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As viewers of season 1 already know, Blood of my Blood is a prequel loosely based on material that is still to be fully written by Diana Gabaldon. While Ms Gabaldon’s work will deal solely with the origin story of Jamie’s parents, Brian and Ellen Fraser, the producers and writers of Blood of my Blood added a major new plotline into the mix, in the form of the origin story of Claire’s parents, Henry and Julia Beauchamp. In doing so, the show essentially became a work of fan fiction.
There are many examples of fan fiction inspired by a best selling novel or series, some more successful than others. At its core, high-quality fan fiction respects the boundaries of its source material. It searches for the natural gaps and missing scenes left by an author and gives the characters rich, alternative adventures without ever fracturing original canon. By contrast, less successful fan fiction abandons established lore, makes changes for shock value and significantly alters the original world. The trouble with this type of fan fiction is that inconsistencies inevitably creep in, and plots become more confusing or inaccurate. In this reviewer’s humble opinion, halfway through its second season, Blood of My Blood has now landed in the latter category. Rather than recap each episode in detail, this review will focus on a plotline in each episode that highlights the inconsistent nature of the season so far.
Episode 1: The One with the Shock Treatment
Much as the second season of the original Outlander began with a disoriented Claire wandering the hills of the 1948 Highlands, the second season of Blood of my Blood begins with Henry back in 1924 Inverness. Henry’s plight is more desperate however, as he finds himself in an asylum. Found with a head wound and a shoulder injury on the moors, Henry had been taken to the infirmary, where his ramblings had worried everyone sufficiently that he was a danger to himself. After being treated for his injuries, he was brought to the infirmary, where he is now becoming distressed once again. Noticing the electric light, Henry says that he is not supposed to be there and asks after his wife and son. In addition to failing the usual cognitive checks of year and Prime Minister, Henry is also unable to immediately recall his name, giving it as Henry Grant.
The doctor has his own theory as to what is wrong - lingering shellshock from the war. He believes that Henry has told himself a story set in 1715, in order to deal with the trauma of fighting in 1915. Henry does himself no favours by repeating tearfully that none of it makes any sense and before too long, Henry’s “treatment” begins, in the form of brutal electroshock therapy. We see an increasingly confused and delirious Henry screaming in agony as his memories move between the 1700s, the asylum and the WW1 battlefield.
This is the first major inaccuracy made by the writers. Electroshock therapy was not invented until 1938, where it was developed in Rome by Italian neurologists. The first recorded use of electroshock therapy in Scotland did not occur until 1940. Furthermore, Inverness itself was not fully electrified until 1927, and surrounding rural facilities like the asylum’s location did not get electrical power until 1935, which makes the entire plotline completely impossible. In 1924, doctors dealing with shell-shocked or "insane" World War I veterans would have relied on other treatments, chiefly hydrotherapy or heavy sedation. These facts are easily googled - indeed, it’s how this reviewer discovered them. Did the writers not do their own research? Or did they decide that they could simply take creative licence for dramatic effect? The irony is that this sort of treatment would definitely have been available in 1948 when Claire returned after Culloden. Of course, this didn’t happen - presumably because Ms Gabaldon didn’t need to rely on melodrama to tell her story!
After many treatments, Henry is virtually catatonic, rocking in a wheelchair and tapping his finger on his hand over and over. He is unable to recall Claire at all, beyond the single letter “C”, that he murmurs over and over. In the next example of Outlander crossover, we are introduced to a young Reverend Wakefield who comes to minister to Henry. Henry responds by demanding that the Reverend write down a jumble of things so that he won’t forget them - the letter C, his wife’s name, Leathers, the date of October 20th (Claire’s birthday), the prophecy of the king and the word bug. Back at his home, the Reverend discusses Henry with the younger version of Mrs Graham. On hearing he was found at Craig Na Dun, Mrs Graham immediately suggests that perhaps Henry’s claims of coming from the past could indeed be true.
In the final scene, Henry, who is calm and coherent again, meets Mrs Graham, who says that she has come to bring treats on the Reverend’s behalf. When Henry tells her that he is forgetting Julia’s laugh and the colour of her eyes, Mrs Graham whispers dramatically that she believes that he has indeed travelled through time. Henry’s eyes widen. “Then you’ll help me?” he entreats, as the episode ends.
