Outlander was back with an episode tonight that while politically intriguing didn’t register much in the way of excitement.

-Not every episode in a series’ run is going to be stellar, and even though this episode ended with some fire, the episode as a whole was rather lackluster. This is mainly due to the fact that there was much in the way of political machinations with a reveal that didn’t amount to much scandal or sensation. Even as we got flashbacks to Claire and her husband talking about what happened (SHOW DON’T TELL PLEASE), I didn’t really feel the emotions like it wanted me too, cause it felt so bogged down in backstory. I have no doubt they’ll correct this, but this episode reminded me of the pilot in so many off kilter ways.

-Didn’t I mention that last week was heavy on the voiceover? Well let me correct myself, episode 5 is heavy on the voice over. My goodness.

-Dougal is a raggedy ass bitch! Whew lawd do I hate that character. He’s like Fitz and Mellie thrown together without any of the boozing reads or fun outfits. I do feel like the character is genuine, but he’s way too shady to be completely so. This war he’s trying to fund seems admirable but the way its being funded feels gross.

-Speaking of gross, I nearly jumped through the screen and slapped the dog shit out of all these characters for making Jamie show off his back to rally them against the English. It was incredibly smart move but I won’t have y’all doing my Jamie this way! He deserves to have the story of what happened to his body not for y’all to flaunt it.

-I loved drunk Claire this episode. Man she was letting everyone have it this week. I also loved that she’s bonding with guys, insulting them after they defended her honor. Great stuff

-As much as I wanted so badly for Jamie to stroll into Claire’s room after she offered him to sleep inside, I loved how he was concerned for her reputation and decided not to. I don’t necessarily need my OTPs to bang on first glance, and I’m digging the slow build. partially because they seemed so evenly matched.

-But listen, can we talk about those last two minutes? How dare Outlander keep me on edge this week! I knew when that dude was trying to defend Claire that he’d play a big role and it turns out he was a spy and now I gotta wait a week to see if Dougal and Claire will get out of this mess.