Ach, Droughtlander. That inevitable purgatory between Outlander seasons. What’s an Obsessenach to do? (You know, besides obsessively stalking social media for even the slightest tidbit of what’s happening in Scotland on set? Because, yes, the gods be praised, they are FINALLY starting to shoot season 3!)
Why,
obsessively rewatch Season 2, of course, and create what is now officially my annual post on the best Outlander lines (or dialogue sections because this is not really a one-liner show).
Season 1 was ripe for the picking IMHO. Season 2,
which I didn’t love quite as much, was a little trickier. But here, without further ado, are my picks. Let me know if you agree or if I left out one of your faves. After all, we’re all in this Droughtlander together!
Episode 1: “Through a Glass, Darkly:
I could have chosen this for the photo alone of Jamie and Claire together privately for the first time since season one, but the conversation also sets up Season 2 and reminds us that, regardless of all that other Frank and 20th century stuff we just lived through in this first episode and are already angsting about for Season 3, Jamie and Claire are it. And they know it.
Claire: What are you thinking?
Jamie: I’m thinking it’s not a very honorable path you have us on. We’d be lying to my cousin, lying to everyone.
Claire: You have to remember what’s at stake, saving thousands of lives.
Jamie: Even if the price is our souls?
Claire: That won’t happen. You have to trust in this.
Jamie: In this I do and in this I will.
Episode 2: “Not in Scotland Anymore”
I probably could have made a post comprised entirely of Murtagh-only moments because, let’s face it, the enhancement of his TV character over the book character is one of the brilliant moves the show’s writers have made. And in season 2, Murtagh shines with many of the best lines. This batch comes after he and Jamie are practicing dueling in the park, much to the amusement and derision of the French high society watching these silly sweating men.
Murtagh: Look at me. Out of breath already after hardly an hour. It’s the air. Arses and armpits. Too many people. This city reeks of the chamber pot.
Episode 3: “Useful Deceptions and Occupations”
Ah Mary. So sweet. So innocent (at least in the beginning). So… not French. And Louise — can we just take a moment to revel in this woman’s wonderfulness? Claire Sermonne nailed it as Louise de Rohan.
Mary: Men don’t do that where I come from.
Louise: And where is that? The moon?
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Photo courtesy: Outlander Homepage |
Episode 4: “La Dame Blanche”
While this episode also includes Louise saying to Claire, upon telling Claire she is pregnant by her lover, “You mean sleep with my husband? But my love would be furious!“, it’s not my overall pick. For that, I have to go with Jamie’s speech, lifted mostly from the wonderful original words of Diana Gabaldon’s book on the effects of Wentworth and his struggles simply to make it through each and every day. This whole scene was so heartbreaking and so well done by Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe.
Jamie: It was this place inside me, a place everyone has inside. A fortress where the most private part of you lives, your soul, that bit that makes you yourself and nobody else. But after Wentworth it was like the fortress had been blown apart…That’s where I’ve been ever since, Claire. Naked, alone, trying to hide under a blade of grass
And then later after Claire goes to Jamie and they literally reunite for the first time —”
Come find me, Jamie. Come find us.”:
Jamie to Claire: “Remember I told you I was lost? Well, I think you’ve perhaps built me a lean-to at least and a roof to keep out the rain.”
Sigh.
Episode 5: “Untimely Resurrections”
How many of you wanted to reach in and shake Claire during this scene in which she’s asking — no, let’s be fair, telling — Jamie to hold off killing Black Jack Randall for a year? I may or may not have been yelling at the screen telling Claire to please stop caring about that SOB. That might have happened. Might. Anyway, the first part of this quote is where Jamie says, “Him or me. You have to choose.” Why oh why is this even a choice??? (And, yes, I’ve clearly read the books so I do have some other Frank info that influences my yelling astute analysis.)
Jamie: Jesus God Claire! You’d stop me taking vengeance on the man who made me play his whore? The man that lived in my nightmares, and in our bed, that almost drove me to take my own life? I’m a man of honor. I pay my debts so tell me now is that what you’re ask of me. To pay you with the life of Black Jack Randall?
Claire: Yes
Jamie: A year. Not one day more.
Episode 6: “Best Laid Schemes”
This is a roller coaster episode for sure, ending with the crash of the duel and the miscarriage. But before we get there, a few minutes of levity and happiness do occur. We’ve got more Murtagh wonderfulness that I can’t ignore, including: “
Your mind changes like a woman in flux” after Jamie says the duel is off and, as he’s being dressed to be a French highwayman: “
If I do happen to get caught, would you be so kind as to kill me? I refuse to be hanged in this.” And we’ve got the Prince in one of my fave “Mark me” moments: “
Mark me. I will take my own life if I am forced to go live in Godforsaken Poland.”
But the line I’ve got to choose is Jamie, talking to the baby bump. Because… well, who needs an explanation?
Jamie: It’s your father. I can’t wait to meet you.
Melt.
Episode 7: “Faith”
This is Claire’s episode all the way. Caitriona Balfe nails it every second she’s on screen. Is there any moment more gut-wrenching than when she is asking for her baby? Or the utter despair when she is asked to confess her sins during last rites and she responds, “My sins are all I have left.”
