Well, get ready for my flashback post.
Since Outlander premieres this Sunday night, I’m pretty sure you’re going to be popping in those DVDs, turning on some sweet Ron D. Moore commentary and revisiting the first two seasons. Why not also binge on TN’s Outlander coverage?
For the past four years, we have covered anything and everything Outlander. From deep diving into almost every casting announcement to breaking down our top ten moments from the show, That’s Normal has devoted over 200 posts just to the books and the series. Don’t even get me started on the number of hours spent and gallons of wine consumed on HangOutlanders.
So, for those moments when you need a respite from watching the wedding episode for the umpteenth time or when Claire and Jamie say goodbye at the stones, here’s just some of my favorite TN’s Outlander flashbacks.
“Let Me Introduce You to Sam Heughan…”
Where were you when you first heard the name Sam Heughan? How many of us Outlander fans kept pronouncing his last name “huge-han?” Better yet, who here watched A Princess for Christmas with Italian subtitles on YouTube just to get a better idea who this guy was?
Back in 2013 when we were all naive wee ones, Beth brought Sam Heughan to That’s Normal, and we all immediately fell in love and watched Plague Over England on a loop on our computers and phones until the series premiered. Since then, we’ve made it our mission to make Sam have a visceral reaction whenever he sees us.
Mission accomplished:
“5 Reasons We Don’t Hate Caitriona Balfe as Claire”
I love Sam Heughan as Jamie Fraser. There is no other actor that can fill that role. Sam is Jamie, and Jamie is Sam. The same goes for Tobias Menzies. He made me fall in love with Frank, something Diana Gabaldon couldn’t even do.
But what keeps me watching the show even in those moments of frustration and, let’s be honest, slow pacing is Caitriona Balfe.
The announcement of her casting was more subtle than Sam’s, but it’s impact made us Google stalk and Twitter and Instagram friend the woman who we all wished we could be (but really, we’re all Laoghaire). It was also the first time Sam called her “sassenach,” and that alone blew the wind in the sails of a thousand shippers.
And while Sam got some fan flack for being casted, which caused Diana to verbally throat punch some fans, we all came together as one fandom and agreed that this actress was the Claire we imagined when we read Outlander. Of course that would probably be the last time this fandom ever agreed on something, so perhaps this day should be made into a holiday for Outlander fans.
“Breaking Down Sassenach…”
For months, Starz had been hiding the hair from fans, making Sam wear a beanie in that promo video that you know you watched an obscene amount of time.
December ’13 was the month of the great reveal, and for many of us, we cringed at what we saw because it immediately brought us back to home perms and not being able to wash your hair for a week.
Bekah and Beth did what any friends would do in this situation and broke down the hedgehog photo Vanity Fair style. They also pointed out Sam’s love for deep v-necks and American Eagle hoodies with thick strings, two items in Sam’s closet that I’m pretty sure he pulls out of his closet and still wears when no one is around to say, “Nah, bro. Don’t do that.”
“Comic Con 2014”
No one knows what it takes to win the internet? One minute it could be footage of cat “playing” the piano. The next it could be a girl being so poorly autotuned that you actually start hating Fridays because of it. But the summer of 2014 belonged to That’s Normal.
Why?
Because Sam took a photo of Bekah and Nikki for Outlander’s Instagram, and we put it on YouTube just in case if Starz ever deleted it.
They didn’t. Mic. Drop.
“Things My Husband Says During Outlander”
Do you know how to spot a saint? It’s someone not committing premeditated murder when her husband makes sarcastic comments during Outlander, but decides instead to write down each true and hilarious moment to entertain the masses.
Beth Thorne is a saint.
And with this post, Blurtlander was born.
Why do we all love Blurtlander so much? Because he’s all of our husbands/boyfriends/significant others that we force to watch this show. Plus, he says what some of us are actually thinking but are too afraid to say because we fear losing membership in private Facebook fan groups. And c’mon, you know you giggled over this brilliant timing:
“My Outlander Mixtape”
Ask any Twilight how they know about the band Muse or Jack’s Mannequin, and they would show you author Stephenie Meyer’s playlist for each book in her series. Ask any Outlander fan about the playlist for their book, and they would show you a CD of Robert Burns’ poetry put to bagpipe music. So exciting.
Amy saves our eardrums with her Outlander mixtape, which includes everything from Dropkick Murphys to Josh Groban, two types of music I thought I would never write in the same sentence. Thanks, Amy.
