![]() When sitting alone with her dinner feeling left out by the Gaelic, Jamie can’t help but to come up to her, explaining how it is not about hate from the clansmen, but about lack of trust. With the drawn-out scene of a man hurt we get to see another side of Dougal, who in turn becomes even more in awe of Claire as she helps comfort a dying man. ”You’ve seen men die before, and by violence” he concludes and even though it’s awful, this is familiar territory for Claire, she is of use and can be of great service. It is not about a man, but about liking the atmosphere and the surroundings that in some ways I assume reminds her of the simple living around the archeological excavations growing up.Īt the end of the episode she is reminded of the other huge part of her life, that of being a combat nurse. ”A small part of me regretted my imminent escape” is the thought she allows herself at the encampment of the MacKenzie clan, when she sees how happy they all are to meet up. The Gathering neatly lays the ground for Claire’s incipient feeling of fitting in the brutal but beautiful world of 18th century Scotland. Although in full action to plan for her escape, for the first time Claire expresses a wish of sorts to stay and it has nothing to do with Jamie. ”A small part of me regretted my imminent escape.” ![]() So yes, take away the sadists and the hateful deserters, still the threat is looming, because maybe someone suddenly gets the idea that they actually have a justified reason to rape. Even Jamie knows this and feels it necessary to protect Claire in The Gathering and sleep outside her room in The Rent just in case any drunken men should get the itch. Claire gets raped by a deserted redrock and there is no real way of knowing what might happen when drunken clansmen, including Dougal, are around. But even though he is the biggest threat, he certainly is not the only one. There is no doubt that captain Jack Randall is the worst rapist of them all, he tries to rape Claire, tries and fails with Jenny and successfully rapes Jamie. The same goes for Dougal who just after stating he does not condone rape says that they don’t have time for it anyway. Yet, Colum’s wording and the fact that he knows about Randall’s reputation says that even if he does not condone it, the subject of rape is not something that bothers him much. His brother Dougal states that very thing in the pilot. The ever imminent threat of rape is a theme of season one and the scene between Colum and Claire in Castle Leoch puts a scrutinising light on it. ”Is there ever a good reason for rape, Master MacKenzie?” is Claire’s harsh response to Colum after he wonders why an English soldier, an officer and gentleman, would try to rape an English woman for no apparent reason.Ĭolum begs her pardon realising his bad phrasing, because he is a good guy that does not condone rape as far as we know. ”Is there ever a good reason for rape, Master MacKenzie? ![]() So is getting slashed and shot for that matter. Later on in the episode, at the stables, she reciprocates the jokes with her gentle and considerate tone – ”try not to get flogged or stabbed today, that would be thanks enough” – and we get our second sweet “sassenach” in his answer: ”No promises, Sassenach”. He needed her to become the man he was supposed to be. I’m thinking this is another reason Claire had to come, not only to fix his physical wounds, and making sure he survived the redrock attack, but for Jamie to have someone to talk to about this horrifying past experience. It becomes very intimate as he opens up about such a personal story with nothing on his body but a bandage and a plaid. ![]() Probably this is the only way he can talk about it, first throwing in a very dark one – “there’s no joy flogging a dead man” – then a the lighter and funnier – “well, aye, chickens are very poor company.” ![]() There is something so gripping in the way Jamie is telling his heartbreaking, brutal story about the flogging in his low-key tone while adding a few jokes about it along the way. ![]()
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