Outlander Book Club: Book 1, Chapter 37 breakdown

Adapting the chapter for the show

This isn’t a chapter that is used for the TV series. We don’t get the conversation with MacRannoch and we don’t see Claire, Murtagh, and Jamie on the road to the coast.

The TV show opted for everyone to get to an Abbey in Scotland. They take refuge there while they heal Jamie, both mentally and physically. This means there isn’t the need for the storyline that involves the escape to the coast. Although we do get to see Claire, Jamie, and Murtagh sail to France, it’s at a different point in the story.

Why would the show change this? Like in the previous chapter, I think a lot of the changes were linked to time and budget. What was the point in finding two separate locations for something that could be combined? There was just one episode to go, and a lot needed to fit into that episode. It was never going to be easy.

While the Redcoats would have gone searching for Jamie, they probably wouldn’t have traveled too far out. The alert would just have gone around that Jamie was an escaped prisoner for other garrisons to look out for. So, when it came to getting the ferry, there wasn’t a huge focus on escaping the soldiers around them. Too much time had passed in the Abbey by this point.

I didn’t feel like the show missed this chapter. While I enjoyed it in the book, it wasn’t integral for the story the show was adapting.

What did you notice in Outlander Book 1, Chapter 37? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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