But no matter how much the song selection makes you do an overly dramatic double take, Amy’s reason behind each one is so sound (no pun intended), that you don’t care if the show is set in the 1940s or the 1700s because of course there should be Jay-Z’s “99 Problems” playing in the background at Castle Leoch. It just makes perfect sense.
“Highlights and Lowlights of Jamie Fraser”
I just want to state that I still stand behind everything in this post, and the fact that his mane has morphed him into what looks like a roadie for Phish…
…makes me apprehensive about the future state of hot Jamie Fraser hair.
“Tobias Menzies: Tobiased Part 1”
We have it made it no secret that we all love Tobias Menzies, and will gladly smite each other for his love.
Nikki first broke down how we all became Tobiased, and she reminded us that deep down, all we want is some British guy in glasses with adorable laugh lines and who spells “favorite” with a u.
“Eye-gasms with Jamie Fraser”
I also stand by everything in this post, and would like to directly address Sam Heughan.
Sam, if you have a Google alert set for each time your name is mentioned and you’re reading this: I would like to challenge you to a staring contest. You wearing no shirt is optional. If you win, you get to lie on top of me. If I win, I get to lie under you.
Spoiler alert: we both win in the end.
“Rekilting and It Feels So Good”
In this post, Amy reminded us why we luuuuuv Outlander. Hint: it starts with “s,” ends with “ex,” and you do it only when you are married, according to my inner child.
But the reason I love this post is that Amy made us all have an Oprah sized ah-ha moment when she called out James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser and the whole “I need to spank my wife because she was a bad girl, and I don’t mean Fifty Shades-type bad girl” moment. This:
But the reading of the spanking scene a second time, it did start to bug me a bit. Earlier in Outlander, Jamie took a beating himself to save Laoghaire from the embarrassment of getting one, yet when Claire bristles at leaving her room post-spanking, Jamie dismisses her fears with a “Chin up.”
No book is perfect. There are even moments in To Kill a Mockingbird that make me question the author’s motivation and/or the editor’s final decision, and Outlander isn’t an exception to the rule. This moment and Amy’s astute observation reminded us that although we may fan-girl/boy over a novel, it’s okay and perfectly normal to still find flaws.
“That’s Normal Exclusive: Sam Heughan…”
Call me biased, but one of my favorite interviews with Sam Heughan is our very own Bekah’s one-on-one with him.
Her insightful questions inspired insightful answers. Let’s face it: when it comes to these press junkets, the line of questioning starts to become repetitive, to the point where a faithful fan can actually answer the question before the actual actor can. But this wasn’t the case with Bekah’s questions. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but you can actually see Sam contemplating her questions before he answers.
Plus, I have total accessories envy whenever I watch this, and I will steal this necklace when I see her again.
“3 Changes We Need in Outlander S3”
For many of us at That’s Normal, Voyager is our favorite book.
But once again, just because a book is your favorite doesn’t mean it’s devoid of flaws. Amy broke down the three main changes that need to happen in this upcoming season: goodbye racial stereotypes, maybe rape (it’s rape in my book), and definite rape.
The result? A deafening “Amen” from many of our readers, and a few book purists who believe that we’re oversensitive bitches who snark about everything and get special favors from Starz. Let me just say this, if we had that power over Starz, don’t you think we would have them include the “waterweed” scene? We’d use our powers of manipulation for good, not evil.
“Dear Outlander”
This past summer, Katy wrote a passioned plea to Outlander for more women behind the camera and pages of the next season that inspired praise…
…and some strong differing opinions.
That is why I loved this post.
Katy’s argument was well justified, strongly supported, and allowed all of us to take a moment and examine a good show that has the potential to be better. She didn’t just complain about the show – she provided an easily executed solution that could only benefit the show. If a woman wrote the novel, why couldn’t one helm more scripts or direct more episodes?
If you haven’t read this post or you need to revisit it, do so. It won’t make you hate Outlander. If anything, it will make you watch the show even more closely, pay attention to the dialogue, the events, the character development. It will make you think about how a female vision would have changed the scene or how something is said.
And here’s a little secret from me to you: you can still fan over the show and have constructive criticism. Remember, if you do find those flaws this year but fear abandonment from your fan family if you even hint at them, come to That’s Normal. We’re your safe space.
Is this the end of our Outlander coverage? Absolutely not, Sassenachs. Get ready for more posts, more recaps, and more moments that inspire “Well, actually…” We love it all.
Don’t forget to join us this Sunday night for our first Hangoutlander for Season 3! Click here for more details.
