Wow, oh wow.. oh wow! Every time I think this series has hit it’s pinnacle of shock and awe, it takes it to another level and has my mouth gaping wide and me longing for more! This week we got to see Diana in the series, and The Gathering brings The Mackenzine Clan to Castle Leoch, but let’s get into what you really want to read about.. What’s going on with our girl Claire so here goes..
Our girl Claire’s got some mad skills! Too bad she doesn’t have any luck to go along with those skills of hers. Even under the eagle eyes of Rupert and Angus, she’s figured out how to use the castle’s kids, including young Hamish, to unwittingly help her reconnoiter the grounds. She has stealthily gathered a store of food for her trip; she’s brewed a sleeping potion for Rupert and Angus; and figured out how to acquire a horse without also acquiring suspicion. See I told you she has got mad skills!
This week’s episode was written by head writer/producer Matt Roberts, who actually started this whole process – he recommended the books years ago to Maril Davis, who in turn, recommended them to the others that have joined in and brought us this fantastic series. Matt’s love for the books shows in the sensitive handling of key scenes in this episode – Jamie’s oath, Dougal mourning the death of Geordie. Both show great depth of care for the inner conflicts these characters go through. This episode also showed us the use of voiceovers in a much different way. They added to the scene and what was going on, rather then having to do so to lead us through a scene.
There were several scenes that stood out to me in this episode. First was seeing Diana and how she was worked into the show. I absolutely loved seeing how they worked Diana into the show, giving her a couple of funny lines (shooshing Murtagh as he explains the ceremony to Claire). Second was Claire’s encounter with Geillis in her surgery was revealing. Does Geillis suspect Claire’s origins? Is Geillis something other than what she seems to be? She not-so-subtly questions and hints, telling Claire that “this is no time for a woman to be alone,” and talking about when she first arrived in Cranesmuir – how did she really come to this remote Highland village? Hmmmm? Is she a spy and is just getting close enough to see what secrets Claire has?
I loved the nod to the Wizard of Oz, which would have come out just a few years before Claire went through the stones (Yes I had to look this up to make sure of the date) – she tells Laoghaire to “click your heels three times and recite, there’s no place like love. There’s no place like love.” Good thing Laoghaire doesn’t know she’s being given horse dung as a love potion – it would work just as well as anything else Claire could give her, since, as the girl said last week, “It’s not me he fancies.”
Dougal’s oathtaking, on its face, wouldn’t cause anyone to pause – of course Dougal would swear allegiance to his brother. But before he bends the knee, he takes a breath – what is this pause? Mental preparation? Resignation? We know, from Murtagh’s explanation of why Jamie can’t swear the oath, that Dougal has designs on the lairdship. If Colum were to step down at this point and designate Dougal as his heir, the Mackenzie clan would surely agree – Hamish is too young, Dougal is respected – and Jamie hasn’t yet proven his worth, especially since he is currently has a bounty on his head. But Dougal knows that Colum is not ready to do this. But he has no choice – he swears the oath out of loyalty, of course, but also with a feeling of time running out. 
When Claire makes her way to the stable, after encountering the clansmen who assault her and Dougal who at first rescues her, then attempts to extract a “penalty” for wandering the corridors, she hits the wall, in in the form of Jamie. He tells her that she couldn’t succeed, the best trackers are in the castle. The way she tells him the story of meeting Dougal (was endearing and coy and fabulous) – “and then I may have walloped him with a chair, or something.” And Jamie is very amused at this story – he knows that Dougal was too drunk to really remember what had happened, and wouldn’t admit to it anyway.
Did you catch all the obstacles Jamie faced at the Oathtaking? In the beginning of the episode, Alec tells Claire that it’s better if Jamie is left to himself during the Gathering, as he understands the gauntlet Jamie must run if he can’t avoid it completely. And when Claire must be brought back to the castle, you can see that Jamie knows, as Claire does not, that this isn’t just a simple escort. She still has no idea who he really is, not even knowing his true last name, but you can bet that every man in that Mackenzie hall knows exactly who, and what, he is. As Murtagh, in quiet desperation, explains to Claire, Jamie is a threat to Dougal’s claim to becoming laird – Jamie is liked and respected, is educated, and has proven himself in battle. So should he give his oath to Colum, that’s his declaration that he sees himself as a Mackenzie, and a contender. But should his decline to swear fealty, he is a traitor – he can’t win either way – and Murtagh fears for Jamie’s life.
But Jamie finds the one way possible to wiggle out of the dilemma. You can see it in Colum’s face – watch what you say, lad, you’re my nephew and I love you, but I can’t save you. And Dougal – is he hoping Jamie will trip himself up, so he can be eliminated? Dougal’s motives are suspect, no matter how the evening goes. Jamie, though, gives Colum his obedience, swearing only to give him loyalty as kinsman and the Mackenzie chief, while not acknowledging Colum as his chief. And Colum accepts this, as an intelligent man long versed in political maneuvering, which means that all of his men must accept it as well.
Rupert and Angus, the comedy duo of the Highlands , kept me laughing all episode. I think they have become a sort of face to me, as we see their characters more and more each episode. They’re so clearly unhappy to have to be chasing her around, instead of attending the “festivities.” And Angus, guzzling Claire’s sedative-laced port – she even tells him it’s a sedative – was too funny, “Sedative, is that Spanish?”. But during the boar hunt, Rupert shows that she’s had an effect on them as well, as he tries to warn her of the dangers and keep her close.
And that boar hunt the danger is real, as two men get injured by the large, sharp tusks of these ferocious animals(which we hear from Claire are poisonous). Dougal saves Claire at the last second, but shows his strong leadership and loyalty to his men when one is not only injured, but fatally gored. “Tell me, did you bed my sister Dorene?” Geordie asks him, recalling a cattle raid many years ago. Words catch in Dougal’s throat as he says that yes, he had; and Geordie tells him that was a good thing, that the lasses were lucky. Claire hasn’t always – or ever – gotten along well with Dougal, but they worked together to give him a good death. Something Dougal must do is, thank Claire about that later on, by which being a strong strapping man, had to have been near close to impossible to admit.
Returning from the hunt, Dougal sees a rousing game of Shinty (yes I had to look it up as it looked like a barbaric game of hockey) going on – the perfect outlet for his need to pound someone. So he takes both his grief over Geordie’s death and his frustration at Jamie’s ability to wriggle out of the Oath situation out on Jamie. They’re well matched, and the game is very exciting – until the younger, more agile Jamie is able to (prophetically?) best his uncle and end the match. And as they walk away, you hear Jamie say, “Did we win?”
When Dougal paid Claire the visit in the surgery, upon saying thank you, he tells Claire that he was taking her with him. It almost sounded as if Claire was his property, when the words came out of his mouth. Claire unable to say no, knows this may be her chance to get back to the stones and in turn back to her husband in her present time – Yes she still remember Frank.
