It took a global pandemic for me to get sucked into Outlander . Like a lot of people, I’d originally passed on it because I …
It took a global pandemic for me to get sucked into Outlander. Like a lot of people, I’d originally passed on it because I thought it was a romance series and that’s just not my kind of thing. But, once I finally did cave to pressure, it didn’t take me long to discover that Outlander isn’t a romance. What makes it interesting is that it doesn’t fit neatly into any one genre box. The show starts off just after the end of World War II. British Army nurse Claire Randall (Caitriona Balfe) is vacationing with her husband in the Highlands of Scotland, but accidentally gets thrown back into the year 1743 by passing through an ancient circle of stones. Pretty quickly, she runs into a band of Scottish soldiers that include the obscenely handsome Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan). Yes, more often than not, the story — along with many of the show’s steamy sex scenes — is told through Claire’s eyes. And yes, Jamie, touted as the “king of men,” is the kind of guy who has probably prompted many women around the world to set unrealistic expectations for their own husbands and boyfriends. Meanwhile, much of the plot is set in 18th Century Scotland, so there are corsets and kilts galore. You get the literal “bodice ripping” that romance novels are known for, along with the, um, easy access that comes from men wearing kilts and nothing underneath them. But I swear it’s not a romance. Much of the time, Outlander is pure, escapist fun. You get time travel, swordplay and well-researched depictions of historical people and events.
