Outlander!

outlanderseason2Many years ago, a friend told me about a book she was reading. If a person could swoon while describing a book, that’s what my friend did when describing Outlander. 

Based on her description, I all-too-quickly disregarded the book as “chick lit,” which really wasn’t fair at all. I did, however, enjoy that the main love interest in the book shares my name. Perhaps women who fantasized about Jamie would carry some of those thoughts over to Jamey.

Flash forward to last week, when my friend Cathy recommended the TV version of Outlander to me. I’ve been looking for a summer show, so I told Netflix to send me some Outlander DVDs.

The hook of the show is that an English woman traveling with her husband in 1945 Scotland jumps back in time to the 18th century, taking with her an acute knowledge of 20th-century medicine.

I’m only 3 episodes in, but I’m enjoying the show way more than I thought I would. There are tons of compelling characters, some great tension (both sexual and historical), and it’s filmed in Scotland, so the scenery is stunning.

My only concern is that I’ll finish the entire first season within the next week, so I’ll be waiting a while for the second season. Thus I’ll be in need of another highly produced show. I’m open to suggestions, but there are my preferred choices:

  • Deadwood
  • Six Feet Under
  • Big Love
  • Black Sails

Would you recommend any of those?

19 thoughts on “Outlander!”

  1. OMG Black Sails!! My husband and I also found Marco Polo on Netflix, but they have not come through with their promised second season. I’ve never seen Deadwood, or Big Love. I used to watch Six Feet Under when it was on HBO, but I kind of lost interest. We’re huge fans of Outlander, although I thought we wouldn’t be based on its commercial previews. You will not be disappointed.

    Reply
  2. SPOILERS AHEAD

    I am a HUGE fan of Outlander, the series and the books-the last few episodes of season one are a bit of a tough watch, but the wedding episode made up for it all. Season 2 has it’s ups and downs, but since I have an idea where it’s going I know it is best to stick with it.It’s already been renewed through season 4, and I know that Diana Gabaldon isn’t even done writing the series yet, so I expect we have many years of it to look forward to. They are keeping to the books, pretty much-which is good because the story is great. If you like this then I highly recommend the series “Poldark” too, about a returning English soldier in Cornwall, after he is injured during the american revolution, and thought killed. It’s worth watching just for all the scenery.

    Reply
  3. Bloodline (Netflix) compelling drama about a family with a dark past lavishly filmed in the Florida Keys

    The Expanse, smart edgy sci fi that has real characters as real and as believable as the science

    11/23/62 (Hulu) premise is what if you could travel back in time and prevent Kennedys assassination. Stars James Franco and produced by Stephen King and JJ Abrams.

    Reply
  4. Christy and I are nearly done with Deadwood. It’s quite good. We really liked Justified (streaming on Amazon Prime), as well. True Detective season 1 was super compelling too.

    Reply
    • A friend has called Deadwood the best show he’s ever watched, period. The Western setting/genre doesn’t get my thematic juices flowing, but neither does Baltimore, and I loved The Wire. So I might need to give that one a try.

      Reply
      • I would certainly echo the vote for Deadwood. I haven’t seen any of the other options you listed, but Deadwood is definitely in my top 5 of all time! (Along with the Wire!). The dialogue in that movie is absolutely astounding, and the character development is magnificent. Ian McShane in particular really shines in the Al Swerigen(sp?) role. If you do watch it, please blog some of your thoughts about it. I always love hearing what people think of it.

        Reply
  5. Outlander! I’m working my way through the novels and kind of watching the show in tandem. My plan was to finish the first book completely and then watch the first season, but it was just too good to wait. I’m a little further ahead with my reading, but I’m holding myself back from plowing through the books so that I don’t go too far and have to wait for the show to catch up.

    Bloodline, Narcos, and Poldark are on my watchlist for the summer. The new season of Orange is the New Black in coming out next week, so I’m looking forward to that as well. I haven’t seen Six Feet Under for years, but I really enjoyed it at the time. I remember being enamored with it when it first came on because I had never really seen anything like it before, and I would guess it still holds up well even 10 years later.

    My other recommendations are all pretty dark and gritty shows, but they’re very good. The Fall and Happy Valley are excellent and available on Netflix. They both feature very strong female detectives and they’re similar in that you know who the killer is from the start, so it’s more of a cat-and-mouse thriller than a mystery. They may sound like the same show, but there are a lot of differences between the two shows and I think they’re both worth watching.

    This next recommendation might sound a little out of your comfort zone, but hear me out. I have never watched a single episode of The Bachelor/Bachelorette, and I have no desire to. I’ve also never considered watching anything on Lifetime before. That being said, I binge watched the first season of their show UnReal a few weeks ago, and it’s fantastic. It’s a show that goes behind the scenes of a fictional reality dating show like The Bachelor, and I couldn’t stop watching it. The show is really about psychology, manipulation, and how low these shows will go to create drama for good ratings. Everyone has their own agenda, and all but one of the characters are pretty unsympathetic, but I was really involved in the storylines anyway. The first season is available on Hulu, and the second season just started on Lifetime this week.

    I just finished watching The Path on Hulu, and it was pretty good. It goes into the lives of a cult (oh sorry, it’s actually a “spiritual movement” according to them) and what happens when one member has a crisis of faith. I don’t think the second half of the season lived up to the first few episodes, but I enjoyed the acting and I’ll keep watching when the next season comes out.

    This makes it sound like I watch a lot of TV, but I’m usually only watching a couple shows at any given time, I swear!

    Reply
    • Katie: I’m excited for more Orange Is the New Black too! It’ll come at a good time, right when I’m finishing up Outlander season 1.

      Thanks for the recommendations of The Fall, Happy Valley, UnReal, and The Path!

      Reply
      • Deadwood was an awesome show for the few seasons it was on. I am jealous you have never watched this and have the experience ahead of you. Start here for sure.

        It might move slow at times, but has some outstanding actors. There are some classic lines in the show too that will stick with you if you watch with another person. “Open a can of peaches . . . . .” and “There’s a blood stain on your floor” are classic.

        Big Love is worth watching. An interesting take on the subject and family relationships. Explains a non-Midwestern topic in a unique way.

        Six Feet Under – saw a few episodes, but never watched consistently.

        Black Sails – never heard of it. Will check it out.

        Reply
  6. Deadwood is fantastic and I’m sad that there won’t be any more now that I’ve seen it. It does take a bit of getting used to though with dense accents and dialogue and no handholding of the audience, similar to The Wire.
    I loved Six Feet Under when it was originally aired, but I haven’t seen it since and worry that it might’ve dated a bit.
    I see both Poldark and The Night Manager recommended – both brilliant BBC productions and both noted for the lovely sight of their main character shirtless. Poldark is an ongoing series so there’s more to watch. The Night Manager was a one off production of 6 episodes. I must say that I think most of the appeal of Poldark is waiting for Aiden Turner to take his shirt off, whereas The Night Manager is appealing even when Tom Hiddleston is fully clothed.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Discover more from jameystegmaier.com

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue Reading