New Season Of 'Outlander' Is So Much More Than A Hunky Face (And Rock-Hard Abs)

[Warning: This essay — and this episode of Pop Culture Happy Hour — contains references to sex and assorted body parts, as well as spoilers about the first two seasons of Outlander. Proceed with caution.]

I've never been much for that that old trick of hiding the romance novel with the heaving bosom on the cover inside a college textbook: I read my romance loud and proud. It pains me that storytelling which traffics in romance and human sexuality is often dismissed as trivial., Starz's historical romance — based on the Diana Gabaldon book series — runs the risk of this slight even when its delicious lead characters are fully dressed. (We are talking about cheekbones that are positively .) But tucked inside 's salacious exterior is an intelligent, well-acted drama about the nature of love and intimacy, with an often radical position on sex.