Outlander: reflections on love & trust

Season two of Outlander: Blood of My Blood was released on Friday, September 18th. Unlike so many shows that publish multiple episodes at once, viewers will have to wait a week between each new episode.

To be transparent, I have not seen all seasons of the original Outlander series, so there are no doubt major plot points I am missing, but what I have been turning over in my mind is the difference between the start of the relationships of the principal leads in each series:

Claire and Jamie (Original Outlander)

Ellen and Brian (Jamie’s parents in Outlander: Blood of My Blood)

Perhaps the main difference is that the original series is based on an extensive series of novels. There is far more material than any show could cover, but they do it well. The costuming and set design are outstanding, exuding both warmth and gritty reality. The fires burn, the mud flies, the wool itches. Both Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan as Claire and Jamie are interesting to watch as they strategize their way through more life-altering situations than any two people should ever encounter. 

Their love story is not enemies to lovers, not exactly. When they first meet, Jamie is injured with a dislocated shoulder and, though Claire is being held against her will, she intervenes to help him. 

She picks up bits and pieces of information about Jamie over a decent stretch of time. This is what she knows before she marries him:

• He is kind to animals.
• He has the companionship and trust of both women and men in his community.
• He has suffered and survived severe lashings.
• He is being hunted by the law, but he trusts her with this information and tells her why.
• He puts himself in harms way to protect others.
• He acts with courage and is able to work his way through dangerous situations.
• He has protected Claire from harm several times and is doing so again. 

I could go on. 

Finally, the decision to marry or not marry Jamie is essentially taken away from Claire. It is either marry him or suffer at the hands of a British officer, and as any sensible person would, Claire chooses the less painful option.

In Blood of My Blood, Ellen and Brian meet in equally inauspicious circumstances. Brian is not injured, but he is hiding from pursuers. Whereas Jamie was surrounded by other men, Brian is alone and so Ellen meets him free from the context friends or family would provide. 

They have a private moment where they talk for a few minutes. Perhaps she is charmed when she realizes he does not know who she is. She clearly finds him attractive. 

But what does she know about Brian after their first meeting?

• Men in her community were pursuing him, though she does not know why.
• Brian is hiding in a makeshift stable. 
• With her encouragement, he runs into the woods. 
• He wants to meet her again. 

As an outsider to the clan, the smart move for Brian was to hide, to run, but the show does not make it clear why Ellen finds this appealing or trustworthy. There should have been a line added about her distrust or dislike of those men who were searching for him or a comment that she knows about their poor reputation in the community. 

She is also hiding, but the circumstances are different. She is tired of pretending socially, but she is not in physical danger from those who are looking for her.

Brian and Ellen meet again in isolation (unless you count the horses). The setting on the bridge is romantic and beautiful, but within a matter of minutes they move from figuring out who each other are (and that their families are deeply at odds) to holding hands and trying to work out how they can be together.

This seems reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet. They meet. They briefly talk, expressing devotion and commitment. They marry. But what is their love based on? I would argue it is not love at all, but something closer to limerence or infatuation.

Perhaps for both Ellen and Brian there is a sense of rebellion, of claiming a different path than the one that would be chosen for them. But for Ellen to trust in a man she does not really know and has had no chance to see interact with another person, seems misplaced. 

I will say, the show does a very good job with the character of Ellen. Based on the novels, it is clear there were many men interested in her, and the show lives up to that reputation. She has excellent social graces and charms. 

She manages herself so well, most of the men in her life have absolutely no idea of her inner life or thoughts. She appears open and easy to read, but is in truth an extremely secretive person. 

Brian is the person with whom she shares her secrets. But why does she choose him?

Ellen is confrontational with her brothers, confidant in her own intelligence, able to manage difficult situations. 

Brian seems less capable in this area, though his father is arguably the worst, there are a fair few moments where Brian could have done right by others, that he lets slip by. Of course, all this information is completely outside the scope of Ellen’s knowledge.

