No one should meet their soulmate when their six years old. That’s a terrible burden to put on a child and many years to wait.
The series delves into Claire’s perspective on The Time Traveler’s Wife Season 1 Episode 3. Both actresses that portray young Claire –Everleigh McDonell and Caitlin Shorey, feature some of their best work alongside Henry (Theo James).
The series has focused mainly on Henry’s point of view. We hear Claire’s side and how she became so frustrated, longing and waiting for someone not available to her.
Young Claire (Everleigh McDonell) was often neglected and dismissed, so she looked forward to her visits from Henry. No one listened to Claire, even when Claire tried to tell her dad about her mom’s depression.
Poor Claire was impatient for Henry’s return that Nell allowed her to rip the pages off a calendar. Nell was the only one that showed Claire any kindness or attention besides Henry.
When you’re little, everything is waiting.
Older Claire
Waiting is torture for a little kid. Claire didn’t understand that Henry could show up any time on the date he told her, and she waited for hours until he appeared.
Since Claire was so angry about being ignored by her family, she often brought Henry her dad’s clothes or her chicken legs to eat. She was a clever and spiteful child.
Claire even realized that Henry looked younger than the last one that visited her.
Since electronics trigger Henry to time travel, the infamous checkers’ games begin. Claire hated these games as she grew up.
Preteen Claire (Caitlin Shorey) became even more clever when dealing with Henry, so he had to watch what he told her. Henry felt comfortable telling her that he hated never knowing where he was going to or coming to and compared it to card tricks, something she’d understand.
Of course, it didn’t matter, because they were the same Henry, just shuffled.
Older Claire
Claire saw her first experience of one of the Henry’s getting injured as a preteen. Everyone brushed her experience off as a bad dream, but she swore she saw blood. Even Henry blew her off, saying that everyone dies.
When 13-year-old Claire became convinced that they were married in the future, Henry lied to protect her.
There is nothing more horrible than lies of decent men
Older Claire
He had destroyed her fairy tale and her invisible friend in Claire’s eyes. Henry had crushed her world and betrayed her. Therefore, she allowed him to arrive naked with no clothes the next time he arrived. Claire was spiteful.
The next time Henry returned, it was Claire’s 16th birthday. He was overwhelmed by how grown up she looked and shocked that he was naked and she wouldn’t provide clothes promptly.
Teenage Claire was clever and sneaky. She wanted to play checkers, and every time he got a king, he’d win an item of clothing back.
Henry: Claire, I’m naked.
Teenage Claire: I’ve seen you naked lots of times. How is this different?
Henry: You’re older now. There are rules.
While Claire enjoyed this game of strip checkers, Henry was uncomfortable since she’s matured into a lovely young woman, and she enjoyed seeing him naked. She’s not a little girl, and he’s not a fatherly figure anymore.
Claire tried to kiss Henry, but he was a perfect gentleman and stopped it. He took her for ice cream to celebrate her birthday instead.
It became distracting watching Rose Leslie play a 16-year-old.
She’s lovely, but she does not look that different at 16 than in her early thirties in this series.
That doesn’t work well when Henry says she’s not old enough to have a relationship together.
Claire tried to forget Henry by going to a high school party.
It was no use. Even as she partied with her friends, all she could think about was Henry.
Her friends became suspicious, asking about the older man they saw her with earlier.
Suddenly, Henry heard Claire scream, but he disappeared before she returned.
A different Henry returns when Claire wants to take a drive. She’s reckless and driving like a manic. She acted like she had a death wish.
When Henry begs her to slow down, she taunts maybe the younger him would understand her better.
Henry: You’re not allowed to meet me yet.
Teen Claire: Says who?
Henry: Says history.
Claire was angry at the world. She felt that history was unfair. She couldn’t even kill herself since she was destined to marry the older Henry.
When they almost crash again, Henry realizes something awful must have happened to Claire. It also triggered him because of his mom’s car accident.
While Henry kept insisting he and Claire didn’t get together in the future, the minute he heard what Jason did to her, he was all in on the revenge plan. Claire knew Henry couldn’t be arrested long since he could just time travel out of jail.
Seeing those bruises on Claire and hearing Jason taunt her about those texts made Henry’s blood boil before beating Jason up.
Sadly, it is often a tragedy that often brings a couple together.
After beating Jason up, Henry told Claire he loved her and gave her a marker to exact justice on Jason.
Claire and Henry only met one final time in the meadow before Claire met the younger Henry two years later at the library.
This was my favorite episode so far. As a massive fan of the novel, I felt it truly allowed Claire’verys voice to shine, and Rose Leslie and the other two actresses portrayed Claire perfectly.
The writers didn’t shy away from challenging material. While they didn’t show the sexual assault onscreen, they showed Claire rehashing it and her ugly bruises.
Claire has many Easter eggs in later timelines — her shoe, the marker. We’ll have to wait and see what these mean. However, in time travel, these could prove to become important.
Over to you, Time Traveler’s Wife Fanatics. Do you emphasize with Claire’s perspective of waiting her entire life for Henry?
What are you hoping to see next? Chime in below in the comments.
Remember, if you miss an episode, you could watch The Time Traveler’s Wife online via TV Fanatic.
The Time Traveler’s Wife airs at 9/8c on Sundays on HBO. It also streams on HBO Max.
Laura Nowak is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
