Mon Dieu! So many things to discuss in this episode, which I sort of enjoyed except the rape/attack scene. So where to start?
In the opening visuals we see someone who appears to be sabotaging the carriage wheel, which I thought meant there would be an accident and Claire would lose the baby. Instead we get a suspected poisoning in public, which was set up with all the subtlety of a Road Runner/Wyle E. Coyote episode. Yes it seems Creepy Compte attempted to poison Claire, but did he know she was pregnant? I know they were speaking of it while Jaime and Duverney were playing chess, but it wasn't clear if Compte heard them, and if so, is he that vile that he would try to poison a pregnant lady in retribution for her doing what essentially was her civic duty in diagnosing the small pox and insisting it be reported to the health authorities? That seems a bit OOT to me as payback. And yet, he notices her 'poison' geiger counter necklace at dinner and makes mention of it, and she tells him he might need his own and he looks worried, so I guess we confirm the Compte is behind the poisoning. Yet I was surprised that Claire seems to be certain what she drank, and that drinking some other tea will solve the issues and that the bairn is A-OK, no problem at all. That seems weird to me. She couldn't know for certain that the baby is fine now, and any mother would be worried sick about her baby at that point. So the whole, let's get on with our plan anyway just rang very hollow for me.
So all this talk of poison brings us to Master Raymond, who always seems so eager to help Claire, and yet there is something off about him. I do like his assistant and wonder her back story and if she will play a more prominent role, I hope we get to know her more - I wonder if she is from the West Indies or from Africa, and if she has natural healing knowledge from wherever she is from and that is why she is working in his shop. Also, when he takes Claire into his secret back room he makes mention about time travel and looks directly at her, and in that moment I tell myself, "AHA! This is the new Geillis for Claire!" Could he BE Geillis in another life? I know it's a stretch, but that's where my mind went. There is something about how she speaks and carries herself that sends a signal to other time travels perhaps? Something she isn't aware of, but they are? Or perhaps Monsieur Raymond simply believes it is possible and has known another like Claire. Something is up with him, I just cannot figure it out yet. It was interesting and suspicious that he said he only sold that poison once recently and to a servant he did not know. Why would he sell it to someone he doesn't even know, when he seemed to indicate he was sort of responsible about to whom he would sell during his previous convo with Claire?
The whole story line between Louise and BPC is ridiculous and I find it strange that Louise would not reveal him to Claire since she is asking for such personal assistance to begin with. I was telling her myself, "Just seduce your husband or get him drunk and tell him you had sex" so I guess I could write for the show? Ha...In any case, it has not been explained WHY Mary is with Louise of all people, has it? She seems to be a rather poor choice to look after such an inexperienced young lady!
As for the attack and the "Mon dieu! It is le dame blanche, allez!!!" I mean, if you're going to call an episode Le Dame Blanche and have ruffians run off in horror when they see it's Claire, then by god tell the viewers what it's all about please! I don't know if it's the white poison necklace she was presumably wearing from Mr. Raymond, or perhaps she has a reputation from the docks small pox incident, or she is known, unbeknowst to her as a witchy healer OR Mr. Raymond isn't really her friend after all. I'm confused and hope that this is clarified soon. Again, don't name an episode about something we won't learn in said episode.
Now, the rape of Mary...I first wondered why they simply didn't procure another carriage tout suite since it they mention it's not safe, don't they? I mean isn't that the point of Murtagh being with them? Then the rape was awful, as always, but when Alex is left to look after Mary all I'm thinking is, she is traumatized and they're leaving a man to mind her? Where is the maid?!? Also, as soon as I see her running into the public area of the house and see Alex trying to hold her down my mind starts racing and all I can think of is this scenario - Mary becomes pregnant from the rape and:
1. Alex is blamed or takes the blame for her pregnancy to safe her from being a rape victim and he is either killed or imprisoned, sending word to his brother to step up and do the right thing by Mary, telling BJR that the baby is his (Alex's), and that is how they come to be married.
OR
2. Alex agrees to say the baby is his and they marry but he dies - he seemed to have a delicate constitution when Claire first met him at Versailles and he was sneezing, it was an odd exchange so perhaps it was setting up for this - and Alex asks his brother to marry Mary to save her reputation and that is how she ends up with scum bucket BJR.
I am thoroughly convinced one of the above is going to happen, let's see if I'm correct or not. Having said the above, I immediately thought that if this is so, then HALLELUJAH! if Frank is descended from a bastard child and NOT from BJR himself, and BJR does not actually have a legitimate child with Mary thus his spawn does not continue past his sorry ass. That would be sort of ironic given the importance that Frank seems to place on having a notable/infamous ancestor, but no sooner am I thinking that then I remember that Frank and BJR look identical so that's not likely to happen, no matter how much I'd like it to.
The entire plot to make BPC look the fool in front of the Duke was stupid because honestly, BPC does a good enough job of that without anyone else's help. And besides, the Duke oddly seemed rather disinterested in BPC and he made insulting comments about the Pope which BPC took personally, so the entire exchange was odd to me. IF the Duke has been corresponding with BPC and he is the one who sent the coded letter revealing the English supporters, then why act do disinterested because it seems unlikely the Duke has never met BPC if he's in this deep with a Stuart Rebellion. Makes no sense to me at all right now.
And last but not least, the one scene that got to me in any way close to S01 was Jamie and Claire's sexual reuniting. I totally get why Claire felt angry about the bite marks, but the guy has been having visions of his torture every time he attempts to make love to his wife, so trying things out to see how far he can go without having those visions, and doing so with a prostitute seemed to make sense to me - it has to be even more traumatic to think that every time you try to have sex with your wife you have to pull away in horror because you're having a flashback to this horrible torture you endured. I get it, he wanted to see if he was ready to be with Claire and not have to put her through that again. The reconciliation just fell short for me though. I think it was that weird blue lighting that made that love scene come across as weird. It didn't have to OOMPH that their other love scenes have had in S01, and perhaps that is intentional because this is real life now, not a honeymoon, but yeah, not a fan of the blue lighting for some reason. I also felt that love scene was interesting showing a visibly pregnant woman having sex with her husband because I'd have thought during that time, and for perhaps well into the early 20th century, men stayed away, sexually, from their wives during pregnancy for fear of hurting the baby or some other wives tale. So I took that as once again, our young Jamie shows that he is a man open to new ideas that may be outside the social norms of his native Scotland. Emotionally, when he is explaining how it felt to be raped and tortured, I felt gutted listening to that. The way he explains that he felt naked with nowhere to hide, like he was trying to hide behind a blade of grass, that was so poignant and so evocative. And then after they reunite and he tells her she's made him a lean-to to now, instead of a blade of grass... That is the sort of exchange that hooked me on this Show. I want more of that, and less of the slapstick Benny Hill fighting that went on after Mary and Alex were found downstairs.
Edited March 31, 2021 by gingerellancG1vNJzZmien6fCrr%2BNqamipZWptq6x0WeaqKVfqbyxtcJoa2tsZWd6tHyRnmdtZZyWeqWtzJ5km6SRo7CpsY4%3D