Episode 2: The One with Prophecies and Escapes
In the second episode, Mrs Graham is continuing to visit with Henry, giving him a potted history of the vagaries of time travel - mentioning gemstones, blood sacrifices, rituals, dances and Samhain in quick succession. She tells Henry that he is drowning in grief and that is how he will lose Julia. She reads the tea leaves and sees a broken and repeated journey, consoling him that he may yet return to the past.
Meanwhile, in the 18th century, Julia asks the seer Maisri about Craig Na Dun and how time travel works. Maintaining the pretence that she was taken against her will, Julia asks Maisri why she didn’t travel when Henry did. She wants to protect herself from being in that danger again, she says. Putting aside the fact that Maisri is meant to be a powerful seer and would surely be able to tell that Julia is lying, the answer that she gives is confusing. Julia cannot travel, she announces, not even at Samhain when the veil is thinnest between the worlds.
This is the next confusing fan fictionesque plot line. Julia has plainly already time travelled to be in 1715 in the first place. Various fan theories abound: that she only travelled because she was pregnant and that it is her baby that has the travelling ability, not her. Yet she was holding the baby when she and Henry attempted their escape, so perhaps it is due to other reasons, like not having a gemstone, not bleeding, or it not being close enough to Samhain. Diana Gabaldon’s rules of time travel are constant, but here we have many dramatic possibilities - to what end?
Lovat appears unexpectedly, demanding to know what Maisri can tell him about “his son.” To answer him, Maisri casts the bones and soon we hear the next tangled prophecy: a crown for the babe with two mothers and fathers three.
“Your son: if he stands the last of your line, he will one day be a King,” Maisri tells Lovat.
We know that this cannot be baby William, given that Lovat is not his father, so to whom does the prophecy refer? Which baby has two mothers and three fathers? Again, fans have their own theories. Perhaps Maisri is talking about William from Outlander - his mothers being Geneva and Isobel, and his fathers being Jamie, Lord Dunsany and Lord John. Or maybe - and this is the favourite theory - that somehow William will end up being adopted by Brian and Ellen and become Jamie’s older brother. So the two mothers would be Julia and Ellen, and the three fathers Henry, Lovat and Brian. But if this theory were to be true, it would then make baby William the brother of both Claire and Jamie. (And given that Henry and Julie died in the original Outlander, Claire never had a brother anyway. It’s all getting horribly messy! Again, to what end?)
Back in the 20th century, Mrs Graham comes to visit Henry once more. This time though, she intends to help. Sliding a leather bag under the table containing two separate outfits, she begins to give Henry specific instructions, including what to do with the gemstones. After the visit, Henry is able to carry a large leather bag back to his room without anyone noticing, change into outfit A, emerge as Reverend Wakefield and walk out the front door. Surely a lunatic asylum would have better security? Surely their visitors would have needed to sign in and out? Surely Mrs Graham’s large bag would have been searched? Surely someone would have noticed that Reverend Wakefield left, but had never actually arrived? And even if we allow all of those details to wash over us, how is a man who was severely wounded and concussed when he was discovered at the stones, and then treated at an asylum with electroshock therapy, able to remember the way back to them? Yet apparently he can, as the episode ends with him striding purposefully away.
Episode 3: The One with the Silent Assassinations
In the third episode, the “women folk” of Leoch, as well as Colum and Ned Gowan, are having dinner after Dougal and the rest of the men have gone to fight. Colum and Ellen get into an argument, and Ellen leaves the table. It is a fortunate decision, as it turns out, because the castle is soon ambushed by James MacKinney and his men. MacKinney had tried to become the Laird of Leoch in season 1, and he has come to take what he wants by force. What he is unaware of, however, is that Ellen is in hiding, observing what has happened and planning to make her move.
This episode could have been really dramatic. It had an effective set up, with flashbacks of a young Ellen, frustrated that her brothers always found her in games of hide and seek. Her father told her that this was because she always did as expected, and that she needed to do something different in order to outsmart them. The analogy of “rabbits don’t swim” was used - when hunting rabbits, a fox never thinks to search the loch because it assumes rabbits cannot swim. The lesson Jacob taught his young daughter was to use other people’s assumptions against them. MacKinney assumes that the women of the castle are vulnerable and helpless, so Ellen sets out to follow her father’s advice and outsmart him. Another flashback shows Jacob correcting young Ellen’s aim with bow and arrow. and it quickly becomes apparent that she was a quick study. As one of the guards escorts the other women through one of the corridors, Ellen appears from nowhere and puts an arrow through his chest. Having effectively freed the women without MacKinney’s knowledge. she and the other women then begin to strategise.
