Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress

reviewing 3 Body Problem; Bosch; Citadel; Criminal Minds; Dark Matter; Fauda; For All Mankind; Foundation; Hijack; House of the Dragon; Luther; Outer Range; Outlander; Presumed Innocent; Reacher; Severance; Silo; Slow Horses; Star Trek: Strange New Worlds; Surface; The: Ark, Diplomat, Last of Us, Lazarus Project, Orville, Way Home; True Detective; You +books, films, music, podcasts, politics

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

Monday, March 7, 2022

Outlander 6.1: Ether That Won't Put You to Sleep

Outlander was back on Starz yesterday with the debut of its sixth season after a two-year wait. It was great to see our favorite characters back in action, but this wasn't the strongest episode in the series.

[Spoilers follow ...]

I thought the Intro took way too long to introduce Tom Christie. Also, it's a little lame to introduce an important new character in a flashback, this far into the series.

The single most interesting and at this point significant development is Claire's relationship with ether. It's a very valuable medical accomplishment, but Claire's taking it at the very end of the episode was suggestive of something more than medical interest. Were we seeing another scientific test, or is Claire becoming addicted to the substance? (Just a reminder that I haven't read the books, so all I know is what I see on the screen.) A little research reveals that ether can indeed be habit-forming, if not addictive (caffeine is habit forming, crack cocaine is addictive). If Claire is becoming dependent upon ether, that certainly bears watching and won't put us to sleep.

It was also good to see Claire and Jamie together, in all possible ways. The two continue to make a great couple. They've aged well together. In fact, they seem more comfortable in each other's arms and lives in this season than in any previous narrative.

As readers of my reviews of Outlander will recall, I've always been more interested in the time travel aspects of the story than the romance. Claire makes a few sage statements about time travel, but, otherwise, we saw none of it in this first episode of the new season. But there's plenty of time for that to be rectified, and I'm looking forward to more.

See also Outlander 5.1: Father of the Bride ... Outlander 5.2: Antibiotics and Time Travel ... Outlander 5.3: Misery ... Outlander 5.4: Accidental Information and the Future ... Outlander 5.5: Lessons in Penicillin and Locusts ... Outlander 5.6: Locusts, Jocasta, and Bonnet ... Outlander 5.7: The Paradoxical Spark ... Outlander 5.8: Breaking Out of the Silence ... Outlander 5.9: Buffalo, Snake, Tooth ... Outlander 5.10: Finally! ... Outlander 5.11: The Ballpoint Pen ... Outlander Season 5 Finale: The Cost of Stolen Time