Ellen (or the actress Harriet Slater) emotes her frustration, passion, tears, rage.

Brian (or the actor Jamie Roy) is more muted in his performance. 

It is difficult to tell how much of this is his acting choice and how much is stage direction. 

At time it feels like Slater is pouring herself into a scene and he is watching from behind a glass. In order to better understand his character, I watched an interview with Roy. He said that Brian makes much more passive decisions than he would in similar situations, so part of me wonders if his acting choices are made to exemplify a kind of stoicism. 

In the original Outlander, Jamie’s father Brian is briefly shown on screen, watching his son being brutally whipped. He is passive there too. He can do nothing against the authority of the British army, but it is clear he feels deeply. In that scene he has a heart attack caused by witnessing that event.

All this to say, I get why Claire grows to love Jamie and why Jamie loves Claire. They resonate on a similar frequency of temper and passion, and are given sufficient time to build trust that grows into love. 

I get why Brian pursues Ellen. He is certainly not the only one, she has many admirers including her fiancée (as arranged by her family) and Brian’s cousin.

I do not get why Ellen chooses to trust Brian. In a final act that swings radically from passivity to action, Brian dispenses with multiple mercenaries who were sent to murder him and then he kills Ellen’s fiancée in the hallway of her home while she stands mere feet away. Yes, he is certainly provoked into action and does not start either of these fights, but the trauma of these deaths and near-death experiences is not addressed in the show. 

A similar event happens in the original Outlander. Jamie and Claire have slipped away for a tryst in the woods when they are attacked by two deserters from the British army. Claire kills one of them and Jamie kills the other. She promptly goes into shock, walking back and forth, her hands covered in blood, shaking, unaware of her surroundings or appearance.

Ellen is not Claire, and the circumstances were not identical, but watching the man with whom you plan to start a life kill your fiancée is not a neutral moment in a relationship. For the story of Jamie and Claire the moment has consequences that change the direction of their relationship . For Brian and Ellen, it is mentioned once and then not again.

I am interested to see what happens in season two of Outlander: Blood of My Blood, if some of these lingering issues will be addressed. 

For any story of two people coming together, it is critical the audience believe in the “why” for each character. Perhaps Brian means freedom for Ellen, and that is the most important quality for her after her father’s death left her without his protection.  People have all kinds of reasons for marriage. Despite their words of love, I do not yet believe that Brian and Ellen know each other well enough to actually be in love.

No part of this essay, or any of my art, is written or edited by AI.

Bourne v. In The Grey: an action film comparison

Beautiful movies have captured my imagination for many years. These days I do not go to the movie theater nearly as often as I did when I was a teen, but certain films from that era left an impression.

I remember watching the Bourne movies (Identity, Supremacy, Ultimatum) in theaters. While not appealing to everyone, the shaky, handheld camera enhances the action sequences. These are not films to be watched while swiping through a phone. Each shot conveys meaning through subtle, fleeting details. 

The strength and compelling nature of Matt Damon’s performance as Jason Bourne is in the vulnerability he maintains through all three films.  From the first shot he is bereft of knowledge, unable to find his place in the world. He accepts help and support. He slowly learns the horrifying truth about who he was, what he has done.  

Damon’s facial expressions are muted, a man trying to protect himself by revealing almost nothing, but in those moments when his training and instincts kick in you can see it in his face. He fights to protect himself, to protect others, and most critically in the second movie to apologize. It is a rare action movie where the plot hinges on the journey towards a sincere apology.

In the third movie he reveals that he sees the faces of people he has killed.  He is not a machine, despite the efforts of those who sought to control body and break his mind.  He remains haunted by fleeting memories.

I recently watched the three Bourne movies and shortly after saw In The Grey, a new movie directed by Guy Ritchie. 

