Season 2 was my favorite season of the series because it truly was the sum of all it's parts. Other seasons have had more memorable individual installments, but none of the seasons built upon each episode the way season 2 did, slowly building the drama and tension of the Fraser's fight against history itself in each installments. It made the entire season work so well, even if the individual episodes didn't always reach the heights that some episodes in other seasons have (except maybe for Faith; that was an all-timer). It's only fitting that the finale would work so well because of the sum of all it's parts, not just a few individual moments that make it memorable or stand out. Most of the scenes are just really well done, it's just a rock solid episode that puts a bow on the season.
I think the key to the episode is that it just feels well balanced in so many ways. Contrast the chaos of Culloden, as the heroes scramble to put their affairs in order while the men around them are scrambling to prepare for the battle with the relative calm and contemplative nature of the future scenes. I think this keeps the episode from becoming too frenetic or too slow.
Contrast the idea of chasing ghosts, and chasing the past. On the one hand, you feel like Claire is finally reconciling herself to the past. She's dwelling on it, but looks to be finally prepared to accept it. It's a powerful scene when she says goodbye to Jaime at the Fraser stone on Culloden. A first time where she accepts in her heart that the past is really dead. On the other side, you have Brianna digging up the past, learning about her parents' story. Even though Brianna doesn't accept Claire's story until the end of the episode, it's an interesting mix where both Claire and her daughter are engaged with the past, are engaged with the ghosts, but it's Claire who is saying goodbye and putting them to rest, while Brianna is the one searching for the answers and trying to give them life.
There is even balance between Brianna's refusal to accept Claire's story and Roger Mac's openness, Claire's bitterness over the war compared to Geillis's excitement for the cause, Dougal's patriotic belief in following the Prince to battle compared with Jaime's patriotic belief that the Prince needs to die for Scotland to live. In an hour and a half finale, I think all these contrasts serve to keep the story from being bogged down and keep it interesting even though we know the ending that is coming.
And I think these conflicts allow the emotional moments in the episode to avoid becoming stale. One of the big risks in this episode are that there are so many goodbyes, so many emotional flashpoints, they could become monotonous and lose their impact. But the balance of the episode is what keeps it from happening, and every emotional scene seems to really hit its mark because it doesn't overwhelm the episode. Outlander's best moments are often the ones that are understated, and not overly dramatic and none of the scenes feel that way. Even Jaime and Claire's goodbye is not twenty-five minutes of endless sobbing, but tragic in the character's resignation that it has happen, and that they will likely never see each other again.
Of course, as is seemingly always the case, Outlander ends it's finale with a hint of hope. Jaime has not died at Culloden and a reunion between the star-crossed couple is on the horizon. It's a finale that like the introductory episode is perfect for the season that it is in, a perfect end to the story that it has told but not necessarily a perfect finale.
I think the key to the episode is that it just feels well balanced in so many ways. Contrast the chaos of Culloden, as the heroes scramble to put their affairs in order while the men around them are scrambling to prepare for the battle with the relative calm and contemplative nature of the future scenes. I think this keeps the episode from becoming too frenetic or too slow.
Contrast the idea of chasing ghosts, and chasing the past. On the one hand, you feel like Claire is finally reconciling herself to the past. She's dwelling on it, but looks to be finally prepared to accept it. It's a powerful scene when she says goodbye to Jaime at the Fraser stone on Culloden. A first time where she accepts in her heart that the past is really dead. On the other side, you have Brianna digging up the past, learning about her parents' story. Even though Brianna doesn't accept Claire's story until the end of the episode, it's an interesting mix where both Claire and her daughter are engaged with the past, are engaged with the ghosts, but it's Claire who is saying goodbye and putting them to rest, while Brianna is the one searching for the answers and trying to give them life.
There is even balance between Brianna's refusal to accept Claire's story and Roger Mac's openness, Claire's bitterness over the war compared to Geillis's excitement for the cause, Dougal's patriotic belief in following the Prince to battle compared with Jaime's patriotic belief that the Prince needs to die for Scotland to live. In an hour and a half finale, I think all these contrasts serve to keep the story from being bogged down and keep it interesting even though we know the ending that is coming.
And I think these conflicts allow the emotional moments in the episode to avoid becoming stale. One of the big risks in this episode are that there are so many goodbyes, so many emotional flashpoints, they could become monotonous and lose their impact. But the balance of the episode is what keeps it from happening, and every emotional scene seems to really hit its mark because it doesn't overwhelm the episode. Outlander's best moments are often the ones that are understated, and not overly dramatic and none of the scenes feel that way. Even Jaime and Claire's goodbye is not twenty-five minutes of endless sobbing, but tragic in the character's resignation that it has happen, and that they will likely never see each other again.
Of course, as is seemingly always the case, Outlander ends it's finale with a hint of hope. Jaime has not died at Culloden and a reunion between the star-crossed couple is on the horizon. It's a finale that like the introductory episode is perfect for the season that it is in, a perfect end to the story that it has told but not necessarily a perfect finale.