Season 1 has finally finished and I wondered what you all thought of it?

I do agree that Claire as a character seems to eclipse the men at the beginning, but I think that as it goes on there are some great male characters.  I've read the book and I think these are primarily "women's stories" - the marketing seems to be aimed at women and the romance aspect is bigged up.  I wasn't so interested in the romance, though, and I thought there was plenty of other non-gender-specific stuff there to like - history, poltical intrigue, violence, a bit of religion, etc. I've seen the books described as science fiction (because of the time travel aspect, I suppose), but they don't come across like that to me - the time travel seems more fantasy/folklore/superstition based than science based.  Romance-wise, Jamie just seems too perfect (in the book and on screen - and Sam Heughan is an Adonis), which kind of makes the love triangle not an equilateral one . 

I really enjoyed this series in a guilty pleasure sort of way, and it was great to watch after missing Poldark.   I'm Scottish so grew up on stories and music about this time and place in history - I believe it's a time that has become rather romanticised so it was interesting to see an outsider's (Gabaldon) take on it.  I'm looking forward to the next season.

I adore the books and was so glad when the TV series finally started. I think they did a very good job. My favourite characters are Jenny and Murtagh I think, apart from Claire. Also Jack Randall is well chosen, and Ghillies.

Jamie, I don't know yet. I think he is casted very well, but he still seems so young and I miss the fierce edges he displays in the books. I think he has some room for development.

Sam Heughan is so handsome and nice and I cannot see him yet as Jamie being an outcast living in a cave for 7 years. Cannot see him yet as someone who leads his men to battle, or as Red Jamie at all. He doesn't feel like someone who would be known all over Scotland, not someone who would be "legend".

I don't doubt Sam Heughan as actor, I just think maybe he is a very "pretty" choice for a rough character like Jamie. I wonder how he will portrait loneliness and bitterness. I cannot see the strength of the Jamie character in him right now. I thought I saw a little bit of that potential in the Wenworth prison scenes, but we'll see. Probably it's on purpose, to show young Jamie and let him develop into the Jamie of the later books. And it's true, the Jamie we see works so very well with the others, with Claire and his men... I wonder if he will be able to dominate the screen on his own.
Claire totally convinced me from the first moment though.

Murtagh is great, he is also so very much like in the books! And while I imagined a different Lallybroch, Jenny kind of makes it the perfect Lallybroch of the books, because she is one of the few characters that totally met my previous imagination from the books.

I love the way it's filmed, it feels scottish, and that's perfect. God, I wish there where still as many woods in Scotland as the series suggests. I love that they kept the gaelic, I like the costumes, and it's pretty close to the books (I never expected them to get it that close because the books are so full of details).

Sometimes I feel the pacing is a bit off. Some developments I thought were too fast, others too slow. I think that might also be due to the complex nature of the books, that it's hard to get to the point at the right moments.

I'm very excited for the next round!! :-)
 

Last edited by Whisky (June 8, 2015 11:19 am)