After Season 8 of Outlander ended, I found myself a little adrift. Maybe the algorithms on social media knew because I started getting these reels for a show called Seeking Persephone. It looked like a Regency drama, which I love. I love me some  Jane Austen, as well as classic authors like Jane Eyre, Elizabeth Gaskell, Charles Dickens, etc. So I looked up Seeking Persephone and saw it was based on a book. I’m a stickler for reading the book before watching the show or movie, and saw it was only a couple bucks on Kindle. I read it and immediately enjoyed it. It’s very much in the vein of Jane Austen or a mild Bridgerton. So I saw the show was only available for streaming on Amazon Prime and bought it (it’s now on a few other platforms like Flex and Peacock). It loved it (and will write about it soon).  It reminded me of the BBC productions of Sense and Sensibility, North & South, and Persuasion that came out in the early 2000s.

One of the actors, Jake Stormoen caught my attention. His performance, how he could convey emotion in a look or how you could hear various emotions in the timbre of his voice, made one of the main characters really come alive. It made me wonder what else he had done, and what first popped up was The Outpost. It came out on The CW in 2018. I had somehow totally missed the boat,  but I was in the middle of having kids then. I didn’t have much time for more than one show at the point, and Outlander had my attention. I did enjoy shows on The CW back in my high school and college days, like Smallville, Arrow, The Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow. However, I had burnt out on the “who’s the new villain of the week” premise. I was worried The Outpost would be another one of those shows. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s not a big budget show, especially in light of how big some shows are out there like Outlander, Game of Thrones, Rings of Power, etc. Yet somehow, the low budget sets were endearing.  Maybe the lower-level CGI or even lack thereof reminded me of the campy fun of flicks like Robin Hood Men in Tights, Monty Python, or the first couple seasons of the Dr. Who reboot with Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant. In fact, in some weird universe, I could see world of The Outpost being one of the random planets Dr. Who would land on, where things are similar to medieval times but there are certain characters or beings that are magical, mystical, or fantastical. In many ways, it was refreshing to not have the latest effects because it reminded me of what it is to go see a play. While some stage productions do have wonderful costumes and set designs, for the most part, we know it isn’t real. We can suspend belief with props or when we see two people pretending to be a horse. Half of the fun or comedy is that it isn’t real, and yet we still enjoy the story. When I saw Wicked on Broadway, I knew the actress (which sadly wasn’t Idina Menzel) playing Elphaba wasn’t really flying but their attempt to show flight was still delightful to watch. The emotion of that moment was felt by the audience. And I think that’s what you’ll get from The Outpost. It has elements of fantasy and science fiction, yet feels like it’s in a medieval time period. There are medical mysteries spearheaded by a funny character named Janzo. There’s a mystery behind the main character Talon, who is a Blackblood that is believed to be the last of her kind. There’s a dictatorship government that people are eager to overthrow, which allows for political intrigue. But themes like friendship, trust, honor, leadership, love, fear, pride, peace, redemption, moral codes (or lack-there-of), acceptance, mortality and identity are explored. Like Outlander, it follows one character who is considered an outsider to the rest. There’s a fair amount of world building, and it was fun to find new stories that were a little more light-hearted. Plus the composer for the series does a wonderful job with simple but memorable themes that fit the various scenes and emotions of the show and make the show more impactful.  The composer is James Schafer, and also happens to compose the music for Seeking Persephone.  

I tried to find podcasts and blogs that enjoyed the show as much as I did, but didn’t really find anyone else to talk to.  So I decided I would start writing about it here. It may not be for everyone,  but I hope you give it a shot. It sure helped me out of my Outlander doldrums and offer a light-hearted reprieve after a long year of big life transitions, including teaching middle school full-time.

I’m still finishing up my thoughts on the final season of Outlander, and will return to finishing my thoughts on Blood of My Blood. I’ll also be looking at Seeking Persephone and The Outpost, so I hope you’ll come along and enjoy, as well as have a dram and a taste of some comfort food.