More on the ether/PTSD subplot, and Claire in Season 7

Yesterday on TheLitForum, we were discussing the ether/PTSD subplot in Season 6. I've made my feelings about that quite clear -- see my blog post from April 2022 -- and I found Episode 607 ("Sticks and Stones"), in particular, very upsetting, in the way that it portrayed Claire suffering from what appeared to be a very serious mental illness. Did that very emotional, cathartic scene between Jamie and Claire near the end of the episode really put an end to that storyline for good?

I commented about this in a post on TheLitForum.com shortly after Episode 607 aired last year:

The writers have dug themselves a deep, deep hole with this plotline, as I said somewhere upthread. It sounds like they have given Claire not just a ladder to climb out of it, but a high-speed elevator <g>, so she will be more or less back to normal before the action picks up in the season finale.

I was very much relieved to see that Claire was "back to normal" in Episode 608 ("I am Not Alone"), essentially indistinguishable from Book Claire. But what can we expect in Season 7? I've been wondering for some time how the writers will deal with Claire's character in the new season, which will be airing on STARZ this summer.

So I asked Diana Gabaldon if she was pleased with the way they've handled Claire's character in Season 7. I said, "I am looking ahead to the new season with some wariness, hoping they will stay somewhat closer to the books in their take on Claire in S7, but frankly afraid to get my hopes up too much." Here is Diana's verbatim response:

Dear Karen--

      No, Claire is back to her practical, brave self.

That's immensely reassuring to me, and I thought I'd pass it on to the rest of you, because I know a lot of people were upset by what they did to Claire's character in Season 6.

I encourage you to check out the discussion on TheLitForum for yourselves. For those of you who don't know, TheLitForum (formerly the Compuserve Books and Writers Community) is the online community where Diana Gabaldon hangs out. I have been moderator (aka "Chief Bumblebee-Herder") of Diana's section of the forum since 2008. You have to sign up to read or post on the forum, but it's free.