Is the printshop scene being hyped too much?
Here's something I have been pondering recently:
I have been wondering if the reason STARZ hasn't announced more Season 3 episode titles (only the titles of the first five episodes have been confirmed) is that they're worried about losing a large part of their audience at the beginning of the season. If it's confirmed weeks ahead of time that the reunion (and the very-much-hyped printshop scene) doesn't take place until Episode 306, will casual viewers decide to skip the first 5 episodes? I can imagine STARZ not wanting to risk that.
Sometimes I think they're paying way too much attention to the printshop scene already. With all the buzz about the printshop, can it possibly live up to the fans' expectations? Like the Red Dress in Episode 202 ("Not in Scotland Anymore"), which was hyped incessantly, and turned out to be not quite what I was expecting.
Will the actual scene(s) be anticlimactic? God, I hope not!! Matt Roberts, who wrote the episode, is one of my favorite OUTLANDER writers, and a huge fan of the books. I trust that Sam and Cait will both give amazing, unforgettable, emotionally wrenching performances. <g> But my point is, by paying so much attention to that one scene in the media ("Printshop! Printshop! Printshop!"), they make it sound like there'll be nothing else worth watching in the first part of the season.
It's true that STARZ has been trying to counter this impression, by releasing many images and video clips focusing on other aspects of Season 3. But what about the mockup of the printshop set at SDCC, which was clearly designed to attract a LOT of attention among a more general audience who might not be familiar with the books?
All this hype around a single scene (no matter how pivotal it is for Season 3, and the series as a whole) is probably inevitable, but it still bothers me. It's sort of the TV equivalent of those readers Diana Gabaldon has talked about sometimes, who skip the early parts of VOYAGER because they think the Ardsmuir and Helwater sections are boring (!) and they just want to get to the reunion and the sex scenes that follow.
What do the rest of you think about this?
SPOILERS in next comments!
But the print shop scene is what we're all waiting for--that preciois reunion. Maybe they're hyping it up so people WILL keep watching, and not just for the reunion. I want others to see Helwater and Adsmuir--they have to see the hell Jamie went through. They have to meet grown up Lord John. And I hope they portray Claire's rocky marriage to Frank with as much feeling as Jamie's time in prison/in the cave.
I'm hanging in there. But I know what's coming! ��
Yes, the print scene is key and J&C's intimate scenes are always good viewing but there's so much more to the story than that. I also think Entertainment Weekly perpetuates this with some of their tawdry photos that scream more drugstore novel cover than anything else.
If people are tuning in just for the print shop and turtle soup scenes - then they are seriously missing out on the other details that make this such a beloved book by many fans.
I might be in the minority here, but I look forward to seeing those Frank and Claire scenes.