Bourne v. Grey

In the Bourne films the drama is emotional. Yes, there are extremely well choreographed and executed fight scenes, but Bourne is not a man who carries an arsenal or drives flashy cars. He occasionally uses firearms, but a lot of the combat is hand to hand using found objects. He defends himself with a pen, a towel, a rolled up newspaper, a swiped bottle of alcohol. He is opportunistic, snagging keys to mopeds, jumping into unattended vehicles, he travels light. 

His emotional center is Marie, with whom he built is a relationship over the course of two films.  Her death is sudden and carries a resonance that guides his actions for the better.  While the backdrop of the moves are cities across Europe and around the world, the films do not present the life of an assassin as a desirable one.  The “assets” sent to kill Bourne, are often notified of their targets while lying down, staring blankly into space, in empty darkened rooms.

In the third Bourne movie the importance of his relationship with Marie is underscored when another woman (Nikki) enters his sphere.  Though there are mirroring scenes where both women dye their hair as a disguise, the movie makes it clear Nikki is not Marie. The women are individuals.  They are not interchangeable accessories in Bourne’s story. 

Ironically there is nothing subtle about In The Grey. The colors are bright, the characters are plain as day. There is no hidden agenda.  Perhaps the best performance is from Rosamund Pike, who unfortunately is not in nearly enough scenes to make the movie watchable.  In some ways it feels like she is in a separate film of her own. At times she is menacing and poised, but she is also willing to make herself look deeply uncool.  

There is a scene partway through the movie where she is running on a treadmill, hunched over, in the dark. She is sweaty and awkward.  In the last scene of the film she slouches in her chair staring nervously at a red landline phone on her desk, which is frankly ridiculous. Who uses a landline anymore? I suppose the implication is that she is tied to the phone in that office for eternity.

In any case, Pike’s acting only highlights the lack of emotional gravitas displayed by the movie’s main actress, Eiza Gonzalez.  The first thing I noticed about Gonzalez was her lips, and then I could not unnotice them. While sharing a scene, she contrasts strikingly with Pike, whose lips look proportionately natural, like they belong to her face. 

Eiza Gonzalez may be good in some films, I do not know, I have not seen her act in anything else, but in this film her character falls flat in a number of ways.

She is supposedly a high-powered attorney, but you never see her speak in front of the judge.  You only witness as she stands while the judge decides in her favor. Repeatedly. This is deeply unimpressive. Maybe they didn’t want to hire a lawyer to fact check courtroom exposition. It’s a shame because the movie is chock full of exposition. So. Much. Exposition.

Gonzalez makes coffee over exposition of how she is taking down the empire of this evil billionaire via her hired men (Gyllenhaal and Cavill).  There may be actors who could make this scene interesting, but she is just making coffee.  Yes, she’s in a fancy office, in a fancy outfit, with her employee/admirers looking on.  But she’s still just making coffee.

Then there are the “boys” and their toys.

Jake Gyllenhaal shows off a garage full of brightly colored ATVs/explosive devices/bikes, etc. and details what all of them are. I have been on dates this bad, with men who brought me outside the restaurant to show me their cool car, not realizing that the only way I would be impressed is if they never mention it at all.

Gyllenhaal and Cavill hire more men for their squad, “the boys” but how they all know and trust each other is never fully explained, or perhaps it was and it didn’t leave an impression. In any case, the boys look cool. They do cool shit, looking cool.  

They call Gonzalez “mom” for some  reason.  I get that it’s supposed to be ironic, but there are no moments of affection or interpersonal connection that would warrant this term of endearment. They do not even touch her or each other in comfort or kindness. There are no stories or personal moments shared, no way to empathize with their experience.  Are they afraid, regretful, defiant? Why have they taken on this extremely dangerous job?  You’ll never know and his movie will never tell. 

After killing round upon round of the billionaire’s nameless henchmen move towards them like swarming ants, one of the boys makes a sacrifice.  He blows up a house with himself inside, taking out most of the remaining henchmen.  Which character was he? I don’t know. I did not care that he died, did not care that anyone died. The other characters (his supposed friends?) spend about 10 seconds thinking on his death before promptly moving on.  By comparison, the loss of two small planes (aka “toys”) holds greater emotional weight in the film than any loss of life. 

