1x12 Lallybroch

So far this has been the weakest episode for me. However this may be do having to dive head first into Jamie's family drama, which we had heard very little about previously. Though the episode does have some great moments and reveals many things that I was not expecting.

1. I never had an idea what to expect with the Fraser family home, but I don't think I ever imagined how it's portrayed. It feels very colonial, which I hadn't thought it would be. Maybe I was expecting a bigger castle, more Scottish.

2. The relationship between Jamie and his sister are the most interesting. Though you'd expect them to have been loving, there is a lot of unresolved tensions between them steeming from when Randall assaulted Jenny and took Jamie. Their first meeting starts on the wrong foot as Jamie has heard rumours of his sister having Randall's bastard child from the assault, which he thinks are confirmed when he sees Jenny with a child. This alone sparks the anamosities between them. Each acting like petulant children rather than grown adults. For his mistaken insult of her child, who Jamie is the namesake of, she passively aggressively attacks her new sister-in-law, who she deems unfit since she is English, and outsider. These mini aggressions keep festering, throughout the episode. Even when Claire, and Ian, try to sooth the Fraser siblings. It isn't until both dig up the past and their own guilt for not being able to save the other from Jack Randall's violence are they are able to put the past and their tensions behind them.

3. Claire is once again out of her element. She had figured out how to act in the Mackenzie castle, but with the Fraser's she had a different position. Since she was married to the Lord of estate, she needed to act like the Lady of the house (a role that Jenny had previously taken). She not only has to readjust her actions to the new position, but also has to dealing with two stubborn Frasers.

4. Jamie is such a frat boy/dudebro in this episode. Tryin to live up to the position of Laird, he goes about it the wrong way, trying to be the "big man" on the estate, which leads to him being a douche and not the sweet man that Claire (and the viewers) grew to love. Some examples: ignoring his sister (and brother-in-law) regarding finances of the estate which they clearly know more about, getting drunk while collecting the estate taxes as to show he is Lord, coming to bed completely wasted and bragging about how awesome being Laird is, meddling in matters of the estate and the tenants without consulting Jenny or his wife. It isn't until Claire makes him get his ego in check does he realize what an ass he's been. Being the Laird and trying to be the Laird are two different things, one is kind and respectful, while the other is a toxic masculinity mess.

Fav scenes: the intro of Jenny, she is not one to back down from anyone, let alone her brother. She will take none of his BS.; Claire forcing Jamie from bed with a hangover to get him to fix the messes he's making by being a grade A jackass.