, loving the characters, loving the grand journey they were on, I realized this is a long (yes, with a page-count of 850 I did see my own remark coming) tale. It unfolds in a natural manner. There are no grand space battles in the 1700s. This is not a steam punk tale with future-technology from generations even ahead of our own imagination having been brought back in time.

This is a very real feeling drama about a woman from 1945, with an understanding of nursing from that time period having been flung back in time 202 years and trying to survive, and find her way home.

Now take a moment to imagine how many survival skills you have that would help you survive (or heal others) 202 years ago. I made that remark to one friend and he immediately wanted to ask his teenage son if the he knew whether potatoes grew on a tree or in the ground!

Having now watched the episode twice, I enjoyed the voice-over technique employed for Claire equally both times – it balances the sense that this came from a book beautifully with the new medium, and keeps the story on track and moving forward. Had those portions been altered — been forced into conversations, or the actors been told to try and convey everything through expressions and manner without the aid of those voice-overs, I believe the show episode would have suffered.

If you have not already watched the first episode of Outlander, this is a show that looks like it will play well as individual episodes, giving a satisfying story in each hour — and yet, at the end of the season, I can already see I’m going to want to set aside a weekend to watch the series in full as the grand epic tale it is.

Watch Outlander on STARZ to catch up, and tune in each Saturday night at 9 PM ET/PT

Outlander – Sassenach

Have you read the Outlander novels by Diana Gabaldon? Are you reading Outlander now, excited about the new TV show starting up tonight on STARZ? Are you just now picking up the novel and wondering if it is too late to start? Or has it been a decade (or more) since you read the first book in the popular series and you want to refresh your memory?

STARZ Outlander Season 1 Promotional Photo

As I’ve mentioned before, Outlander did not hit my radar as a novel when it first came out. When the show was announced I was interested, from the moment it was mentioned I was curious since I enjoy time travel and love stories that rely on the characters to get the audience caught up in the action and the drama.

A friend convinced me the books are worth the page count (the copy I have at hand of Outlander right now is 850 pages) and I totally agree. The book fills those pages with story, scenes I get caught up in… and yes, want to see fill my tv screen.

Here at PopArtsPlace we avoid giving away plot points in our PopArtsPlace.com/now articles… we like to talk about the general concepts, tempt you into getting caught up in shows, point you in the direction of what we are loving, highlight the strengths and draw your attention to places where we feel entertainment is excelling.

I am toying with the idea of doing a separate page discussing changes made to the story and characters in the Outlander series ‘along the way’, if there is interest, and if I feel I have something valuable to offer that would make such a page worth being made.

With the joint podcasts we do with ComicBookPage’s John Mayo we do include spoilers, after warnings, labels, and cautions that listeners should turn off the podcast if they are not prepared to listen to a spoiler filled discussion. That is where we dive into the details, discussing characters that have been merged, or removed from stories, plot points that have been dramatically changed, endings that have been altered between one medium and another, that kind of thing. Our Podcasts about tv shows are typically done at the end of a season, right before a season begins, or after a major turning point — in other words when something significant has happened and there is a decisive ‘reason’ to talk about the show.

It can be fascinating to talk with authors and discover that they considered from the moment an idea first occurred to them that it was “too big” in some way for the screen, that it had too many characters, too many threads, too much of something for them to feel they could contain it in a two hour movie, and so they turned to the format of a novel. Other times you might hear that the visual impact of a movie screen or the episodic nature of a television show simply felt like the right medium in which to tell a story. That a novel would not have the impact, or even a series of novels would not allow them to explore the life of the characters in the way they wanted to.

As a result I do not find it surprising when a story moves between mediums that characters disappear, that minor (or sometimes seemingly major) plot points fall away, rather I am often intrigued to see what held so much power and strength, what resonated so strongly with every collaborator in the project, that it remains in tact from one incarnation to the next.

Because I do not expect the STARZ series to be a word for word adaptation or following of the novel(s) I do not feel my experience of the show is spoiled by having read Outlander. If, however, you want to have no idea what is going to happen in the first episode, do not pick up the book before you watch it!

If you want to keep in step with the episodes, the plan here is simple — post an article an episode letting viewers know where in the book the show has progressed to.

Season One Episode One of Outlander, titled Sassenach, covers the first three chapters of the book Outlander. (Technically the episode ends about a page and a half into Chapter Four.)

Outlander airs Saturdays at 9 PM ET/PT on STARZ. Love the books and show? Share that love with other fans on the Starz Outlander Facebook Page

A few links that may prove useful:
Outlander on IMDB
Outlander on Goodreads
Outlander Series on DianaGabaldon.com