But the plot soon becomes ridiculous. Somehow Ellen and the others are able to eliminate most of MacKinney’s men without him ever suspecting or hearing a thing. Surely a competent leader would notice that his guards weren't returning to their posts? Why did MacKinney have no system for checking on his men or ensuring that his prisoners remained secure? And what about the noise? The acoustics of a castle would surely result in some sort of sound carrying? So many bodies and they all died silently?? Considering one of the tactics involved the women feigning hysteria and luring the guards towards their doom, you would assume they would be overheard? Yet this screaming was apparently only heard by the intended victims. Add in the sight of Ellen dropping stealth-like from the rafters like a Highland ninja with her 18th century garb proving no deterrent and all credibility was lost.
The tragedy of the episode was Janet’s death, when her decoy move went horribly wrong and she was stabbed. Her death scene was beautifully acted, with a tearful Ellen announcing her pregnancy and promising her sister that she would name a future daughter after her. And yet: Janet had managed to sustain a fatal wound and bleed out in virtual silence, while the other women kept their considerable grief to a low volume? It just didn’t seen realistic.
Even after orchestrating multiple assassinations, Ellen’s superhero status was apparently still to be cemented. So she burst through the door just in time to rescue Maura, put another arrow into MacKinney, hissed “rabbits do swim” into his ear as he died and then set out on horseback to warn Brian, Dougal and the others that Lovat had actually betrayed them and they were heading into a trap - another detail conveniently revealed just in time.
In this reviewer’s opinion, the episode would have been far more suspenseful - and indeed more believable - if MacKinney had gradually realised that something was wrong, forcing Ellen and the women to adapt their strategy as the danger increased. Improvising against overwhelming odds would have been far more compelling than just turning Ellen into some sort of 18th century assassin, with the other women as her posse. Janet’s death notwithstanding, it was just all too easy.
Episode 4: The One with the Reunions
The fourth episode opens with Henry back in the18th century, dressed in outfit B, running back along the moors. But he is soon recaptured, and finds himself back at the Grants, with Arch Bug standing over him. The sight of Arch jolts his memory of their previous history and the two men fight, until Arch’s wife stops them. Murdina draws Arch’s attention to the marks on Henry’s head, saying that they are proof he has been with the “fair folk”. It turns out that the Bugs have had their own encounter with the fairies, who, they believe, have taken their son. Murdina cautions Arch about incurring their wrath, so Henry leans into this story, telling the Bugs that the fair folk put lightning in his brain, and showing them the 20th century stitches in his skull. It is enough to stop the beating, and Arch takes him instead to Malcolm Grant senior, where he is admonished for being absent when young Malcolm was killed. His punishment will be 10 lashes to be administered by Arch, and he will then fight with the clan in the battle to come. But the expected lashing does not happen, as Arch leads him to a secluded spot and whips the wall instead, instructing Henry to cry out as if in pain. It is an unexpected show of mercy and Bug tells Henry not to make him regret it.
At Castle Leathers a letter arrives for Lovat from Grant senior and Julia manages to convince the young messenger to leave it with her instead. Upon opening it, Julia reads the news that Henry has returned. Joyfully, she tells Davina that she is going to find her husband, leaving the baby in Davina’s care. Unfortunately, her joyful announcement is overheard by Lovat’s latest servant, none other than Seema, the whore from season 1, with whom a grief-stricken Henry had slept when he believed Julia to be dead. Seema has previously told Julia of her intimate encounter with Henry, not realising that the bladier who had abducted Julia and Henry the griefsticken husband are one and the same man. Given Seema’s feelings for Henry, the latest revelations do not bode well.
And at this point, the plot line once again loses credibility. Julia disguises herself as a man and heads for Bowmont, where the Grant clan - and presumably Henry - will be. Her journey should have been fraught with danger. But instead, the second she enters the grounds, Henry, who is conveniently alone in his quarters, looks up and sees her. They then spend several hours together and no one interrupts them, despite Henry being under scrutiny for his recent absence and the fact that a battle is imminent.