The movie reads like a video game.  It is a movie I imagine a boy who has spent too much time playing video games would make. There are silent women who lounge around the billionaire’s pool as mere ornaments. The plot is completely at the mercy of the male gaze aesthetic.

Partway through the film Eiza Gonzalez inexplicably visits a tent in the middle of the desert.  A vacation in Wadi Rum, perhaps? Who knows, but no matter. She is there to acquire the outfit.  A cream and tan safari-type outfit that she wears for days as a hostage, in a jail cell and on the run.  The outfit remains pristine (much like her hair). She is untouchable. Without any flaws or depth of character, she is an accessory. 

Everyone and everything in this film is an accessory. The boys, too, are barely there.  Henry Cavill is a handsome face, but he could be replaced by someone else (someone cool) and the movie would go on just the same. The movie has a shiny, unreal quality that makes it clear you are there to see explosions, and not much else. 

In Bourne there are people who treat humans as accessories.  They are a group of powerful men who believe themselves to be the deciders of the world, of life and death.  The Bourne movies break down the many ways in which they are wrong.

Guy Ritchie made an entire movie on the premise of humans as accessories.  Perhaps this is not what he meant to do, but that is how it reads.  You will not remember the faces of those who died. In his film they barely lived.

Conclusion

Ritchie has done better work with the same actors.  I saw The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and while perhaps not the best film of all time, I did care about the characters and found the drama and interpersonal dynamics to be compelling.  The Gentlemen TV series (I’ve only seen the first season), was shockingly good in character development, comedy and set design.  I watched it multiple times.

Unfortunately, In the Grey is so much wasted potential.  It felt like the director’s mind was somewhere else, just off to the side of the action, only turning back in time to watch the next explosion.

No part of this essay, or any of my writing, is written or edited by AI.

An Apple Tree

In my dream we had an apple tree
Not the crabapple from the yard
No, a tall, majestic tree
Dark red, impossibly large Norwegian apples 

You were teaching us to pick them
High above the ground on ladders
After all, you grew up
on an apple farm

Treesdale
A place I have been only once
But mostly remember as being
“Just over the hill” from Mary’s house

This place of broken promises and dreams
You, the heir, destined as your father 
and his father was before him
to work this land

A dream to serve the man, Mr. Trees 
Custodians of the trees for him
The farm and it’s bounty
The pride of Allegheny County

But this was land you did not own
And so, where once were bees 
And apple trees
Now are nineties homes 

They have a golf course 
And yoga mats
And an apple on the sign
Just one apple, to remember all the trees

You have boxes from the farm
Were they the ones your parents used to move?
Packing up their life
To leave the home and land they loved

My grandpa, Mr. Apple, he so proudly said
I remember him speaking to my class
Little kindergarteners looking up from mats
Listening to his stories of the trees

Every time we visited 
It was apples for dessert 
Apple crisp 
a ritual 

Perhaps it was the smell
Of apples cooking in the house
Or the comfort of holding 
The so-familiar fruit 

You do it still
Slicing apples paper-thin
This food 
a connection to your past

Your new house has persimmon trees
Prolific in their bounty
A lot of work, I think, to manage all the fruit
But perhaps this work makes home for you

Persimmons baked in muffins  
Given out to neighbors 
Who become friends
Trees and their harvest, the essence of life

Monet

I go time and time again
To that same floor 
Of those great halls 
To visit beauty waiting there

That effervescent moment 
Of river and shadow stream
Colors blending in ways 
I could not have
Captured

Sky below and clouds above 
Willow branches reach beneath 
To gaze upon the water
A reflection of itself 

So many times I visited
It feels like you’re a friend
I see you on my wall each day
But know it’s pale shadow
To the real work of art

What was your secret?
Your impression of the world
Displays truth through dreams
Not quite real, not quite there

A closer look does not reveal more 
It only leads to doubt
But stepping back
I see once again your masterpiece

City of Storks

Not yet spring
And your nesting sites
Occupy the town

Alcalá de Henares
Home of Cervantes
And bike paths

And briefly home to me
The storks
Watching over all

Remote in nests
Perched on roofs
And towers

Constant reminder
Of shared spaces
Shared home

Jupiter Rising

All the news is bleak today
The man
Threatens all-consuming war

Why has it come to this?

