Outlander: Season 3 (Blu-ray) – Series Review
Outlander has been quite a success if you go by counting the amount of seasons currently aired. The fourth season has been shot and the episodes are ready. First however, season 3 of Outlander. Time and space are very specific, especially when you long for someone in another time and another space altogether. “You choose, you loose” as the saying goes. As time progresses you’ll know exactly how much you lost. The series is an adaptation of the books written by Diana Gabaldon. So after you’ve watched the episodes you can relive the story in book form, or vice versa.
Season three of Outlander starts off smashingly. Claire (Caitriona Balfe) gets sent back to 1948 because Jamie (Sam Heughan) fears for her safety and that of their unborn child. When she gets back to 1948, Frank Randall (Tobias Menzies) is waiting for her to take her back. He does however have one request: Claire has to choose him, and he wants them to raise her child. It has to be said things don’t go so swimmingly… By episode three events have escalated in such a manner that you’re left wondering what else can happen to Claire.
Outlander isn’t exactly pulling it’s punches. When season 3 starts off there’s more bloodshed than a ‘Saw’ movie and though it doesn’t permeate the whole season nor set the mood for the series as a whole, having actual gore – not the jump cut implied gore, but actual blood splattering – is quite the statement to make.
The writing is a bit shaky at times because there are moments when Frank comes across as a little whiny emotional compromised man, which is weird, for the way men of this time aren’t portrayed as being such, at least not in popular media. This doesn’t mean that the writing is all bad, there’s a scene where Lord John Grey (David Berry) and Jamie are conversing about their past, and they both open up to each other. Jamie speaks of Claire and Lord John Grey speaks of a dear friend he lost on the battlefield. Suddenly the scene turns ever so subtly hostile. Subtle in terms of the writing, but the acting is top notch all the way through. Surprisingly, this doesn’t make either one of them antagonistic towards one another, which shows of good writing because that’s an easy check to tick off on your list of writing clichés. Lord John Grey is a professional and is courteous towards Jamie making it possible for him to escape his imprisonment.
When it comes to who would enjoy watching this series, it’s unclear. There’s the gore at the start of the season and the interesting plot development, but there’s also a lot of emotional drama. So men will have to sit through quite a bit of character development without much action, while women might be offended at how gory the season starts. It’s a bit of a mixed bag, but either gender will find merit in watching this series. There’s some really stellar acting and surprising moments and the time travel isn’t too prevalent to become a plot hole.
Also don’t become too attached to the characters, because they’ll be in and out of the series faster than disco went out. It’s a bit of a shame how some characters are ‘important’ and then get two scenes only to have them disappear in the third. It doesn’t give the viewer any chance to actually connect to the characters and so it misses the ‘oomph’ when they do go.This also makes their presence and their acting prowess kind of irrelevant.
When talking about the acting, either you play your role really minimalistic or you play your role really grand to convey emotion more easily. The acting in season three of Outlander is a bit of both. This is aided by the camerawork, but does wonders to show off just how talented the actors are. The raw emotion drips from Claires face when the camera is up close, and when the camera pans out you can see the emotion run clearly through her whole being. The aforementioned scene between Jamie and Lord John Grey is a perfect example of just what can be done when the actors have their role down to a t. The sudden change in atmosphere makes the viewer jolt up in their seats. The actors don’t just come across as actors playing a role and becoming predictable because of it, their reactions seem genuine and varied enough to make them feel human.
When you buy the Blu-ray, you’ll get a myriad of extras to boot. There’s the ‘Of Lost Things’ added scene between Jamie and Lady Isobel Dunsany. Claire and Jamie: back together. Jamies Revolution. Claire: through time. Saying Goodbye to Frank and Jonathan Randall. The Original Chemistry Test between Caitriona and Sam, and last but not least the Outlander Podcasts. There’s even more: The Transformation of Geillis Duncan. A travelling Series sets Sail. Deleted Scenes. Oh and there’s bloopers too. That on top of the already massive runtime of 745 minutes spread across 5 Blu-ray discs.
Conclusion
Outlander: Season 3 is labelled as drama, but could also be labelled as adventure and none would be the wiser. There’s action, there’s quite some violence, but there’s also the story of the sappy nature of true undying love and devotion. It is warranted though that like any series, it’s best to catch the first two seasons before diving into this one as you’ll get more background information on the who and the whats of the series.
Outlander: Season 3 (Blu-ray) - Series Review,
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