
I’ve thrown a lot of praise at Outlander recently. None of it is unwarranted, mind, but I am very aware of how much I’ve given to Outlander in term of performances, storyline and evocative themes. Similarly to series such as Hannibal and Orange is the New Black, nothing is perfect and the episodes are certainly going to have wavering levels of excellence as they plod along. For some reason, the return to Lallybroch has squandered a lot of the tension in this episode and the whole hour is placated - sleepy even - which is surprising because it kicks off with someone waving a gun in Jamie’s face...

This episode was an entire yawn. Despite the added tension, it seemed to regress into a sleepy and lazy episode. As we take a step away from the drama of Castle Leoch and Captain Jack Randall, the presence of all we’ve known before and the pair have achingly suffered has left this stark hole in the episode. The atmosphere is lacking despite the interesting events going on. Between a baby and a betrayal, men waving their guns around and a Redcoat invasion, this all seems a little lost in the blazing sun. It’s a hazy episode, adding nothing new until the very end and even that was a sentence or two.

Though it seems strange to have only happened in a couple of days. Is it just me or does Outlander struggle to develop the story over an extensive time period? Since Claire’s arrival, it seems everything has kicked off all at once. It would be nice to skip a bit and go a month down the line. Who knows? But the next episode should be an interesting one.