Henry gives Julia a summary of what happened to him in 1924. She asks if he found Claire and Henry is devastated to discover that the treatment has robbed him of his memories of his daughter, which finally come flooding back. He admits to Julia that sometimes he still doesn’t know what is real anymore. Tearfully, Julia replies that she is real, as are William and Claire.
Time passes, night falls and still no-one comes to find Henry. Julia has now divested herself of her disguise, so there would presumably be trouble if she were discovered, but this doesn’t happen. Instead, Julia turns into the jealous wife, giving Henry the silent treatment and then quizzing him about his association with Seema. Despite Henry’s impassioned explanations of how the grief of believing her to be dead had caused him to hallucinate, Julia can’t reconcile this with the fact that Henry didn’t tell her about it when they reunited. (She seems to have conveniently forgotten that she slept with Lovat to explain her pregnancy and the double standard here is rather staggering.)
Julia stands and looks out the window at the Grant men singing a pre battle song. It is unclear why she would stand in full view of men when she could easily be discovered, but let’s not be logical. Suddenly she reminisces about their life in London and all seems to be forgiven. “Tomorrow you leave for war, again,” she says. “And I am terrified- again. I know what I said before. But I need my husband, now, tonight. Not the man who lost himself or the man who was frightened to tell me the truth. My husband. The man who wrote me letters from the trenches, who survived Passchendaele to come back to me. Find him, now, tonight.” It’s all very demanding and quite annoying, given that Henry has already endured so much to ‘come back to her’ as she puts it! While the scene is no doubt meant to be romantic, it didn’t have that effect on this reviewer! At any rate, they undress in front of the window and make love (again unheard, despite the men outside. Perhaps Henry’s quarters are magic?) Morning comes and Henry wakes. Julia has written him a love letter, which she presents to him and tells him it is to bring him home. Shouts outside instruct the company to fall in and Henry tells Julia to wait until they have gone before slipping away. And this is precisely what she does. In less than 24 hours, Julia has entered Grant lands disguised as a man, found Henry immediately, had an argument with raised voices followed by a make-up lovemaking session, slept the night, then slipped back to the castle completely undetected. It is a feat that lacks all credibility!
But Julia’s luck finally appears to run out when she gets back to the castle. Unbuckling her belt, she lays the knife she has been carrying on the table and goes in search of Davina and William. Neither are to be found and there is an ill wish in the baby’s crib. Turning around, Julia is confronted by a now unhinged Seema, who is brandishing the knife.
Meanwhile over in plot MacKenzie, Ellen manages, along with maidservant Grace, to reach Brian, Dougal and the others and inform them of Lovat’s treachery. She also finds time to update Dougal about the events at Leoch and Janet’s death, have private time with Brian where she tells him of the pregnancy, and of her promise to Maura to ensure Dougal would come home safely. The revelations are enough for Brian and Dougal to form an uneasy, temporary truce, and for Brian and Ellen to once again swear their commitment to each other. At the same time, Grace and Murtagh begin their own tentative relationship. As Brian rides into battle once more, Ellen and Grace ride in the opposite direction - but noone has seen Lovat’s man Balloch, watching them…
This entire episode seems to rely on both Ellen and Julia managing to get exactly where they need to be, with absolutely no resistance until the last minute. It’s an example of high stakes drama being told in a low stakes atmosphere, a pattern that is becoming the norm. Because of this, the actual potential dangers that do appear don’t have the effect they should. We just assume that whatever trouble besets the main characters, they will get out of it.
Episode 5: The One with the Monologuing
In an episode that contains the action sequences of the Battle of Sheriffmuir, there was a LOT of monologuing in the hour!
In the Beauchamp storyline, this monologuing comes from Seema, the whore-turned-Lovat-scullery maid who is still in love with Henry and planning on killing Julia to assure her happily ever after fairytale. In the MacKenzie storyline, it comes from James MacKinney’s son, who shows up at Ellen and Grace’s campfire ready to kill Ellen as revenge for his father’s death.
Only neither of them do.
