review of Outlander 2.12 

I\'ve been especially a fan of Scotland this week - see here - so it was especially good to see

Outlander 2.12 last night.  The plot was pretty good, too.

In terms of the larger history which Claire\'s time travel is trying to change, the Jacobites move to the edge of the Battle of Culloden, which will be their final defeat, despite Jamie\'s best efforts to change that.   The surprise attack the night before was a fine idea, as was attacking with the split, pincer-delivering force, but the Prince and his dull commander getting lost in the dark was inevitable, as was Jamie\'s co-commander correctly insisting that attacking the English with just half their force, even by surprise, would be suicide.   So the Battle of Culloden, with the disastrous result as we know from our history, will now presumably happen. (My wife and I visited the Culloden battlefield on our honeymoon in 1976, so I have to admit to being glad that at least my own personal history was not undone.  What would I do if that happened? :)

But this raises the question again of what Outlander is ultimately about.  Based on last night and most of this and last season, it is about how the cleverest plans, based on Claire\'s knowledge of the future, cannot change recalcitrant history.   But the temptation to see it changed continues to loom ...

Meanwhile, we finally get some resolution of the knotty time-travel problem of how Frank, a decent man in the 1940s, can be a direct descendant of his look-alike Black Jack, as ugly in the soul as it gets, some two-hundred years earlier.   Black Jack marrying his brother\'s lover, who carries his brother\'s child, was good way of wrapping this up, and it was well played.

Also well played was the final scene between Dougal and his brother Collum, who was one of the most colorful characters in this vividly portrayed story, and I\'ll miss.  Made me think I wish there was more of the clan this year.   But the season finale beckons in two weeks, and I\'ll be back with a review after then.

See also Outlander 2.1: Split Hour ... Outlander 2.2: The King and the Forest ... Outlander 2.3: Mother and Dr. Dog ... Outlander 2.5: The Unappreciated Paradox ... Outlander 2.6: The Duel and the Offspring ...Outlander 2.7: Further into the Future ... Outlander 2.8: The Conversation ... Outlander 2.9: Flashbacks of the Future ... Outlander 2.10: One True Prediction and Counting ... Outlander 2.11: London Not Falling

And see also Outlander 1.1-3: The Hope of Time Travel ... Outlander 1.6:  Outstanding ... Outlander 1.7: Tender Intertemporal Polygamy ...Outlander 1.8: The Other Side ... Outlander 1.9: Spanking Good ... Outlander 1.10: A Glimmer of Paradox ... Outlander 1.11: Vaccination and Time Travel ... Outlander 1.12: Black Jack\'s Progeny ...Outlander 1.13: Mother\'s Day ... Outlander 1.14: All That Jazz ... Outlander Season 1 Finale: Let\'s Change History

w/time-travel stories about Orson Welles, John Lennon, David Bowie

The Chronology Protection Case movie, with new extended ending

The Plot to Save Socrates on 10 Perfect Summer Reads Authored by NYU Alums

my Internet Science Fiction Data Base bibliography

This blog quoted in New York Times & Los Angeles Times & Boston Globe & The Atlantic!

TWICE UPON A RHYME on iTunes and Amazon ... SPUN DREAMS on iTunes and Amazon ...

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Sopranos Conference at Fordham Universty, May 22-25, 2008

Enjoy Levinson\'s Field Guide to Republican Tics

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Paul Levinson, PhD, is Professor of Communication & Media Studies at Fordham University in New York City.  His 8 nonfiction books, including The Soft Edge (1997), Digital McLuhan (1999), Realspace (2003),  Cellphone (2004), and New New Media (2009, 2nd edition 2012), have been the subject of major articles in the New York Times, Wired, the Christian Science Monitor, and have been translated into 12 languages. His science fiction novels include The Silk Code (1999, ebook 2012), Borrowed Tides (2001), TheConsciousness Plague (2002, 2013), The Pixel Eye (2003), The Plot To SaveSocrates (2006, ebook 2012), and Unburning Alexandria (2013).  His short stories have been nominated for Nebula, Hugo, Edgar, and Sturgeon Awards.  Paul Levinson appears on "The O'Reilly Factor" (Fox News), "The CBS Evening News,"  “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” (PBS),  “Nightline” (ABC), NPR, and numerous national and international TV and radio programs. His 1972 album, Twice Upon a Rhyme, was re-issued in 2009 (CD) and 2010 (remastered vinyl). He reviews the best of television in his InfiniteRegress.tv blog, and was listed in The Chronicle of Higher Education’s “Top 10 Academic Twitterers” in 2009.

Chronicle of Higher Education puts Paul Levinson in Top 10 (#7) of Academic "High Flyers" on Twitter ... Online University Data puts PL in "Top 50 Online University Professors on Twitter Worth Following"...

Dear Paul, I just dreamed of airships flying between raindrops. I just returned from 2042 CE, where I sold my hardcover copy of The Plot to Save Socrates for seventy million Neo-Euros, because it had your response to this e-mail from way back in 2007 scotch-taped onto the inside of the cover. A Paul Levinson collector paid top Neo-Euro, because of the authentic archaic e-mail printout from you. It turns out that not many of your e-mails from before your tenure as CEO of HBO/Cinemax and terms as United Nations Secretary General will survive that far into the future. So, please respond to this e-mail, to help found my great-grandchildren\'s fortune. My Will will stipulate that they must share with your great grandchidren. Thanks! Tom

President, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, 1998-2001

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Hell on Wheels 5.9: A Good Night for Bohannon

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12 Monkeys 2.8: Time Itself Wants Time Travel

The Flaw in Bernie Sanders' Speech Last Night

Bloodline Season 2: Darker Maybe Even Better than ...

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The Factor about the private lives of news anchors

winner Locus Award for Best 1st Science Fiction Novel, 2000

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James Harris covers my "Looking for Sunsets (in the Early Morning)"

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Twice Upon a Rhyme reviewed in Jan-Feb 2011 Shindig Magazine

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Twice Upon a Rhyme ... JackMix.FM ... RockOn365 ... Garage Lombus ... Way Off the Grid Radio ... BeautyRadio.com ... mjc Radio ... Progulus Radio ... fatBuzz ... The Rock Doctor ... Radio BGC ... Swan Fungus ... Gratitude Radio ... Travelling Underground ... Real Hit Radio ... More than Music and Memories ... Boston Internet Radio ... Memory Lane Radio with BIG BOB ... Outside the Dial ... Family Dog Radio ... Golden String Radio ... Positively Charged ... R@dio Dimension ... My Retro Radio ... Plastic Tales from the Marshmallow Dimension, WNYU, 89.1 FM, New York City ... Pete Fornatale\'s Mixed Bag, WFUV, 90.7 FM, New York City ...Click and get lucky!

Science Fiction Magazines and Bound Galleys for Sale

science fiction magazines for sale: Analog, Fantasy and Science Fiction, Weird Tales, Locus

Bound Galleys for Sale: Science Fiction and Fanta...

Paul Levinson appears on "The O\'Reilly Factor" (Fox News), "The CBS Evening News," "Nightline" (ABC), the "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" (PBS), "The Dylan Ratigan Show" (MSNBC) and frequently on NPR and all-news radio...