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It is almost ironic that the premiere episode of the second half of season 7 should be entitled “Unfinished Business”, given that Outlander fans have had unfinished business with the franchise for quite some time! After enduring the second longest “Droughtlander” since such a term existed, anticipation has been high for a strong episode to start things off. Thankfully, episode 9 does not disappoint. An overall theme of connections dominates the hour - connections between family, connections of obligation and even connections between three different time periods simultaneously. It is a lot to pack into 60 minutes and the writers are to be congratulated on the way that they weave all the pieces of the narrative together.
As the episode begins, the funeral of Simon Fraser is coming to an end. Jamie’s voiceover is in the form of a letter to Brianna, where he tells his daughter that while Simon Fraser’s soul may now be at home and at peace, he is not sure what lies ahead for him. Jamie muses that a storm of his own making may be coming. As he approaches Lallybroch, Jamie says, he will need to face both his actions from the past and the person that he used to be. In closing, Jamie tells Bree that he takes solace in the fact that whatever her own storms may be, she at least has Roger and her children with her.
This is, of course, not the case, and as the opening credits conclude, a recently travelled Roger is lying on the grass wondering whether or not there are beetles in heaven. Finally concluding that while there may well be beetles, there aren’t splitting headaches and so therefore he must be alive, Roger is alarmed to hear Buck’s gasps and groans from a short distance away. Buck’s trip through the stones has been traumatic and Roger is concerned that his ancestor might be having a heart attack. Buck asks what happens if one dies out of their own time and whether they just disappear. Roger replies that he has no intention of finding out and instructs Buck to keep breathing. It is something that concerns him however, given that if Buck were to die, his own future, and indeed Jemmy’s, could be in serious doubt. Fortunately, Buck seems to rally, and after sitting up, asks Roger if their trip through the stones has been successful. Roger lists the things that prove it - no road, no car, no Brianna. Plans therefore, need to be made. Buck indicates the direction of Inverness, telling Roger that if Rob Cameron has Jemmy, he would head to Inverness in search of a ship. Roger decides that they should separate in order to cover more ground. He tells Buck that Jemmy knows the stones and the way home to Lallybroch from there. If Jem has managed to escape from Cameron, Roger reasons, he will head there. And so the plan is made: Buck will go to Inverness and send word to Roger at Lallybroch in a few days. He tries to reassure Roger that they will find the young boy, and Roger is grateful for the kindness.
Back in the twentieth century, a tearful Brianna is looking at the stones. Pulling herself together for the sake of Mandy, she takes the young girl’s hand and walks away. In the car, while Mandy sleeps, Brianna allows herself to cry. It is the only time we see Brianna this episode, but her anguish at the situation in which she now finds herself is clear. Indeed, here is some ‘unfinished business’ for future episodes - how will Brianna brave her storm without Roger by her side?
Jamie, Claire and Young Ian have arrived at Lallybroch. Suddenly the wooden door is flung open and Jenny Murray, now being portrayed by Kristin Atherton, appears. She flings herself at Ian, tearfully rejoicing that her “wee lad” is home. Jamie and Claire brace themselves for angry words, but none eventuate. First Jamie, and then Claire are hugged by Jenny, while Young Ian watches, fondly. More Murray relatives are soon running down the steps, in the form of his older brothers, Jamie and Michael. Young Ian remarks that he thought Michael to be in France, and hadn’t expected to find him at home. Michael explains that his wife has recently died of influenza, while Jamie says that he is just glad that they have both arrived in time. Suddenly Young Ian realises who hasn’t yet come to greet them and asks, “Where’s Da?”
Old Ian Murray is inside the house, and it is obvious that he is gravely ill. He coughs violently and is unable to stand from the chair, but greets his son with the words, “Dinna Fash, it’s still me.” Jamie and Claire make their own greetings in quick succession, but they are troubled by what they see. In hushed tones, Claire asks Jenny how long Old Ian has been this way. Jenny explains that the cough her husband brought home from the Toll Booth after Culloden has never left, but it has worsened in the past few months. Claire gives the condition a name: consumption.
Young Ian wants to know why they hadn’t written with the news, and Jenny replies that they had. Jamie muses that they must have already left the Ridge by the time the letter arrived and Old Ian remarks that it doesn’t matter. He could be dead the next day, or in a year’s time, but as a betting man, he predicts that he has three months left to live. As Jamie and Old Ian joke over the latter’s ability to collect his winnings, Jenny announces that she will prepare the Laird’s chamber for Jamie and Claire. It hasn’t been used in some time, she explains, on account of Old Ian being unable to use the stairs.
