He thought it would be a powerful way to tell the story. Our director, Stephen Woolfenden, really pushed for that. I'd like to think the show is setting things up for next season but Ian showing up out of the blue and with severe emotional issues looked a bit forced.What was your initial reaction to giving Roger’s ordeal the silent film treatment? If there was something odd in this episode is the appearance of Jamie's nephew Ian out of nowhere, now dressed in a mix of colonial and Indian fatigues. Probable thoughts of suicide, of "why the hell did I travel here" surely passed through Roger's mind and we could tell by the expression of his face and eyes. Richard Rankin's performance was stellar despite his practically speechless performance. His death would've given the show a tinge of revenge and it would've been interesting to see how "Outlander" would've handle that scenario. I'm not a reader of the novels and I thought it would've been extremely shocking and unexpected to have Roger's character die (a la "Game Of Thrones"). The episode deals with Roger's near death experience after being hanged and his depression afterwards. "Famous Last Words" marks a drastic change in Roger Mac's personality. He's fantastic and a large part of the reason we keep tuning in every week. He's a straight up wonderful inspiration of a character and I really hope the showrunners don't feel the need to turn him to the dark side so he can have a redemption moment. With the state of modern film and television we're not used to being given a decent and good character who we'd all love to have on our side. Jamie again was fantastic, I particularly liked his chat with Ian. Good to see Ian back and got me waiting patiently for the reveal of his story. Pretty well done, and fantastically shot. I also really liked the narrow depth of field shots of Roger when he's shut inside himself dealing with it all, and his attempts to speak and abandoning it. Vintage film (although not period correct) shows the scene of Roger's near death experience, and although the token technique could have come across as cheesey seeing as how it's not period correct but just used for effect the actual shot they use, close ups and Roger's perspective and how little he could see etc sold it. Cinematically it was a bold move as the look of this episode used some well done techniques. This episode deals with the aftermath of last weeks battle and dealing with traumatic experiences. She was able to identify with his struggle differently than Claire in Season 1 who had not undergone a similar experience. Perhaps it felt a bit too much like Claire trying to ransom Jaime's soul in Season 1 but I think there is a difference in that Brianna had undergone similarly traumatic experience like Roger did. Having said that, I don't understand why so many people found the episode not to be enjoyable. Second, having seen the rest of the season, a similar trick is used again later on in the season with much better effect than here. ![]() I think it would have made much more sense not to do so. ![]() ![]() First, the silent film nature of the flashbacks took away from rather than added to the presentation of the hanging. I understand why they did it, but there were two big problems with it. I guess the one big downside to this episode was the use of the silent films. These two characters were connected by what happened at the Mohawk Village and based on what has happened to both of them feel unwelcome, feel like outsiders. It was also so ingenious to have Ian and Roger face their trauma at the same time. So when his voice is taken from him it's such a blow because it hits at his very identity. In fact, in the book his nickname is the thrush because he is well known as a singer. ![]() His voice is his weapon he isn't a fighter he's a speaker, and singer. So when Black Jack abuses him and he is forced not to fight back, not to resist, it strikes at the heart of who he is. When you look at what happened to Jaime, it was so difficult for him because he is a fighter at heart, someone who is willing to give his last for his family. In my opinion, Outlander does traumatic moments like these so well because they often involve attacks that go at the center of the character's identity. I have to say I am surprised by the amount of negative reviews on this episode as I actually thought spending more time on Roger's trauma and Ian's return was a welcome addition.
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