‘Outlander’ season 1, episode 1 review: Claire and Jamie, excite and delight
With the “Outlander” book series being such a worldwide phenomenon it was no surprise to hear that they were going to be making it into a television series. We will admit that we haven’t read the books over here at CarterMatt, but we have heard so many rave reviews of how powerful this series is that we haven’t been this excited about a show premiere in a long while. so let’s take a look at what’s in store for us with the premiere.
The premiere introduces us to husband and wife Frank and Claire Randall as they spend time getting reacquainted with each other after they became separated for 5 years during WWII. They head to Inverness, Scotland where Frank wants to do some family research, specifically on one of his ancestors named Jonathan Randall (Black Jack). When Frank and Claire head up to a set of stones on top of the hill of Craigh na Dun, they see women doing some sort of ritual. After they women leave, Claire places her hand on one of the stones and time travels to a time where she is in the middle of a fight between the redcoats and the rebel Highlanders. This is where we meet Franks’s ancestor, Black Jack and she learns quickly what kind of terrible human being he is, but before anything horrible can happen to her, she is rescued, and is introduced to Jamie Fraser.
Sam Heughan as Jamie Fraser is a wonderful cast as he’s not that well known, but has completely immersed himself into this world. He is caring, strong and has a little bit of an innocence about him that makes us instantly care for him. Caitriona Balfe took this role on head first and brought us a strong but empathetic Claire Randall and although she is facing some very difficult situations, she is inspiring in the way she handles herself. Last but not least we have Tobias Menzies pulling double duty as Frank and Black Jack Randall and he is astounding in these roles. He makes us sad for him as Frank losing his wife, but terrified of him when he becomes Black Jack. He is by far our favorite of the show as someone we love to hate who will be likely haunting our nightmares tonight. Episode grade: A
What did you think of the premiere of “Outlander” and if you read the books did it meet your expectations? Leave us a comment below.