Seema’s rant apparently goes on for hours, as Julia’s fear for her missing son has abated long enough for her to sit down wearily in a corner and suggest that Seema too, needs her sleep. They trade barbs over which of them Henry loves and eventually things come to a head. An enraged Julia strangles Seema, presumably killing her. She immediately runs in search of Davina and the baby, finding them in another part of the castle. Incredibly, Davina doesn’t seem remotely distressed. Has she just been wandering the corridors trying to get the baby to sleep? Didn’t she overhear any of the danger? She asks Julia where Seema is and Julia replies, “Gone.” Presumably, the body will need to be disposed of in episode 6 before Lovat’s return. But then again, Julia does seem very good at strategising, so this shouldn’t be a problem.
Meanwhile, MacKinney Junior is also all talk, and, as Ellen points out, if he had been serious about killing her, he would have done so quickly. He does manage to knock Grace unconscious but even she has woken up before he’s done with his emotional crisis. Ellen being Ellen, she ends up convincing the younger MacKinney to let them both go, but all his monologuing ultimately proves his downfall. He has just untied them, when Balloch, Lovat’s right hand man, appears out of nowhere, bludgeons MacKinney with a chunk of wood, throws Ellen over his shoulder and runs off. It is almost comical.
Castle Leoch isn’t devoid of monologues either. The episode begins with an impassioned one by Colum, as he rails against what he has had to do in the MacKenzie name. Then later in the episode, Jocasta admits to Mrs Fitz that she is actually in love with Murtagh. Neither of these monologues are relevant beyond showing that the MacKenzies are an unhappy bunch, but might be indicative of future events as the season continues.
Parallel to these scenes, runs the Battle of Sherrifmuir, a battle which neither side wins (a historical detail that the writers got correct!) but which nonetheless provides some dramatic consequences. Firstly, Henry and Brian see each other across the battlefield. It is a shot very reminiscent of Culloden in the original Outlander, where Jamie and Black Jack Randall come face to face. By contrast though, Brian and Henry seem to agree by mutual nodding not to harm each other. In the thick of the fighting, Henry does however, save Arch Bug. The two of them have bonded earlier in the episode over encounters with the fair folk. Henry has shared Claire’s name with Arch (another problematic link to Outlander canon, since it allows the possibility for Arch to connect the Claire he meets in later years, which of course, he never does.) and they now seem to have begun a mutual admiration friendship. Henry seems fully recovered not only from his shock treatment but also from his WW1 shellshock, as he is able to fight without a hint of fear or trauma. This seems, at the very least, an improbable reaction, given the nightmares that plagued him in the 20th century, even before electricity was delivered to his brain. At any rate, Henry’s battlefield heroics have been noticed by an English officer, who introduces himself as Gerard Grey, Earl of Melton. (Yes, Lord John’s father. Because Easter Eggs, that’s why.) As to what this appearance will mean for future plotlines - well, that’s anyone’s guess!
And finally, after the battle reveals no clear victor, the ever impetuous Dougal takes it upon himself to launch his own raid on the enemy, a plan which goes horribly wrong and results in his capture. As a result, Brian and Murtagh find themselves on a rescue mission. Ellen had promised Maura that she would see Dougal back safely, so Brian feels compelled to rescue Dougal to ensure this, not knowing of course, that Ellen is also in danger. This would appear to set the stakes for the remaining 5 episodes.
And so, where are we, midway though the season? Ellen and Brian are separated because of oaths and duty, not knowing whether Brian will survive to find his way back to Ellen’s side. Ellen is being held against her will, now concealing a pregnancy and continuing to strategise to save both the castle, her family and herself. Henry and Julia have been reunited and then separated again, with Julia continually strategising and proving that she will do anything to protect herself and her son, all the while hoping that Henry will make his way back to her and that somehow they will all be able to reunite with Claire. Prophecies, theories of fairy folk and uncertain allegiances abound across both storylines, but ultimately no one is sure what is true, or who to trust. And really, that’s not a million miles from where we were at the start of the season. So let’s see what the second half brings.
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This review was written by Susie Brown, a writer and teacher librarian who lives in Australia. She is a fan of original Outlander canon and realises this no doubt colours her opinion, but she still really wanted to enjoy Blood of my Blood. The convoluted plot lines are making this increasingly difficult, however - and if a time travelling Fanny Pocock suddenly shows up, she won’t be a bit surprised…
