‘Outlander’ episode 13 review: And now ‘The Watch’ has ended

Sure, what better story than an “Outlander” review to make a “Game of Thrones” puns? It is one of the many ways that we try to entertain ourselves, since mostly this show has struggled do that as well the past couple of weeks.

As lovely as it has been to see more of Lallybroch, the past two installments have in particular felt like the show is dragging its feet somewhat to accommodate the 16-episode order. Until the end of tonight’s installment, for example, we thought that there were really going to be two separate events that were the only important pieces of information: Jenny giving birth to a healthy child, and then Claire telling Jamie that she is not sure that she can have children after trying and failing with Frank Randall.

Luckily, the capture of Jamie by the redcoats is the shot-in-the-arm that the show needed after it was starting to get somewhat listless while we were watching his adventures with Ian, a man we do not have that much invested in at this very moment. Not only are there stakes again, but we would be thoroughly interested in seeing if Claire can do a little role-reversal and find a way to rescue Jamie.

The other issue that we are having at the moment is not so much a fault with the action on the screen as it is the nature of this story; we find “Outlander” best when you have a little of that science fiction thrown in there. We are starting to miss the updates on Frank Randall, and it feels like ever since the end of the witch trial, we’ve lost some of the time-traveler mystique that we absolutely loved about the rest of the first season.

Still, there is no doubt that much of what you love about this series is still here, from the wonderful vistas to the strong performances by Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan to even the music and the overall tone. Book fans likely appreciate “The Watch” more so than a non-reader will, mostly because they have to foresight to know what is important here. For everyone outside the loop, we are stuck in the middle of a waiting game. Grade: B-.

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