Read Curiata.com’s review of the series premiere of Outlander on Starz from last week: Outlander adapts time travel, intrigue to small screen

The second episode of Outlander, the television adaptation of Donna Gabaldon’s book series, aired Saturday on the U.S. premium network Starz. This installment is where conditions in 18th-century Scotland are vividly and accurately detailed. It opens with the arrival of Claire Beauchamp, who has been transported from the mid-20th century, at Castle Leoch. As Claire looks around her, she sees muddy streets, small crofts, animals milling about, people undertaking their primitive avocations in the courtyard, and traditional dress.

Mrs. Fitzgibbons is introduced to us as she bustles from the castle to greet the returning men. This character is cast perfectly. Annette Badland superbly captures Mrs. Fitz’s (as she is known about the castle) iron-fisted ability to manage a castle filled with unruly men, as well as her deep affection for those who are under her care. After her initial surprise of finding a barely-dressed Englishwoman upon her doorstep, Mrs. Fitz envelops Claire under her capable wing.

As Mrs. Fitz undertakes to feed and clothe Claire (“Let’s get you something that’s a bit more … well, more,” she deadpans), Claire resists, saying that the young man she had assisted earlier, Jamie MacTavish, needs tending because of his gunshot wound. Through a short inquiry, Mrs. Fitz learns that Claire is knowledgeable in medicine and knows what to do for an “inflamed wound,” which we would call an infection. Claire’s skill set definitely earns Mrs. Fitz’s respect, as healers and “charmers” are in short supply in a castle containing so many fighting men. Claire, with Jamie in tow, is taken to a room where garlic and witch hazel are provided her to use as a disinfectant. Mrs. Fitz, who also knows her way around an herb garden, brings cherry bark and comfrey to soothe the pain.

For the first time, Claire is alone with Jamie (whom she knows as Mr. MacTavish). As she removes Jamie’s plaid, she sees that his back is covered with scars. He explains that he was flogged by the English, once for escape and once for “obstruction,” which is “whatever the English say it is.” Claire also learns that Captain “Black Jack” Randall, her modern-day husband’s ancestor, is the one responsible for Jamie’s imprisonment and the floggings. Jamie shares stories about the English soldiers’ mistreatment of the Scottish people, describing an incident where Captain Randall presumably sexually assaulted Jamie’s sister, Janet “Jenny” (Laura Donnelly).

It is here that the show comes up short, losing sight of the book that inspired it. In the text, Janet is described as fine-boned and birdlike, which Donnelly capably represents. However, the written Janet is also fierce and defiant, especially toward the English. Unfortunately, none of this is conveyed on screen when Janet is manhandled by Captain Randall. Instead, the viewer is given several minutes of gratuitous nudity that could have been sacrificed for character development elsewhere. A flashback of the scene as it reads in the novel would have been sufficient to convey Randall’s brutality. In the end, Janet is portrayed as passive while the book showcased her strength of character in arguing with Jamie about whether she would or would not go with Randall in order to spare her brother.

Despite these missteps, the scene succeeds in creating a moment between Claire and Jamie. During their relatively intimate exchange, she tending his wounds and he sharing personal stories, Claire begins to think about her husband, Frank. Jamie comforts her as she cries (swoon!), and Claire is aware of an unbidden attraction to this strange man.

Before we know it, Mrs. Fitz is preparing Claire to meet the estate owner “Himself,” Colum Mackenzie (Gary Lewis), Laird of Castle Leoch and brother to Dougal, the battlefield leader whom Claire met earlier. These scenes wonderfully illustrate the standards of appropriate dress in the 18th century versus Claire’s own time in the 1940s. After being relieved of her own clothing (a simple dress and undergarments), Claire is forced into a shift, wool stockings and garters, stays (a corset), panniers, an under petticoat, an over petticoat, a kerchief to cover or enhance the bosom (whichever the case may be), a stomacher, and, finally, a gown.

Claire is escorted to Colum’s office, which features an impressive library and several exotic birds. A letter on the desk is dated “1 November 1743,” so it is now clear to Claire that she has, in fact, passed through time via the standing stone circle in Inverness. When Colum enters the office, Claire is shocked to see that he suffers from a significant deformity of his legs, which makes it difficult for him to walk.

