Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress

reviewing 3 Body Problem; Black Doves; Bosch; Citadel; Criminal Minds; Dark Matter; Dexter: Original Sin; Dune: Prophecy; For All Mankind; Foundation; Hijack; House of the Dragon; Luther; Outlander; Presumed Innocent; Reacher; Severance; Silo; Slow Horses; Star Trek: Strange New Worlds; Surface; The: Ark, Day of the Jackal, Diplomat, Last of Us, Way Home; You +books, films, music, podcasts, politics

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

Sunday, March 15, 2020

Outlander 5.5: Lessons in Penicillin and Locusts

Another outstanding episode - 5.5 - of Outlander, in this truly outstanding season, in which penicillin plays yet another crucial role.

Ironically, it's penicillin that doesn't work for Claire's patient in Boston in the 1960s. He turns out to be one of the small percentage of people who have deathly allergies to the antibiotic. And he's a Scot, in America. The result gets Claire to want to go to London, and bring Briana along, which sets in motion the re-discovery of Jamie and everything else that has happened in the past few years of this series. Claire knows about time and its workings indeed.

And there are two other important threads in this episode. Roger discovers Bonnet's gem, and Brianna tells him the whole story. Truth can hurt, as Claire tells Roger, but it can also be a powerful disinfectant, and it's good for Roger and Brianna that there's now truth between them about Bonnet, including his being alive.

The other thread has Jamie in action, and he's forced to kill the Brit who learns that Jamie and Murtagh are relatives. What's not clear is why Jamie told him about Murtagh - was it because Jamie figured the Brit would find out about this anyway, given that the messenger had just delivered that incriminating list? I guess so. But this should have been made a little more clear.

The dominant theme of Outlander, over and over again, are unintended consequences. These of course are ubiquitous in time travel. But in Outlander they even extend to a sweet little kitten Jamie brings back home to Claire - which, if I got the coming attractions right, brings locusts to the farm?

See you here next week.