I think that as common as rape narratives are in general, it’s still hard to find stories that do justice to the aftermath in ways that are neither flippant nor didactic. I thought this episode succeeded on that count: it changes who you are but eventually it moves to the rear view. On that count, I’ve often wondered…

*1700s! 18th century. :) 

Ah, ok, thank you for sharing that! I’m not so familiar with the writing credits names so I wasn’t able to notice changes as the seasons air. But the tone and direction (and frankly, the cohesiveness of seasonal arcs!) has really plummeted in quality and I was “feeling” if not actually knowing that there must have…

63% of the main characters have been raped by a number of counts.

It’s not true to the books, though. Not really. Claire is sexually assaulted, but it’s not a full on gang-rape. A nameless person assaults her during her captivity. It did not by any stretch need to be the hallmark, centerpiece of the episode.

I think a couple of things have changed. First and foremost, Ron Moore is no longer involved on a day-to-day basis. Maril Davis & Matt Roberts have stepped in. Also, there are a lot of new writers and I frankly think that some of the writing has been cringe-inducingly bad.

Kayla’s shtick is filtering everything through the woke queer lens. It’s hard to criticize that approach without sounding like I’m criticizing certain things about her, but I’m just not sure that this show benefits from being filtered through sociology-101 as remembered by a former C student who doesn’t have a lot of…

I fully agree that this show has (long-since) crossed the line with its continued inclusion and graphic depiction of rape; and also that the Black Jack situation was really groundbreaking and pretty well done (I thought). Which to me means, somebody in the writer’s room understood at SOME point. The question is: is…

It’s sex and it’s on the internet. Someone’s getting off on it.

Totally agree. All that the article could focus on was rape??????? And so many comments?

To be fair, even though it’s overused, it’s never glorified or depicted as anything but horrifying.  So I’m pretty sure no one is “getting off” on it.

The problem is that EVERY SINGLE major villain the show has given us so far has been a rapist: Black Jack, Geillis, Bonnet, Brown. (Yes, there have been other antagonists, but these are the major ones.) Using rape as a way of conveying “they’re bad” is lazy storytelling. It’s fine the first time, if it’s handled well,…

@Tap-Dancin- Vaudeville Penguin
Not sure what about this comment inspired you to lash out at me, but you should know that you’d be less lonely if you weren’t such a consistently angry, unpleasant person.

Actually, if you want to broaden it to the larger current main cast, the only ones who haven’t been raped (or whom we don’t know whether they’ve been raped) are Roger, Marsali, and Jocasta. Ones who have: Jamie, Fergus, Ian, Brianna, Claire. So that brings it down to 63% - such an improvement!

Apparently enough people get off on it to justify season after season. Pretty disturbing.

I think any defense of Outlander’s depiction of sexual violence is a reach at this point. It has become an indelible stain on the show, an unfortunate but solidified legacy for a show that’s otherwise so celebratory of consensual sex that eschews the male gaze.

Because it’s not real?  Just like every murder on tv?  or any crime?  Why aren’t you as outraged at those crimes in a fictional universe?

My wife watches; I’ve been referring to it as “that rape show of yours” for years now.

*Spoilers*

I figured since I was in quarantine, I’d give this Outlander show a try. After I counted eleven (eleven!) rape attempts in fewer than eleven episodes, I threw in the towel. (That is more than one per episode. How did this get past editors!)