But I’m going to highlight the scene between her and Jamie at the end when they are finally — and tragically — reunited, desperate to find their center again and unsure if they ever will.
Jamie to Claire after her gutwrenching admission it was her fault:
“I asked for your forgiveness once. You said there was nothing to forgive. The truth is I already forgave you long before today for this or anything else you could ever do.”
Episode 8: “The Fox’s Lair”
Let’s be clear, the one redeeming moment of this entirely useless episode: Jamie talking Gaelic to Jenny’s baby and Jenny’s quote about how you can say things to a baby you can’t, especially if you’re a man, say to anyone else. And also because this GIF can now be available forever. You’re welcome.
Jenny: You can talk to a wee one like you can’t talk to anyone else.
Episode 9: “Je Suis Prest”
We were treated to lots of great Claire-Dougal repartee in this episode.
Claire when Dougal returns: “It wouldn’t be Scotland without you”… followed by an eye roll at Murtagh as Dougal’s talking.
And then later, when Dougal tries to blackmail her to help him get Jamie to change his mind about how to handle this battle:
Claire: “Let’s get one thing clear — if I ever thought of you, I might hold a grudge. But I don’t. Stop trying to convince everyone of your patriotism. I’m not sure you’ll grasp the meaning of this either, but fuck yourself.”
But for importance, I’m going with Claire and Jamie’s chat after she finally realizes/admits she’s got PTSD. This add-on to the TV adaptation was a good idea, in general, and this moment is another (of the sadly few in this season) where we see the depth and solidity of Jamie and Claire’s relationship.
Claire: If I go back, it will be just like lying in that ditch again, helpless and powerless like a dragonfly in amber. Except this time it will be worse. Because I’ll know the people out there dying alone are people I know, people I love. I can’t do that. I won’t lie in that ditch again. I can’t be helpless or alone ever again.
Jamie: I hear ya. I promise whatever happens you’ll never be alone again.
Claire: I’m going to hold you to that, James Fraser.
Jamie: You have my word, Claire Fraser.
Episode 10: “Prestonpans”
This episode gave us a few good Bonnie Prince moments with Jamie — notably, his suggestion that Jamie tell Claire to tend to the wounded British soldiers first rather than the Highlanders after the upcoming battle:
Jamie: “As your friend, don’t talk of such things… nor do I believe my wife would follow such an order.”
Prince Charlie: “From your prince, no. But surely Lady Broch Turach would from her lord and master.”
HAHAHAHAHA. Awesome Jamie eye roll. Perfection.
And then when the Prince notes, after Jamie suggests he remain in the back so nothing happens to him because Jamie would hate to have to tell his father the bad news, “Mark me. I don’t think my father is that fond of me.”
But I’m going with Jamie and Claire’s amazing goodbye scene as he goes off to Prestonpans. Not only because it is one of the
very few intimate scenes we got with them this season, but also because the dialogue is something that echoes throughout both seasons, starting in Season 1 when she says to Jamie “
On your feet, soldier.” I love that — and of course we see it in the episode finale when Claire bade Jamie goodbye with this variation, “
Rest easy, soldier.” And then, there’s the Jamie bow. Oh. Dear. God.
Claire to Jamie as they kiss each other good bye: “On your way, soldier.”
Episode 11: “Vengeance is Mine”
Like Murtagh, the Duke of Sandringham has been one of the great characters in Seasons 1 and 2, so brilliantly played by
Simon Callow. I will so miss his absolutely perfect delivery of what, in another actor’s mouth, might be a mundane line. A particular fave this episode: “
The last thing I would do, my dear, is to blurt.”
And this episode has another moment of Murtagh levity when he and Jamie try to decipher Claire’s Gaelic-coded message. “She’s even misspelled help!” he exasperatedly says.
But the line I’ve chosen is a more serious Murtagh line. As Jamie’s godfather, he has taken his role as protector very seriously, and the rape of Mary Hawkins and the near-death of Claire and his perceived failure to keep them safe have weighed heavily on him. Finally, he gets to settle the score with Sandringham.
Murtagh: “I kept my word. I lay your vengeance at your feet.”
Episode 12: “The Hail Mary”
This battle of the brothers — the final moments between Dougal and Colum, and Black Jack Randall and Alex — is epic and filled with many wonderful sequences of dialogue. Dougal’s soliloquy to Colum is just one example I wrote about in a
post about these brothers. But I’ve got to choose Colum’s last words to Jamie as this episode’s winner. As often happens with someone on the brink of death, Colum sees clearly here and it’s beautifully expressed.
Colum to Jamie after he has told Dougal he wants Jamie to lead the clan until his son is of age: “My poor brother. I have lived my life crippled in body, and he has lived his crippled in mind.”
Episode 13: “Dragonfly in Amber”
And finally, this. Because when all else is said and done,
Outlander is the story of Jamie and Claire. Period. And this quote sums it all up:
Jamie at the stones, saying goodbye to Claire, and after listing his many supposed sins and wrongs: “But when I stand before God, I’ll have one thing to say to weigh before all the rest. Lord, ye gave me a rare woman and God! I loved her well.”
So do you agree with these lines? Did I miss some of your favorite lines? Share in the comments and help us all survive Droughtlander together!
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