Well, 'Outlander' Escalated Quickly

For the record, let's state that Outlander is a really great show, and a lot of that has to do with its fearless heroine, Claire Randall. Seriously, you try dealing with piecing your life back together after being transported back in time to Scotland during the 1700s. Not all of us could do that (I'd be a goner in like three days). For as much as I love the show, and I love Claire — and I love Jamie! — the spanking scene in Outlander's mid-season premiere might have been a little too much. You know, I get that it's all because of the time period and everything, but still. It was a lot to handle.

The mid-season finale left us with Claire being kidnapped by Randall. She's rescued, obviously, but Jamie blames Claire for wandering off and being kidnapped in the first place. The two have a fight in the forest, and Jamie's voice over explains that his anger and frustration is only because of the fact that he's falling in love with Claire — you know, totally get that. He's worried about her, and clearly doesn't want her kidnapped and tortured, etc.

However, later that night, Jamie takes off his belt with the intention of teaching Claire a lesson about what she's done (which is, you know, accidentally getting kidnapped). At first, Clarie's facial expressions suggest that she believes this to be a joke. I kinda thought it was a joke, too. I thought this was Jamie just getting his groove on. But no, Jamie was serious about actually punishing Claire. He needed to punish Claire so she wouldn't make the same mistake again. Claire through all of this is very politely like, "oh hell no."

Honestly, it's hard to watch. Honestly, I started rooting for Claire as she thrashed in his arms, and then kicked him in the face and dug her nails into his cheeks. But it still happened, and Jamie taught her this "lesson." Sam Heughan knows it might not have been the best thing to watch, and explained to MTV News that, "He knows it’s his duty, he knows he’s got to do this, he’s got to punish her… Obviously, to a modern audience, this is strange to get your head around, but yes — it was definitely a very important lesson.”

I still haven't wrapped my head around the whole thing yet. But, in the end, at least Claire got the final word, when — in the middle of getting it on — she grabs Jamie's dagger and tells him that if he ever does something like that again, she will cut his heart out and eat it for breakfast. Ah yes, that's the Claire we know and love.

Image: Starz