The Showcase Booth had a wonderful exhibit of props from a variety of shows including Outlander, Beauty and the Beast, and Haven.
Book from Haven Pilot & Duke’s Fake IDs
Haven Props
William’s Flower
Harker’s Heirloom Plate
Outlander – The Way Out, the third episode of Season 1, is a particularly interesting episode. One of the subplots of the episode is directly from the book, and the entire episode feels like it could have been pulled directly from the book (and some scenes appear to have been shuffled into this episode out of earlier chapters of the book) but if you are reading along in the novel Outlander you need only finish chapter 9.
Chapter 10, approximately page 178 of the novel, is where The Gathering begins in earnest, and as it happens, the title of episode 4 is slated to be… The Gathering.
Episode three might be one of the best episodes for those wanting to get a feel for how the book is being translated to the screen. The plot-point that was taken as a subplot directly to the screen was the one that, as a reader, struck me as significant, and telling about multiple characters. In an earlier article I remarked that it can be interesting to see what scenes in the book are so significant that every person in the collaborative process that it takes to make it a tv show is struck by that scene and agrees it needs to be on the screen. As a reader this was one of those scenes I hoped they felt the weight and impact of.
The subplot they added, the character they created, to me made perfect sense, and again spoke volumes about every character that interacted with him.
Episode three had a nice balance to it, some moments that spun on the intonation with which lines were delivered, and the body language that characters made sure only one or two others saw… it was this deliberateness in some cases, and subtlety in others that kept my eyes on the screen, and kept me interested from start to finish… and had me wanting to re-read the book yet again, wondering if there were things I had missed, things I should have noticed, things I might now understand differently because I could quite literally see them differently having just seen them on screen.
It is quite safe to say Diana Gabaldon’s series of Outlander novels stand alone quite successfully. And the STARZ Outlander television series likewise stands alone, and can be viewed independently of the books and a compelling drama unfolds before your eyes. But the two, in combination, create this extraordinary experience, where one sets you up with questions to ponder and ask as you experience the other… whichever you experience first keeps you guessing during the other even though you are pretty darn sure you know the journey you are being taken on.
With Fan Expo Canada just a week away it is time, as an attendee, to start not just anticipating, but getting ready, and that means hitting the website and rejoicing that the schedule is up! The floorplan is up! And something called a locations guide is up! Yup, time to download some documents and see just what kind of fun awaits us!
A quick glance at the floor plan for the exhibit hall reveals Showcase, Space and eOne (BroadChurch, Rookie Blue, and Haven, among other projects) will have good size booths — and that right there is one of the major reasons why I have decided to venture to Toronto and check out this convention.
Space is, from what I have gathered, the Canadian equivalent to SyFy in the United States, airing Face Off, Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge, as well as Doctor Who, Orphan Black, Sharknado, Wizard Wars, and The Last Ship.
Showcase, based on my limited exposure to it on a trip to Canada is a television channel I would have to have if I lived up north. I tuned into it at my hotel and fell in love! The Showcase Channel currently airs Continuum, Defiance, Outlander, Dominion, Haven (made by eOne), Rizzoli and Isles, Beauty and the Beast, Helix and Game of Thrones, just to name a few shows currently featured on their home page. To say Showcase airs the shows I watch and love might actually be an understatement.
Claire and Jamie in Outlander S01E02 Castle Leoch
STARZ Outlander‘s second episode, Castle Leoch, incorporates large portions of the chapters 4 through 9 (about 4 pages into chapter 9, or approximately pages 81-162) of the Diana Gabaldon novel Outlander, but begins to feel less like an attempt to precisely translate the novel to the screen, and more like an effort to capture the most powerful and dynamic pages of the book, and present them in the best possible way in moving images.
In episode two it feels like scenes are shifted in position, aspects and conversations changed. Where in episode one minor characters from the novel did not appear, here it felt like a minor character or two was added to facilitate tension, drama, and keep both characters and the plot on track and focused. And yet, even as I was aware of all of these subtle and nuanced changes, none of them felt as though they were in violation of the book, or characters, but rather like I was simply being exposed to a different and equally compelling edit of the same story — making me glad I’ve already read these chapters, and am now enjoying the STARZ presentation.
Outlander is an epic story, set at this point predominantly in the 18th century, but the show uses a nice technique of flashing back to Claire’s twentieth century memories as she tries to adjust to her life, and use what knowledge she has, in every respect, to survive in this new life.
Watch Outlander on STARZ to catch up, and tune in each Saturday night at 9 PM ET/PT