Hi, I’m Elise and I have lost my mind over Outlander. Seriously, if anyone sees my mind, please return it to me. I really miss it.
I only discovered Outlander about six months ago – so I am way behind the curve. I burned through the series, rewatched all the episodes, and then remembered that hey, these are based on books!
So far, I’ve read Outlander and Voyager. I’m currently on Dragonfly in Amber (I read them out of order on purpose, I was still getting over the death of Faith and I needed some time before reliving that). I LOVE the books. They are fantastic and engrossing. However, I’m making a conscious choice to NOT read Drums of Autumn before Season 4 comes out. Read on for my reasoning.
I LIKE TO BE SURPRISED
I am of the opinion that there is nothing better than being caught up in a show’s plot. I love when you are so caught up that you forget everything around you because you Cannot. Believe. What is. Happening. My best example, even though it is so sad and I am STILL MOURNING FOR ROBB AND TALISA, is the Red Wedding episode of Game of Thrones. I literally sat frozen through the entire Red Wedding, and for about 15 minutes afterward just in shock.
I love when shows surprise you. I watch so much TV that usually, I can smell a plot twist a mile away (never watch a crime drama with me). Outlander is one of the only shows that still surprises me, and I want to keep that tradition alive and well by not reading the book.
YES, I am aware the interwebs and Twitter and Facebook will have spoilers, and unless I plan on becoming Amish until Season 4 is over that I will see some spoilers. I have accepted this and moved on – knowing random plot points doesn’t ruin the overall surprise for me. And yes (SPOILER) I know Jamie and Bree meet at some point. But I don’t know the circumstances or details and that is what I’m looking forward to finding out – how does she get to the US? Will they meet at Fraser’s Ridge? Who will cry more, Bree or Jamie? SO MANY DETAILS TO LOOK FORWARD TO.
IF I WATCH THE SHOW FIRST, I DON’T FREAK OUT OVER THINGS BEING MISSING
Every time they make a movie or show out of one of my favorite books, something that I was obsessed with gets left out. It’s probably one of the hardest things about adapting books into tv/film. The one that really got me was St. Mungo’s in Harry Potter. They literally just cut out the entire wizard hospital! We found out about Neville’s mom and dad! We found out what happened to Lockhart! Ugh, let’s stop talking about it.
Since the Outlander series has been around since 1991, fans have certain book moments that they have been DYING to see – the turtle soup scene, the scene in the cave, and about a million more.
However, I didn’t miss any of these when I was watching, because I was experiencing it all for the first time! Can’t miss what you don’t know. It also keeps me from wanting to rush through the show to get to certain moments. After reading about how so many fans were like PRINTSHOPPRINTSHOPPRINTSHOP for the first half of season 3…enjoy the buildup, here, people!
I CAN EXTEND THE OUTLANDER EXPERIENCE AND GET MYSELF THROUGH DROUGHTLANDER
Guys. They just can’t make the damn show fast enough. It takes ten months to shoot a season, and probably another six at least in post production. Diana is still writing books nine and ten. We have a long, long, haul ahead of us. If there is some way to extend the magic, you can bet your ass I’m gonna take it.
Read More Outlander on TN
WRITTEN BY Elise DeLoy
Elise is a 28 year old Vermont native living in northern New Jersey. She makes television for a living and watches television for fun.