Colum, while polite, prods Claire as to her family origins and how she came to be alone in the Highlands. Claire attempts to answer the questions as her husband Frank, an army spy, instructed her on how to withstand interrogation. (“Keep to the truth as much as possible.”) She requests passage back to Inverness, which Colum promises “with Mr. Petree, Saturday next.” (This plotline is not in the book.)

After her interrogation, Claire goes to a rooftop walkway and observes Dougal playing with a young boy who appears to be his son. This is a gross misunderstanding, as Claire discovers at dinner that night. The boy is not Dougal’s son, but his brother’s. Colum and his wife, Letitia (Aislin McGuckin), as well as the boy himself, are deeply offended by this mistake, and Claire excuses herself from the table, embarrassed. She is unable to make her escape, however, before being liberally plied with wine and further questioned by Colum. It is clear that the consensus in the castle is that Claire is an English spy who poses a threat to them all.

Claire spends much of her free time planning her escape and tending to Jamie’s wounds. Mrs. Fitz gives Claire the job of helping to gather medicinal and edible plants to supplement the castle’s cupboards. While foraging, Claire meets Geillis (pronounced Gay-liss) Duncan. Geillis (played by Lotte Verbeek) herself knows the many uses of herbs and makes it clear that she is very familiar with charms, poisons, and abortifacients. Witchcraft enters the conversation, a label that Geillis barely denies.

The two meet again that night in The Hall, which is a public forum where complaints are brought before Himself, who resolves them. When a young girl is accused by her father of “loose behavior,” Colum approves her punishment of a public lashing. At the last minute, though, young Jamie offers to take the girl’s punishment for her, in the form of being beaten with the fists of a fellow clansman, Angus. This, of course, requires Claire to tend to him once again.

Mrs. Fitz comes to thank Jamie for taking the punishment, and it is revealed that the young girl’s name is Laoghaire (pronounced Leh-heary), and she is Mrs. Fitz’s granddaughter.

Claire announces that she is leaving Leoch and instructs Jamie how to care for his own wounds. As they say their prim good-byes, Laoghaire peeks into the room, clearly wanting to see Jamie. Claire sends him off to her. The next day, as Claire is about to board the carriage that will take her to Inverness, she is summoned by Colum.

Colum shows Claire to the surgery of the Clan’s healers — the last one being Davey Beaton, deceased. He tells her that she will make a fine replacement. She protests and insists that she be allowed to return to Inverness, as promised. The episode ends as Colum tells Claire that she may not leave until he is satisfied that she has revealed her secrets and poses no threat to his Clan.

This second episode shines a light on a central element of the series. It slowly introduces the typical and expected behavior for 18th-century women: docile, obedient, and meek, with no opinions or thoughts of their own. Contrast those qualities with Claire, who is the exact opposite of this standard, drawing much unwanted attention and doing nothing to dispel rumors about her character.

The Outlander television series does well to retain those themes from the books. But the screen adaptation veers more from the books in this episode than it did in the premiere. It remains to be seen how far this deviation will go.

After what seems like centuries — but has really only been decades — Diana Gabaldon’s best-selling novel Outlander has finally been adapted for television. Starz will produce a first season of 16 shows, which will cover the entirety of the first book in this now-eight-book series.

Outlander is a time-traveling romance and adventure that throws traditional concepts of a “romance novel” out the window. The first episode, which aired Saturday, introduced viewers to British citizens Claire Beauchamp Randall and her husband Frank, who have just reunited after World War II. Claire had served as a combat nurse and Frank as a spy in the war.

The couple travels to Inverness, Scotland, where they were married seven years before. Frank is researching his family tree and trying to gather information on a specific ancestor, Jonathan “Black Jack” Randall. Claire, bored by hours spent poring over dusty papers, heads to the Scottish countryside to search for medicinal herbs. While searching for a peculiar blue flower, she comes upon a circle of standing stones. She hears a strange sound and approaches the ancient structure to investigate. Reaching out to touch a stone, Claire is knocked unconscious and awakens, confused and disoriented, some time later.

