I wish there was more time for more Claire and Joe on Outlander Season 3
Outlander Season 3 is one of those seasons that starts of strong but struggles towards the end. However, part of my complaint is not enough time is spent on the 20-year separation. I would have loved to see more of Claire and Joe’s time together.
I certainly don’t envy the Outlander writers. They have an exceptionally difficult job transforming Diana Gabaldon’s books.
Elements have to be skipped due to time. The writers want to put their own mark on the show, which they’re fully entitled to do. In fact, some of their creations have been excellent additions to plot points. And then there are the book purists who want nothing changed.
It’s impossible to please everyone, so the writers do what they think is best for them. I don’t blame them, but I don’t envy them.
There wasn’t enough time for the 20-year separation
Outlander Season 3 was going to be one of those seasons where nobody would be fully happy with it. Those who wanted Claire and Jamie back together right away would have to wait. Those who wanted more time to develop the storylines during their separation would be disappointed. The writers had to find a balance.
One of the friendships I would have loved to see developed better was Joe and Claire’s. We got a glimpse of them throughout the third season. It all started at the very end of the second episode and we saw a little in the third and fifth episodes.
However, it wasn’t quite enough for me.
You see, the two characters are best friends. They are outcasts in their class, and they decide it’s best to stick together because nobody else will help them. That creates this excellent friendship between the two, one that I would love to see develop better.
Claire’s friendship with Joe is the biggest reason she’s so against slavery. Of course, she would have been against it anyway, but she could see how her best friend was being treated in the 1950s and 1960s and then how he would have been treated in the past. I think Claire’s attack on Jocasta for having slaves and her need to save one during Outlander Season 4 would have made a lot more sense had we seen this friendship develop a lot more.
Alas, there wasn’t the time for it. I would have accepted an extra episode waiting for Claire and Jamie to be back together for more time with Joe, but not everybody would. It was an impossible task for the writers.