BOMB Episode 103: "School of the Moon" (SPOILERS!)

Here are my reactions to Episode 103 of OUTLANDER: BLOOD OF MY BLOOD, titled "School of the Moon".

*** SPOILER WARNING!! ***

There are SPOILERS below! If you don't want to know yet, stop reading now.

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Overall I was disappointed with this episode. I did like some parts of it, but I thought it was an overly "talky" episode, without much action, and I really disliked the ending.

Things I liked (in no particular order):

I enjoyed seeing how Colum's two falls came about, more or less as described in the book.

“Colum was a whole man to the age of eighteen or so,” [Ned Gowan] resumed his story, “and gave promise to be a fine leader. He took Letitia to wife as part of an alliance with the Camerons—I drew up the marriage contract,” he added, as a footnote, “but soon after the marriage he had a bad fall, during a raid. Broke the long bone of his thigh, and it mended poorly.”

I nodded. It would have, of course.

“And then,” Mr. Gowan went on with a sigh, “he rose from his bed too soon, and took a tumble down the stairs that broke the other leg. He lay in his bed close on a year, but it soon became clear that the damage was permanent. And that was when Jacob died, unfortunately.”

(From OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 11, "Conversations With a Lawyer". Copyright © 1991 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

I liked Ellen's reaction after Colum's first fall, where she's the only one treating him with kindness or compassion. But to me, this just emphasizes how very cold Colum is toward Ellen in the scenes in the present day at the Gathering, which I didn't like at all.

I liked both Colum and Dougal's speeches at the oath-taking. Especially Dougal's, which I thought was really powerful.

The scene near the beginning with Brian and Murtagh, where Brian learns Ellen is to be wed to Malcolm Grant, is just terrific. Poor Murtagh, hopelessly in love with Ellen and having just learned that she's going to marry someone else. And poor Brian, just as dismayed at the news, but for different reasons!

I thought it was a nice touch that Alec McMahon MacKenzie (whom we got to know in OUTLANDER as "Auld Alec", in charge of Castle Leoch's stables) was the first to swear allegiance to Colum. I didn't recall seeing him in earlier episodes, though I might have missed it.

Ned Gowan saying, "I'll go fetch Davie Beaton" after Colum is hurt made me laugh. Yeah, that's not going to work out too well. We have a pretty good idea of Beaton's medical knowledge (or lack thereof) from Claire's browsing through his casebook in her early days at Leoch:

Reading through a few of the recipes, the reason for the late Davie Beaton’s lack of success with his patients became apparent. “For headache,” read one entry, “take ye one ball of horse dunge, this to be carefully dried, pounded to powder, and the whole drunk, stirred into hot ale.” “For convulsions in children, five leeches to be applied behind the ear.” And a few pages later, “decoctions made of the roots of celandine, turmeric, and juice of 200 slaters cannot but be of great service in a case of jaundice.” I closed the book, marveling at the large number of the late doctor’s patients who, according to his meticulous log, had not only survived the treatment meted out to them but actually recovered from their original ailments.

(From OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 7, "Davie Beaton's Closet". Copyright © 1991 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Things I disliked:

The sex scene at the beginning was tender and intimate, much more explicit than I was expecting (Ellen putting Brian's hand betwen her legs!) but then it turns out to be a bait-and-switch. Only a dream. Grrrrr!! I hate when they do that! They've used that device more than once in OUTLANDER, and I never cared for it then either.

Scene after scene of the characters just standing around talking, sometimes recapping earlier conversations in this same episode for the benefit of characters who weren't present, as though the audience didn't hear it the first time. That came across to me as boring and repetitive.

Julia saying (in voiceover), "I am determined that our baby will live, and that Claire will one day meet her sibling." This actually made me feel physically ill. NOOOOO!! I keep telling myself, "The books are the books and the show is the show," but it's not really helping in this instance. Maybe it's not technically fan-fiction (since the show is done with Diana Gabaldon's consent), but it sure feels that way sometimes!

Seeing Julia willingly go to Lord Lovat's bed - again, nooooo!!! Why would she do that? In hope of better treatment? Hoping he might let her go? Whatever her reasons, I didn't like that At All, and I thought it was a depressing way to end the episode.

A few final thoughts:

My favorite parts of the episode were the scenes involving Colum and Dougal and their father, Red Jacob MacKenzie. It's very clear that Red Jacob despised any sign of weakness in his sons. That makes sense to me, and I thought the flashback sequences were interesting as a way to show Jacob's relationship with both of his sons, particularly Colum.

I thought the change in Colum's demeanor from the flashback scenes with his father to the present-day scenes at the Gathering was interesting. Now that his father is dead, he's much more confident, free to do (more or less) what he wants, without Red Jacob constantly criticizing, second-guessing, belittling him, or making derogatory remarks about his disability. He must find it quite freeing.

Finally, I was fascinated by the man (I don't know who it was) declaiming in a loud voice in the background, to the raucous cries of a crowd, starting around 17:10 into the episode. ("Rank beggar, oyster-dredger...." and so on.) It sounded really interesting, so I looked it up online. It turns out that the original version from which these lines were taken is even more entertaining. Check out The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy, by William Dunbar, a Scottish poet (1456-1520). Next time you're looking for a really creative (but obscure) way to insult someone, you might try some of those!

I will keep watching, for now, but I just didn't care for most of this episode.

Look here for my reactions to the other BLOOD OF MY BLOOD episodes, and please come back next week for more!