Even though Claire appears to be on the same hill as before, something seems different. She heads down the hill and back to town; however, on the way, she thinks she has stumbled upon the set of an historical drama, as she is in the middle of a firefight between British soldiers and tartan-clad Scotsmen.

Claire runs away and comes to a stream where a soldier is resting. The soldier stands and turns toward her, and Claire believes, for a moment, that she is looking into the face of her own husband, Frank. Frank it is not, and we soon discover that this soldier is none other than “Black Jack” himself, the very ancestor Frank had been researching. As it turns out, “Black Jack” is not the honorable soldier Frank imagined him to be; Jonathan Randall did not get his nickname for nothing, as his character, so unlike Frank’s, is dark and warped.

Claire realizes that she is not on a movie set but cannot believe she has gone back in time. When Randall demands to know who she is, she gives her maiden name, Claire Beauchamp (pronounced “Bee-chem,” in the English fashion). Scantily clad by the standards of the day, unescorted, and alone, Randall presumes Claire is a French spy and a whore. He begins to assault her, both because he wants information and also for his own twisted pleasure.

Just in time, Claire is rescued (albeit roughly) by one of the Scotsmen. The Scotsmen are suspicious of her, as well, and think she could be an English spy. Until their leader discovers her true origin and purpose, though, he will keep her prisoner, although a protected one.

Among the group of Scots, there is a young man with a dislocated shoulder. As such, he cannot manage his horse, and the group must quickly make a getaway. One of the men volunteers to force the lad’s arm back in the socket. Claire, seeing that the wounded man’s arm will be broken, bids them to stop, and she fixes it in short order. This earns her a bit of respect from the group, but does nothing to allay their suspicions.

The group makes their escape with Claire riding with the young man she has just healed. When Claire looks to Inverness, she notices that she doesn’t see any lights. She asks her new companion where Inverness is, and when he tells her she’s looking right at it, she knows she is no longer in the 20^th century.

During their ride, the group approaches an outcropping where Frank told Claire the English of the 18th century would hide in ambush. Claire shares this knowledge with the young man and, sure enough, the British soldiers attack minutes later. The group’s leader, Dougal Mackenzie, demands to know how Claire came by this information and becomes more suspicious about her motives.

Later that night, Claire’s guard falls from his horse, having been injured in the ambush. Claire again comes to the young man’s aid, asking for medical supplies of her time (iodine, merthiolate) and speaking of disinfection and germs. Her references have no meaning to them and the men are further mystified by her crude use of language when she becomes frustrated in her attempts to bandage the wound.

The episode ends with the group’s arrival at Castle Leoch, home to the Clan MacKenzie, and Claire can be sure she is not on a second honeymoon any longer.

So far, the series follows the book relatively closely. There were some editorial embellishments in an attempt, it seems, to make the adaptation a bit more “sexy,” though in my opinion, this is totally unnecessary.

The series is filmed entirely in Scotland, lending the scenery a breath-taking quality. If nothing else, viewers will fall in love with the rugged, albeit wet, landscape.

The producers make use of lighting to draw a distinction between the prosaic, 20th-century life of Claire and Frank as compared to the heart-pounding action of the 18th century. In the more modern-set scenes, the lighting is quite dark. Even those scenes inside houses with electric amenities have a muted, dull feel — think The X-Files. However, the scenes are noticeably brighter when Claire goes back in time. In fact, as soon as Claire awakens after her passage through the stones, the sun is shining. Even the night scenes from the 18th century have a shimmering quality.

The characters are well cast, with Catriona Balfe playing a wonderfully complex version of Claire (though without the voluptuous bosom and amber eyes described in the books). Sam Heughan’s Jamie Fraser, the as-yet-nameless young man who is twice healed by Claire, is swoon-worthy (although I thought he’d be taller!) and conveys Jamie’s strong constitution, quick wit, and sensitive nature with a subtle delivery. Playing both Frank and Jonathan “Black Jack” Randall, Tobias Menzies capably handles Frank’s reserved affection and Black Jack’s barely-concealed villainy.

The second episode of the series airs Saturday at 9 p.m. on Starz. Check back next week for a look at the latest twists and turns from Inverness.