Heedless of our woes
Planets circle just the same
Jupiter is rising

Brightest twinkle in the sky
Surrounding night is silent
Beyond the reach of sweeping wind

Looking up is looking back
We see the light of times long past
Same planets as the Romans saw

They served as witness to it all.

Seven planets in a line
Have been with us through all our time
Movements never faltering

Despite the rise and fall 
Of kings
Jupiter is rising

Winter

Winter has two faces

The first is jolly
Filled with twinkle lights and holly

Coats and scarves and gloves
Snow-filled trees and turtle doves
Reindeer prancing on the roof
Waking children with their hoof

The second is more bleak
Bitter wind upon your cheek

Twisting snow and biting cold
Memories of warmth grow old
When will spring emerge at last?
Snowbells harken winter’s past

Colonization

The men have said
They go to Mars
To start a new world
Among the stars.

They spread their wings
And fly
Out beyond the 
thinning sky.

But which of them
Within this metal tomb
Brings with him
A living womb?

To start anew with heart and spine
Sinew strong and wandering eye
They all soon fade, the end draws near
Unless someone can go and kill a deer

Or skin a rabbit swift and fleet
Pick up acorns at their feet
Harvest mushrooms from forest floor
Carve a shelter with sturdy door.

Oh, tell me true, rich men of earth
Which one of these things did you birth?
From where does such abundance spring?
Of that woman knows many a thing.

We will not go with you
To stations grand
Soon turned to dust
In your far-off land.

For all the money in the world
You have yet to see
This is the only earth in which we live
It has ever been, Is, Will be.

The very marrow of our bones
Is formed from dust and sea
Our dreams may roam among the stars
But without earth we cannot be.

Dragons

I remember riding through the Spanish countryside 
Bus wheels rumbling, headphones on
The jagged mountains rising up
Thinking, this is a land where dragons lie

It would make sense 
For some enormous creature
To stalk those crevices and valleys 
Waiting through legends and centuries 

It is a land not unfamiliar 
To knights and castles, after all
There are gargoyles and holy saints
Buildings rising up through remnants of the past

Your fabled Cuélebre lives on
If only in imagination 
Perhaps that is why you tried to level
The mighty Sacsayhuamán

Pushing impossibly large boulders
Down the hill to destroy
Their wending royal fortress
Too much an echo of your own repeated stories

The types of creatures lurking 
In the corners of old maps
The world full of unknown dangers 
Though these are not the real threats

After all, I saw the maps you had designed 
Displayed under spotlights in that Sevilla archive
Buenos Aires, Cusco, and more
Their city streets fashioned into grids

Streets where I had been
Only years before
Men in Spain drew lines on maps
People across an ocean forever made to walk their paths

Sacred Valley

It was summer solstice yesterday 
And Peru, I thought of you
This moment marked in stone and light 
Inside your sacred buildings 

Turnings of the world
Recorded
Ancient civilization 
Carved from stone

You bent mountains 
To your will
The very fabric of the ground
Smoothed 

The labor of so many hands
Backs and arms a force
And yet, greater power all around 
Ground shifting under feet

Towering volcano an ever-present possibility 
Daily life in the shadow of giants 
It was there I first realized that man was
Prey

Your sacred animals
Serpent, Puma, Condor
These three carved in stone
Mirror predators of early men

Only one was I fortunate to see
Condors, gliding on the canyon wind
They flew so close, inspecting 
Messengers of the gods

Made beautiful in their freedom of flight