I enjoyed watching the deviations from Dragonfly in Amber in Episode 201, “Through a Looking Glass, Darkly.” It is different, but the essence is the same. Frank loves Claire, and he is looking forward to starting a new life again with her. Of course, this process takes longer in the books. However, for adaptation purposes, it works because of the time constraint in adapting books to the screen. I love the end product (and I am still debating whether I like it better than in the books).
The opening scene portrays Claire as being “out-of-place.” She looks different to the man who stops the car to check on her. Of course, it is associated with what she is wearing and being in the middle of nowhere. The realization that she could not stop the Jacobite uprising from happening breaks Claire apart. She is in a delicate state of mind. Claire’s feeling of dislocation continues into the scene when Frank meets her. She finds radio music and traffic sounds noisy. It seems she is not capable of adapting to the twentieth century. Furthermore, Frank reminds her of Black Jack. Of course, they share a strong resemblance but, for a few seconds, she does not make any distinction between them. Once she is out of the hospital, she immerses herself reading Jacobite history looking for Jamie. Her companion is not Frank but Mrs. Graham, somebody who believes her unconditionally. Overall, this feeling of strangeness and being out-of-place could be associated with the books’ white color symbolism. There are other instances of Claire coming across as unusual or different in the twentieth century. She will become a medical doctor in the 1950s, a decade in which women were expected to be at home. In regards to the scene with Mrs, Graham, I like what Claire tells her about Jamie: he did not understand the meaning of the words “fucking” and “sadist,” terms introduced after his time. Mrs. Graham’s advice is golden. She recommends Claire to stop living in the past and worrying about a ghost when there is a man in the present who loves her, Frank.
Significant changes in the adaptation are related to Frank. In Dragonfly in Amber, Claire relates that Frank did not want to believe the truth.
. . . There had been a lot of murmuring in corridors – and shouting, now and then – but he had given up asking me for the truth. And I, in frail health and sick at heart, had given up telling it to him (ch. 5).
It is hard for somebody with the logical mind of the twentieth century to find Claire’s story believable. As opposed to Frank, Jamie does, because he has the superstitious mindset of an eighteenth-century Scottish Highlander. On the screen adaptation, Frank believes everything that Claire tells him blindly. Is this a leap of faith? Last season, Mrs. Graham did tell Frank about people disappearing when visiting the stones and coming back. Of course, Frank did not believe her. However, he decided to stop by Craigh Na Dun, and he was able to hear Claire, who was trying to go back to him at that moment (“Both Sides Now”). Furthermore, Claire appears without any explanation wearing an authentic eighteenth-century outfit on the TV adaptation. In book 2, she is found in the vicinity of Craigh Na Dun wearing rags. She is also immersed in Jacobite history, a topic that never attracted her before going through the stones. All these instances could be considered evidence of a sort, even though they are not entirely explainable.
Frank demonstrates unconditional love to Claire. He makes a reference to Claire wearing their wedding ring still. Therefore, she cannot be an ex-wife. This addition of their wedding ring in the dialogue carries a significant meaning. It is the central piece of evidence that Frank is not a direct descendant of Black Jack while Claire is in the past. Frank also understands that Claire did not abandon him as everybody wanted him to believe. The forces that took her away from him were out of their control. However, the most compelling scene happens when she reveals her pregnancy. Frank’s face expresses full happiness in less than three seconds until anger takes hold of him. In this scene, it looks like he is about to hit Claire but he refrains from doing that. This hostility does not intimidate Claire. In a subsequent scene, Frank reveals to Reverend Wakefield that he is sterile. Of course, this revelation does not take place in the books until Voyager, in which Frank mentions it to Claire in an argument. This deviation from the books is possible since Frank and Reverend Wakefield are close friends. Frank’s anger is related to the fact that Claire is carrying another man’s child. I would also like to add his obsession or fascination with his family tree. He is proud of his family background and being sterile conflicts with his feelings/desires.
Reverend Wakefield with some help of his adopted son, Roger MacKenzie, convinces Frank to raise the child as his own. He says to Frank that a fatherless child and childless man finding each other are part of God’s eternal plan, excellent advice. Brianna will fill Frank’s life with happiness. Of note is Roger’s toy, a plane, which is a hint to his background.
Frank tells Claire about his decision of raising her child. However, he places two conditions.
- They will raise the child as their own. The father should be a living man instead of a ghost, which means that Brianna will be raised believing Frank to be her real father.
- He tells Claire to stop searching for Jamie and referencing the life she wanted to have. He does not want to share her with another man. No wonder it will take Claire a long time to start looking for Jamie. She will do it only after Frank’s death.
Of interest is Claire’s reaction to Frank’s use of the word flogging. She prohibits its use. Frank tells Claire to leave the past behind and burns the eighteenth-century gown. He does not push Claire to remove the wedding ring that Jamie gave her. Just in case, I have written a short post about the rest of the episode. Here is the link.
Episode 201 Introduces the Concept of “La Dame Blanche”
For those interested in my posts about the books, I will be publishing three more posts about Dragonfly in Amber by the end of this week.
All pictures are from Outlander-online.com.