Stream It Or Skip It?
Outlander has been Starz‘ biggest hit since it debuted in 2014, and for good reason. There’s time-travel, swashbuckling, and a romantic chemistry between leads Caitríona Balfe and Sam Heughan. Now a prequel series seeks to transfer that chemistry to the romances of the parents of both Claire and Jamie, in two very different time periods.
Opening Shot: Scenes of handmaiden’s bathing a body. It’s the recently-deceased body of Red Jacob MacKenzie (Peter Mullan).
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The Gist: Red Jacob’s sudden death leaves a leadership void in Clan MacKenzie; he never named a successor, so a “gathering” of local clan leaders will decide. The most capable person to be Laird is Ellen MacKenzie (Harriet Slater), Red Jacob’s oldest, but she won’t be under consideration because she’s not a man. Her brothers Colum (Seamus McLean Ross) and Dougal (Sam Retford) will be considered, but Red Jacob didn’t think either was suitable, or he would have named one of his successor before his death. There is a chance that someone from another clan could be named Laird, with that clan essentially taking over the MacKenzie’s land and livestock.
Red Jacob trusted Ellen enough to make a rare promise to her; she’d be able to get married to who she wants, rather than be married off to a person who provides the clan financial or strategic advantages. Her relative freedom in that regard chafes at her brothers, who want to know where she is and who she’s with.
There are two families that the MacKenzies have fierce rivalries with: The Grants and the Frasers. The MacKenzie boys just fended off a raid they think was initiated by Lord Lovat (Tony Curran), head of the Fraser clan. And they hate the Grants because, in Dougal’s words, “They think they’re better than us.” But both Colum and Red Jacob’s trusted advisor, Ned Gowan (Conor MacNeill), think it’s best to curry favor with the Grants, to show the other clans that the MacKenzies aren’t bloodthirsty hooligans.
Ellen has a lot of suitors, including, as it turns out, Malcolm Grant (Jhon Lumsden), oldest son of Isaac Grant (Brian McCardie); he remembers her from when they were both kids. But when Ellen meets an enchanting man who is hiding out from family like she is during an event, they make a plan to meet by a bridge on the edge of the property the next day. Their attraction is undeniable, but it turns out that he’s Brian Fraser (Jamie Roy), one of Lord Lovat’s sons. He thinks he’s going to have to make a lot of sacrifices so they can be together, but he will do so if he needs to, as will Ellen.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? As the title suggests, Outlander: Blood Of My Blood is a prequel of Starz’ hit time-travelling romantic drama Outlander.
Our Take: Outlander: Blood Of My Blood, developed by Matthew B. Roberts and based on characters in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander novels, is supposed to examine the very different romances of the parents the original series’ main characters, Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) and Claire Beauchamp (Caitríona Balfe). Because of the time-traveling nature of the original series, that means that the stories will take place in radically different time periods: The Frasers are in the Scottish highlands in the 18th century and the Beauchamps are in England during World War I.
Luckily, Roberts and his writers decide to spend the bulk of the near-80-minute first episode in Scotland, introducing us to the conditions that brought Ellen and Isaac together. Even though there’s a lot going on in the first episode’s story, with the MacKenzies being fierce rivals with two other clans, the election of a new Laird up in the air, and Ellen’s overall ambivalent feelings about being a part of Scottish aristocracy given how it treats women, there’s a lot to sort through. But what cuts through it all is the chemistry between Slater and Roy, from the first moments they lay eyes on each other.
We do get to spend a few minutes at the end of the episode with Claire’s parents, Henry Beauchamp (Jeremy Irvine) and Julia Moriston (Hermione Corfield). In the segment, they’re already married, and Claire is a child. Julia is pregnant, and the two get into an auto accident on a dirt road that launches them into a raging river. In the second episode, we’ll go back to WWI to see their romance blossom even though Julia is home in England and Henry is elsewhere in Europe with the army.
It’s an interesting contrast, having one romance grow with two people who can’t help but be together and another grow while circumstances are keeping the people apart. There is a time-travel element to the series, as the trailer shows. What that is, though, we’re not sure. But the show’s writers certainly have a lot to keep track of here; it’s essentially two different romantic dramas for the most part. What we hope is that the romances don’t get bogged down in too many side stories, which is something that we can see happening based on the first episode.
Sex and Skin: Definitely some sex scenes in both timelines, not all of them particularly romantic.
Parting Shot: After the accident, Julia and Henry are walking the hillside, and she runs ahead. He hears a scream and runs towards it. Julia is nowhere to be found, but Henry hears buzzing and sees a mysterious rock circle.
Sleeper Star: Conor MacNeill as Ned Gowan, a character that figures heavily in the Outlander universe. He’s particularly weaselly in this younger version.
Most Pilot-y Line: “You have more of me in you than both your brothers put together,” Red Jacob tells Ellen in a flashback. “If only you had a cock.” That certainly spoiled the mood, didn’t it?
Our Call: STREAM IT. Outlander: Blood Of My Blood certainly has the potential to be as romantic and adventurous as the original series. We just wonder how the show’s writers are going to wrangle to the two very different timelines without getting weighed down by all of the stories they are setting up in the first few episodes.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
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