Outlander Book Club: Book 1, Chapter 6 breakdown
Connecting to the Outlander TV series
This is a chapter heavily used in the second episode of the series but there are some substantial changes. One of those is definitely Angus, who instead of being Colum’s man, he is Rupert’s best friend. For a TV show, I think this was a great change. Rupert and Angus definitely became my favorite pair on the show.
Because Angus isn’t there as the man to dish out the punishments, it’s Rupert who has to do it on the show. There’s more of a personal element to Jamie being the one beaten, with Dougal being the one to decide when the beating ends. In the show, this certainly foreshadowed elements of the trouble between Dougal and Jamie.
A slight change to the storyline is the time in the garden. Claire is out there picking flowers, which is when she meets Geillis. Yes, Geillis shows up in the show earlier than in the books, and it’s Geillis who explains what’s going on at Hall. Mrs. Fitz is off in the background worried about Laoghaire.
After all, the witch trial storyline couldn’t take too long to build up to, and before that, we had to get to know Geillis quickly to see a friendship form between the two women but to also hint that there was something more to the redheaded woman. Introducing her as the one to help Claire navigate Castle Leoch certainly made a lot of sense for the sake of the show.
For the book, it made sense to keep her out for now. We were getting to know Castle Leoch and the characters at the same time as Claire. There was time to develop the storyline slower, which is a major benefit of novels over TV shows.
And while Claire isn’t a matter at Hall, we still get to see what it’s like. We see the hierarchy and the way Colum commands a room. Claire notes in the chapter that Colum isn’t ashamed of his legs and he wants people to see them. Both in book and show, I have a lot of respect for the man because of this.
Next. 25 most romantic moments on Outlander so far. dark
What did you pick up on during reading this chapter? What do you think of the changes that were made for the sake of the show? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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