One of the biggest complaints that people had about Jaime and Claire's reunion in the tv series was the decision by the showrunners to have Jaime tell Claire about his son and his time at Hellwater. In the book, it is Lord John that reveals this to Claire during the course of the dinner party, though Jaime does talk to Claire about it afterwards unprompted. As a result, in the book, Claire and Lord John's first meeting is contentious, rife with jealousy between the two parties. In the tv series, the showrunners have a limited amount of time and have already given this reveal, so how can you possibly have a faithful adaptation of Claire and Lord John's first meeting?
The answer is, you have Caitroina Balfe and David Berry hired on as actors. It is incredible how much the two of them do with so little dialogue. You can see in Claire's face, the awareness, the jealousy in her eyes. She immediately recognizes Lord John's feelings for Jaime, and does not like it. You can also see in Lord John's face, his giddiness upon seeing Jaime, replaced with shock, awkwardness and despair at Claire's reappearance. It is amazing how these two were able to give a faithful adaptation, displaying all of the emotions of their first meeting, with probably less than 25% of the dialogue contained in the book.
Really, the same could be said for Cait and Lotte Vorbeck as well in connection with Claire and Gellis' reunion. Even though the meeting is short you can see the mutual distrust, the connection they have as time travelers. All of the emotions of their reunion come to life, again with probably 25% of the dialogue in the books.
There's no need to pontificate for long on this episode, except to say that this is how a tv series can deliver a faithful adaptation without just replicating plot points. The key is character and emotions. Can a tv series elicit the same feelings and recreate the same characters that are found in the original source material? This episode recreates all of the tension, drama, and spookiness of the original source material despite having limited time to do so. And as a final point, while Cait and Sam's chemistry is well known, I do find the chemistry between Cait and David to be equally noteworthy. The relationship between Claire and Lord John is probably one of, if not the most fascinating in the novels, and it is amazing how in a few minutes of screen time, the actors can bring to life all of the complicated emotions present in their first meeting.
The answer is, you have Caitroina Balfe and David Berry hired on as actors. It is incredible how much the two of them do with so little dialogue. You can see in Claire's face, the awareness, the jealousy in her eyes. She immediately recognizes Lord John's feelings for Jaime, and does not like it. You can also see in Lord John's face, his giddiness upon seeing Jaime, replaced with shock, awkwardness and despair at Claire's reappearance. It is amazing how these two were able to give a faithful adaptation, displaying all of the emotions of their first meeting, with probably less than 25% of the dialogue contained in the book.
Really, the same could be said for Cait and Lotte Vorbeck as well in connection with Claire and Gellis' reunion. Even though the meeting is short you can see the mutual distrust, the connection they have as time travelers. All of the emotions of their reunion come to life, again with probably 25% of the dialogue in the books.
There's no need to pontificate for long on this episode, except to say that this is how a tv series can deliver a faithful adaptation without just replicating plot points. The key is character and emotions. Can a tv series elicit the same feelings and recreate the same characters that are found in the original source material? This episode recreates all of the tension, drama, and spookiness of the original source material despite having limited time to do so. And as a final point, while Cait and Sam's chemistry is well known, I do find the chemistry between Cait and David to be equally noteworthy. The relationship between Claire and Lord John is probably one of, if not the most fascinating in the novels, and it is amazing how in a few minutes of screen time, the actors can bring to life all of the complicated emotions present in their first meeting.
