And it found a man who can play both Claire’s kindly, scholarly 20th-century husband Frank Randall and Frank’s ruthless, sadistic ancestor Jack. It found a Claire, a fiercely intelligent battle nurse who is constantly getting her shirt ripped down the front, yet is never upstaged by her breasts. Somehow the show found a plausible Jamie, a swoon-worthy, sensitive hunk who could act and speak Gaelic. One of the series’ strong points is its casting. And, since the first half-season, which ran on Starz in 2014, did not disappoint, expectations for the upcoming episodes are high.
The show is based on the series of epic, meticulously researched, keenly imagined books by Diana Gabaldon that are part romance, part historical fiction, part fantasy, and entirely the best way to kill time short of actually doing it with someone you love. This is Outlander, aka Game of Thrones for librarians. If these two hotheads don’t reunite to make some more sweet, sweet love, millions of audience members will take to the streets in howling protest. If Jamie is caught, he will be hanged if Claire is not saved, she will be tortured.
There, Jamie’s nemesis, Captain “Black” Jack Randall, is holding hostage Claire Beauchamp, our heroine, a refugee from 1945 who accidentally traveled 200 years into the past, and who, for protection, recently became Jamie’s wife. Our hero, Jamie Fraser, a strapping redheaded outlaw, is breaking into the English stronghold of Fort William. Welcome, friends, to the Scottish Highlands! At the mid-season premiere of Starz’s Outlander, the year is 1743, the time is winter, and the enemy is England, whose soldiers occupy Scotland. Photo: Ed Miller/? 2014 Sony Pictures Television Inc. Claire Beauchamp, our heroine on horseback.