Alone in their quarters, Claire expresses sorrow over her brother-in-law’s condition, adding that she saw a lot of consumption in the 1930s and 40s. Jamie, meanwhile, comments that he feels like Claire said she had felt when she came through the stones: the world is still there, but it’s not the one that he had. He has come home, yet everything has changed.
“Home is where the heart is,” Claire replies, adding that it is also the place where hearts can be broken. Jamie agrees, saying that the walls of Lallybroch have witnessed all the family’s woes.
“And countless blessings,” Claire says, reminding him that they had both declared their love for each other in the room where they now stand.
“Some things dinna change,” says Jamie, kissing her.
Claire promises to do what she can for Old Ian, emphasising that they need to make him as comfortable as possible and surround him with love in his final days.
Around the dinner table, the Murray grandchildren are surrounding Young Ian, peppering him with questions about his time with the Mohawk and asking how he got “those marks on your face.” The children are quickly sent away, after being told to leave their uncle in peace. When they have gone, Young Ian remarks that they would have been disappointed anyway, given that he hasn’t lived with the Mohawk for quite some years.
The conversation turns to what they have all been doing while they have been gone: fighting in the battle for independence. Michael comments that while Britain has declared war on France for their support of America becoming a new nation, he simply cannot imagine unrest on that scale happening in France. This is just as well, he adds, given that he is about to acquire three new establishments in Paris for the Fraser wine business.
“Folk never tire of good wine,” he says, with a smile.
Old Ian begins to gasp and choke, bringing the conversation to a swift halt. Claire rushes to his side with a drink that she says will help, but the looks of concern are to be seen on everyone’s faces. No one wants to stray very far from Old Ian’s side, but after dinner, he sends them all away, saying that he has matters to discuss with his youngest son.
Once they are alone, Old Ian instructs Young Ian to tell him everything. He already knows from his son’s letters about the loss of his daughter with his Mohawk wife. The loss of a child is a pain that Old Ian understands.
Young Ian confesses to his father that he has had dark days, but says that he had seen Emily again and met her children. He confides in Old Ian his discovery that Emily’s son, Swiftest of Lizards, is actually his own son, adding that he hasn’t told this to anyone else. Old Ian tells him to share the news with Jenny, who would, he says, be pleased to know that Young Ian has a son, regardless of the circumstances. Young Ian says that it had hurt to leave Swiftest of Lizards, but it was a decision made for the good of the child, adding that he has thought of the boy every day since. “It makes my heart glad to know of him,” he says, before sharing the name that he had chosen for his son, for the times when he walked in his world: Ian James. Old Ian tries to make a joke, saying that the world can always do with more Ians, but it is obvious how moved he is by the gesture. Ian James is, he says, “a fine name.” Young Ian says that he has made his peace with what had happened between him and Emily, prompting his father to suggest a new wife, in the form of Laoghaire’s daughter, Joan.
But Young Ian is quick to reject this idea, telling his father that there is another lass, describing Rachel as being kind and brave and full of faith and light, and declaring his love for her. A brief amusing exchange follows, where Old Ian questions his son about whether or not Rachel is aware of his feelings for her. Young Ian admits that he has only told her in Mohawk, and has not specifically asked her to wait for him, but adds that Rachel does have his dog.
“A dog does not a wife guarantee,” Old Ian says with a smile, before offering some advice.
“A man needs a wife and a good one,” he says. “It’s the greatest gift God has for a man. That’s what your mother has been for me. I’d go much easier if I knew you were settled.” Grabbing his son’s hand, he urges Young Ian to go to Rachel, saying that there is no time to waste. “If she’s as kind as you say she is, you dinna want someone else carrying her off her feet while you’re away. I didnae raise you to be a fool.” It is a heartfelt plea, but Young Ian has no intention of following the advice immediately.
“I canna leave yet, Da,” he replies.
This was a touching scene between Stephen Cree and John Bell. Stephen Cree, in particular, switches from a man in physical distress, to moments of amusement and gentle admonishment, to a loving father torn between wanting his son to be happy, and knowing that he doesn’t have long left in the world. His face is full of pain and love - it is simply beautiful.
Meanwhile, Jamie finds Claire at the stables, feeding the horses apples. Their brief joke about horses valuing their teeth as much as Claire does soon gives way to a more serious conversation: Jamie has decided that he needs to go and see Laoghaire and is nervous about Claire’s reaction.
“Are you asking my permission?” Claire says.
Jamie replies that he isn’t, but thought he should tell her. Claire wonders why he wants to see Laoghaire and Jamie quickly corrects her: he doesn’t want to see Laoghaire, he needs to.
