Fifty Shades of Tartan – ‘The Reckoning’ Review

Returning to its original time and place after a lengthy hiatus, being referred to as Droughtlander, Starz’s Outlander comes back to TV tonight, looking ready and raring to finish off its first season as confidently as it began. The popular book series but was an unknown quantity as a show, Outlander’s humble 2014 beginnings gave way to a bona fide hit for the network, with the final episode before the break doubling viewership from the pilot. Now that a receptive audience is practically a given, the only question left is whether the show’s momentum will carry forward after a six month pause. If the turnout at the Tartan Affair in New York is any hint, then we have nothing to lose fans, Outlander is here to stay!

If the show has taught us fans anything, it’s that time-displaced absences make the heart grow fonder, so fans of the show will no doubt be pleased with what The Reckoning has to offer.

The first new episode, The Reckoning, hinges on the most famous and controversial scene in Gabaldon’s books. A scene in which a husband spanks his wife for disobeying him. It’s an amazing hour of drama – tense, erotically charged, emotionally raw and hair-raising in its ferocity.

As followers of the series and readers of the books are fully aware, at the point where The Reckoning opens, Claire has been taken by Randall, who views her as a prostitute and spy. It’s Jamie’s task to rescue her. What unfolds is mind-blowing, to say the least. There are four key scenes. The rescue. Then an argument, which, in its viciousness, is like a slap in the face. There is then the infamous, much anticipated scene of punishment (called “tawsing” in the books) that plays out as a tangle of weaved limbs to a soundtrack that’s of coarse language and emotional fury from both parties. Finally, there is the scene in which Claire makes it crystal clear what she will not tolerate. To say more would be to diminish the shocking sexual wildness of it (basically it’s so hot you may need a smoke after, even if you aren’t a smoker).

Being honest, I am not saying Outlander is a sort of Fifty Shades of Tartan, despite my title of this post.  Far from it. It is unique in its emphatic loyalty to the female perspective. This is Claire’s story. And as such, it is the story of a woman from 1945, vastly experienced as a nurse in wartime, who is thrown back into a world in which a woman’s status is dramatically different. Her knowledge gives her power but makes some men afraid of her. This she enjoys.

More specifically, Outlander is about the way in which Claire makes Jamie a man more sensitive, open-minded and understanding of women. She is older than he is, for a start. He is a decent man, but naive and a warrior drenched in tradition. Drawn to Claire and at times unsure why, he is only vaguely aware that she is shaping him into the man she wants him to be.

There is the matter of the female gaze, too. While the story is told, essentially, from Claire’s perspective, it is also her shrewd female eye that guides the visual viewpoint. The camera views Jamie’s body as it is viewed by Claire, while Claire herself, in mind and body, is the anchor of everything. There is nothing like this particular dynamic at work in any series of the moment. This is just one of the many reasons, that the show stands out from all the others.

Outlander would be a lot less were it not for Balfe’s formidable embodiment of Claire. It is a performance of outstanding naturalism. Balfe embodies Claire with an earthiness and an off-hand comfort with her own body while simultaneously displaying with ease the steely intelligence of the character and Claire’s unending tenacity. It is rare to see an actress as casually dazzling, instinctively secure in a role so physically demanding.

Reckoning doesn’t exactly pickup where the finale left off, but it does continue one of the more interesting ideas introduced in that episode. Claire’s “modern” husband Frank finally returned to the fold in Both Sides Now, representing the first time the show had ever shared perspective with anyone other than its heroine. Reckoning fully wrests control of the story away from Claire for the hour, letting us see the lead up to the cliffhanger, along with the eventual fallout from its prompt resolution through Jamie’s eyes. It’s a big step for the series, and seemingly a necessary one for its long-term growth.

Jamie proves just as prone to breaking out in heady internal monologues as his new wife, so Reckoning makes for a smooth stylistic transition on its surface. But the change in perspective does impact how we’re intended to read some of the events in the premiere.

By the end of Reckoning, Jamie emerges as a more complicated character than the impossibly progressive dreamboat the first eight episodes made him out to be (though even those complications somehow make him MORE noble, if that was even possible). This is matched by the plotting of the episode, which delves more heavily into the inner workings and divides among the McKenzie clansmen.

Good riddance to “Droughtlander,” indeed!

About author(s)

Jenn

Jenn is a Book Lover, Fangirl, Daniel Cudmore's Number one Fan, and Ricky Whittle connoisseur and the "chairwoman" of #TheWhittleExperience. Co-Owner of FANdomConsultants.com. When not found traveling to and from NYC (my home, my heart), reading, or writing on one of the several sites she owns, she's usually on Tumblr stalking Ricky Whittle gifs and scouring the Internet for more goodies on Dan. Jenn is also a budding artist and has her own studio where she creates some fandom made goodies. Follow her on Twitter, & Instagram.