Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress

reviewing 3 Body Problem; American Rust; Bosch: Legacy; Citadel; Curb Your Enthusiasm; Fauda; For All Mankind; Foundation; Hijack; House of the Dragon; Luther; Outer Range; Outlander; Reacher; Severance; Silo; Slow Horses; Star Trek: Strange New Worlds; Surface; The: Ark, Diplomat, Last of Us, Lazarus Project, Orville, Way Home; Tokyo Vice; True Detective; You +books, films, music, podcasts, politics

George Santayana had irrational faith in reason - I have irrational faith in TV.

Sunday, March 8, 2020

Outlander 5.4: Accidental Information from the Future

A really excellent Outlander 5.4 tonight, including a nice time-travel tidbit not often seen in time travel stories.

Deliberate attempts to change history, or doing something in the past that might change history, but it's important enough to do, anyway, are gambits we've often seen in time travel adventures and in Outlander. Claire's attempt to grow antibiotics and "the future be damned" is a prime example this season.

But tonight we get another twist. Claire's notes about contraception, which Bri warned her were dangerous to write down, indeed get out to the public in the past. An advertisement was unknowingly written on the other side of the paper with the future contraceptive information, and brought to the printer -- who found the birth control interesting enough to print up along with the advertisement. I like accidents like that in time travel.

And tonight also featured a really powerful scene in which Jamie talks to Claire about his wish to see the two bring up a baby. Conversations like that really get to the heart of Outlander, the relationship between this time-struck couple, and are always a pleasure to see.

On the dark side, still unaccounted for is Bonnet. He lurks around the edges like an evil dream, but he's not a nightmare, he's real, and sooner or later Bri will have to deal with him, which means Jamie and Claire will, too, and I'm looking forward to seeing those episodes.