Hungarian version/Magyar változatI have to admit I did not like the second half of Outlander sevent season. iIt was too little history and too much soap opera. But the last big (possible) twist might have saved the story before the final season.
Roger and Buck in the wrong time
I know, it’s a bit unfair to say that I did not like this eight episodes, becasue they included the scene I was emotionally invested in the most:
when Roger met his father in 1739
Generally, Roger is the character whose story I’m invested in the most, so it was always exciting to watch his scenes. His inner voice, his remarks, for example, when Geillis made a move, or when Dougal arrived and introduced himself, were funny. But of course the emotional peak was that scene with his father. I knew this would come somehow. I was waiting for this moment. Maybe my impatience made me even more insensitive for the other storylines. There were a lot of stuff I did really not care, because I wanted to get back to Roger’s storyline as soon as possible.
But here is one intriguing thing. There is always a point in time traveller stories,
where the logic of time travel collapses.
Outlander has been lingering around this topic since almost the beginning very deliberately, for example,when Roger asked Claire, what would happen if they would stop Geillis, would he just suddenly disappear? Surely not. Or yes? Or maybe?
When Roger tells Buck that Geillis is his mother and Dougal is his father, and they just have witnessed how those two met for the first time, furthermore, their, Roger and Buck’s sudden appearance in 1739 created the very situation why those two met, again, the story came very close to its edge and the charactera are reflecting on it.
Anyway, time travel stories, I think, are the
most entertaining when they are just one step away from this theoretical collapse.
And Outlander has got to that point with the adventures of Roger and Buck in the wrong time.
A “normal” love story is the less interesting thing in a fiction
I really tried to like Young Ian, but his character and story is so irrelevant to me. (Just irrelevant, and, luckily, not annoying, like adult Fergus’ character and Cesar Domboy’s terrible acting) But his scenes with Rachel, especially the wedding night were so extremely boring, I literally skipped them. (“Hey there is no time for this, we have to go back to Roger!”)
On the other hand, I always enjoyed when Denzel appeared on the scene, but that just me, Joey Phillips (big brown eyes +brown hair guy) is totally my type.
Fake-dramas for nothing
Maybe it’s just my autistic brain saying that it’s completely unnecessary to create dramas when we all know the end result. No, Jamie did not die off-screen. (Also, I knew what happened to him, why he wasn’t on that ship.) No, Claire won’t die, when there is still whole season ahead.
Then why? What was the purpose of these two fake-dramas?
OK, the first one, when Jamie was supposed on the ship went down maybe has more sense to me. Because after their short-lived marriage, the dynamics between Claire and LJG became quite enjoyable and exciting. Also, I think David Berry should always appear with eyepatch, his acting became significantly better and much more enjoyable with this little accessoire.
But the second fake-drama made me upset. First, I was expecting a battle. I thought that’s why they introduced General Lee previously becase they wanted to build up to the climax of the battle (kind of), when the very upset George Washington confronts Lee.
Second, this penultimate episode made me think about the sad fact, that despite seven seasons, I’ve never ever find any monologue of Jamie or a dialogue between him and Claire exciting.
Actually I’m not invested in their relationship at all.
( Also, it’s quite hard to find anything exciting in Jamie’s monologues performed by Sam Heughean, when you just binge-watched the second series of SAS Rogie Heroes, with all the unbearable, in a good way, monologues of Paddy Mayne, perfomed by the excellent Jack O’Connell.)
And then the last big twist
Some might say, it’s, too, soap-opera-ish, this twist with the possibility of a survival of someone thought to be dead for many-many years. Well, I don’t disagree with that notion. And yet, this twist, that Fanny (and Jane,) might be the granddaughter(s) of Claire and Jamie, because somehow, miraculously Faith did not die in Paris, saved the entire series for me, and made me suddenly want to watch the next (the last) sesson.