Outlander 4.2: Slavery

Outlander 4.2 last night, another strong episode, continued the blending of opposites that is the essence of the series.

This time it was Jamie's aunt's plantation in South Carolina. It's a beautiful, bucolic paradise on first glance.  But on closer inspection, it thrives on the backs of hundreds of slaves.  Jamie's aunt is kind - meaning, she treats her slaves well.  Claire with her future sensibilities is horrified.  Jamie's not too happy either.  And before the hour is over, we're treated to an in-depth, sensitive tour of the law and practice of slavery in pre-Revolutionary War America.

It's a wrenching picture - which, again, has relevance to this very day, where the results of the voting for Georgia governor, with an African-American woman running against a white state official, are being hotly contested.  Yes, we as a nation have made enormous progress since 1767.  But we still have a ways to go.

One of the things I'm already liking about this fourth season of Outlander is that, so far, each episode features a different venue for our band of travelers.   There's a whole continent ahead to explore, if the narrative goes that way, and it will be fun to see where it goes.

Boston, for example, would be an especially neat place to visit in 1767.  Claire could leave a hidden message for her daughter to discover in the 1960s.  (Leaving a message for Claire herself to discover in the 1940s would be paradoxical, unless Claire for whatever reason never sees it.  If she had, then, well ... she would have seen it already, earlier in her life in the 1940s, if you get the picture.)

And I'll be back here next week with more.

See also Outlander 4.1: The American Dream

And see also Outlander Season 3 Debut: A Tale of Two Times and Places ...Outlander 3.2: Whole Lot of Loving, But ... Outlander 3.3: Free and Sad ... Outlander 3.4: Love Me Tender and Dylan ... Outlander 3.5: The 1960s and the Past ... Outlander 3.6: Reunion ... Outlander 3.7: The Other Wife ... Outlander 3.8: Pirates! ... Outlander 3.9: The Seas ...Outlander 3.10: Typhoid Story ... Outlander 3.11: Claire Crusoe ...Outlander 3.12: Geillis and Benjamin Button ... Outlander 3.13: Triple Ending

And see also Outlander 2.1: Split Hour ... Outlander 2.2: The King and the Forest ... Outlander 2.3: Mother and Dr. Dog ... Outlander 2.5: The Unappreciated Paradox ... Outlander 2.6: The Duel and the Offspring ...Outlander 2.7: Further into the Future ... Outlander 2.8: The Conversation ... Outlander 2.9: Flashbacks of the Future ... Outlander 2.10: One True Prediction and Counting ... Outlander 2.11: London Not Falling ... Outlander 2.12: Stubborn Fate and Scotland On and Off Screen ... Outlander Season 2 Finale: Decades

And see also Outlander 1.1-3: The Hope of Time Travel ... Outlander 1.6:  Outstanding ... Outlander 1.7: Tender Intertemporal Polygamy ...Outlander 1.8: The Other Side ... Outlander 1.9: Spanking Good ... Outlander 1.10: A Glimmer of Paradox ... Outlander 1.11: Vaccination and Time Travel ... Outlander 1.12: Black Jack's Progeny ...Outlander 1.13: Mother's Day ... Outlander 1.14: All That Jazz ... Outlander Season 1 Finale: Let's Change History

 

It all started in the hot summer of 1960, when Marilyn Monroe walked off the set of The Misfits and began to hear a haunting song in her head, "Goodbye Norma Jean" ...