Leah, ya know? 💜🥔

✌️✌️ Happy 32!

Just on this earth to be annoying!!

Death penalty for all!

I thought the chillier weather would mean I didn't have to worry but nope. Spent so much time today sounding deranged and muttering "horrible!! Get out of here!!!" when I spotted another gathering of them 😭😭

I do not believe in spontaneous generation except ☝️ for fruit flies, such as the ones that are currently taking over my apartment, or as it seems right now, their apartment where I happen to reside.

(Yes, I have traps, successful traps, and yet the population only grows!!!)

So much punching of that guy too! And shooting the man who was running away in the back...I'm not crying over them, but it was definitely somewhat jarring.

Why are they so much better at telling their story via flashback than they have been at telling the story they allegedly wanted to in the 18th century???

Autumnal weather is here so what else can we do but this: shabbat shalom from me and my pumpkin snickerdoodles!

a woman wearing glasses is smiling and asking what , like it 's hard . ALT: a woman wearing glasses is smiling and asking what , like it 's hard .

Even if S1 is finished and the PTB and I are clearly on different pages about a lot, I hope that S2 will take some of the major stumbling blocks of this season into account — there were moments that showed me they do know how to plot and execute a good story, now just do that for the whole thing!

Remember that there are 4 main characters — that’s already a lot! It also means that Colum and Dougal, Lovat, Davina…they’re secondary, and their screentime and plot space should reflect that. They might wish otherwise, but relationships hold more appeal than clan politics (at least to top VIP me 😘)

In general, skip convenience as plot device. There’s convenient stupidity — Julia’s inability to escape, Ellen’s lack of planning for a future with Brian despite strategy being a huge part of her character — plus what’s the point of famed assassins if Brian and Murtagh can beat them handily?

If you’re going to keep Julia trapped at Leathers, you have to put more than one guy there blocking her. Yes, he’s big, but he does sleep, and she's around his food! Being clever is one of Julia’s prime attributes, and it undercuts that when she can’t outsmart one (1) dude, or even try.

Have Murtagh pine less openly for Ellen. It casts doubt on Brian's character for keeping the relationship (marriage?) a secret for months from his close friend, makes 1x10 a sharp 180, and shuts off an avenue for the viewers to hear Brian reflecting on his motivations/thoughts to someone else.

Skip the drawn out historical infodump episodes, which also happen to overlap with the reveling in women’s pain theme; you can have Julia giving birth surrounded by women in a brief way (perhaps an uplifting one?! where the women are nice??? 🤯), and we didn't need a full virginity test episode.

Reunite Henry and Julia much earlier, even if you put other barriers in their way and even if they have to separate again; maybe an episode where Ellen is invited to Grant land as Malcolm’s betrothed and brings a message from Julia, offering different combinations of character interactions.

I would make Brian either more evidently religious (stuck between a commandment and his moral compass) or Davina under more overt threat from the beginning to explain his inaction; I want to see that he has a clear reason for avoiding confrontation rather than merely being downtrodden/unwilling.

It solves the problem of the Brian and Ellen instalove if they can glimpse or run into each other multiple times throughout the castle, solves the issue of too much Lovat and the whole marriage business if he’s back home as more of a looming threat, and just gives everyone more to DO.

Main suggestion: set the series at Leoch! E.g. Brian and Julia are sent undercover by Lovat (she sees a letter from Henry but Lovat is withholding more info about his whereabouts?) to spy on the MacKenzies. This allows more interaction between the characters, and far less frustrating back and forth.

With that said, I have some ideas for how I would have improved S1. It obviously doesn't matter, plus I have no idea what's in store for Henry and Julia, but based on the fact that they’re headed to more Jacobite stuff with Brian and Ellen, it's not as character-focused as I’d like, but still…

Their bothy/plaid scenes would have been much sweeter for me if they’d actually done the job of having the B/E relationship feel grounded; it’s very hard for me to get past the fact that the soil there is so weak, no matter how many times they have characters insisting on their epic love.

Murtagh’s scene with Ellen, for example, was very sweet, but felt confusing and like such a sudden turnaround. Or (and not to pick on my boy!) his line about “Yours is the kind of love ye hear about in legends” — girl, where?! Is the legendary love in the room with us right now??

Some of the buildup of this season succeeded — Ellen’s scene with Colum was so pointed, I definitely felt the tension over how the MacKenzies would get out of the situation with the Grants, and my heart was racing hoping that Julia and Henry would make it — but other elements I’m less sold on.

The Dougal + Maura marriage was a twist I’m kinda into; I’m legit sad about Malcolm; I think Henry and Julia deserved more of a reunion even though their flashbacks were great; I got very emo about Ellen’s goodbyes to Jocasta (redemption arc?!) and Mrs. Fitz; and Arch Bug continues to be the worst!

I thought the finale was a good episode in a very uneven season overall, even if it featured some of the same issues as the rest such as pacing and unequal time for the couples. And (giant sigh) they did successfully pull me in for S2 with that ending (unsurprising thb, I’m a soft target).

When it ended up being so short, I knew that you would 😂 (The H/J flashbacks were *adorable* but their present selves spent pretty much all of the episode riding a horse and looking apprehensive 💀 Although at least Balloch got rock smashed, bless)

When she said, "Where thou diest, I die," my mind immediately went to Brian having to go on alone after she dies 🥺🥺

I absolutely thought that they were setting him up to be an antagonist next season with all the revenge talk!! And then when he encountered them in the hall I thought Ellen and Brian would be able to talk him around and he'd be a surprise ally! Could not have been more wrong!!!

Looking so gorgeous and happy! 🫶

It's just such an interesting proposition!! Brian and Ellen no longer having to deal with their stupid family stuff but needing Henry and Julia to explain to them what electricity is. (Also Ellen would be sooo there at Julia's next suffrage rally!)