Claire teases Jamie further: if he wants to find out who Laoghaire is sleeping with, she says, there are other ways to get this information. It is natural to be curious, she adds.
But Jamie is not interested in Laoghaire’s personal life. He has been reminded of the eulogy at Simon Fraser’s funeral, that had mentioned business unfinished. It is the same for him, he tells Claire. While America is now technically his home, he has unfinished business with the woman he married.
Sarcastically, Claire tells him to give Laoghaire her best regards. Jamie comments that she has never been one to hold a grudge.
“No,” she says, “because I’m not a Scot” before adding that if Jamie does find out who Laoghaire is sleeping with and doesn’t tell her, then she will kill him.
This is a light hearted scene, sandwiched between two more dramatic ones, but it also serves to show the depth and strength of Jamie and Claire’s relationship. A younger Claire would have indeed been upset by Jamie’s visiting Laoghaire, but now she is secure in their relationship, so teases him instead.
On arrival at Balriggan, Laoghaire’s home, Jamie encounters a man working in the field. The two men begin to question the identity of each other, when Laoghaire herself appears. By contrast to Claire, Laoghaire is as bitter as ever.
“Unless you are bringing news of my daughter,” she says, “I’ve got nothing to say to you.”
Jamie assures her that Marsali and Fergus are well, with four children of their own. But Laoghaire is unimpressed, asking if Jamie has really come such a long way to tell her things that she has already read about.
“No,” Jamie replies. “I’ve come to say I’m sorry.”
Meanwhile, Roger is heading towards Lallybroch as fast as he can. As he strides across the hills, he admonishes himself for not listening to Buck, who had warned him about Rob Cameron. “Why couldn’t I see it?” Roger’s voiceover asks. “What good am I if I can’t protect my child and keep him safe?” Pausing to drink from a stream, Roger makes his own apology. “I’m sorry, Jemmy,” he says. “I’m going to make this right, I promise.”
Back at Balriggan, Jamie and Laoghaire are having an uneasy conversation. Jamie begins by apologising for asking her to marry him when his heart was cold. Laoghaire replies by saying that she had hoped at the time that she would be able to help him.
“Everyone could see that you needed a woman,” she tells him. “Just not me, I suppose.”
Jamie comments that he too had hoped to help her, since she had had young children at the time. This remark angers Laoghaire, who is immediately suspicious of Jamie’s real motives for the visit. She accuses him of now wanting to shirk his financial responsibilities because Joan has grown up. Unlike Claire, who has moved on from any feelings of jealousy, Laoghaire is every bit as jealous as she ever was, accusing Jamie of luring her into marriage and then laughing behind her back with the “sassenach whore.” Jamie might have returned with finer clothes, she says, but if he thinks that he can awe her into crawling away like a dying dog, he can think again.
Jamie remarks that he has never understood her, try as he might, to which Laoghaire responds angrily, that he had never tried, not for an instant. She continues her verbal attack, saying that the only time Jamie had ever looked at her was when she was sixteen and he had taken the beating for her. At the time, she had thought him to be in love with her, and that when Dougal had made Jamie wed Claire she had thought that she would die. The only way she coped, she tells him, was because she believed that he had felt like dying too.
“It wasn’t like that though, was it?” she asks.
“No,” Jamie admits.
“You pitied me then,” she says. “You pitied me at Leoch and then again when you took me to wife.”
Curious, Jamie asks who Laoghaire had been courting when he took the punishment for her at Leoch. Laoghaire replies that it doesn’t matter. Jamie had kissed her afterwards, she reminds him. “But you were already in love with her, weren’t you?”
“Aye,” Jamie replies. “Aye, I was.”
Enraged, Laoghaire grabs a pitchfork and swipes at Jamie, who defends himself, still trying to apologise even as Laoghaire slaps him. The confrontation stirs the man in the field, who had given his name as Joey Boswell, into action. He tries to attack Jamie, but is hopelessly mismatched and soon finds himself punched to the ground.
“For the love of God, don’t hurt him,” Laoghaire screams, racing to the man’s side and offering comfort. It is obvious that he is now Laoghaire’s love.
“He needs me,” Laoghaire says. “You never did.”
Business still unfinished, Jamie grabs his hat from the dirt and leaves.
That night, Jamie and Claire talk over the whole encounter, with Claire commenting that there is some truth to Laoghaire’s accusation that Jamie had only ever pitied her.
“I wanted to mend things,” Jamie says, but Claire answers that some things can’t be mended.
“Still it’s good that you tried,” she adds.
Claire tells Jamie that she has some mending of her own to do. She has decided that she wants to tell the family the truth about her.
“Now?” Jamie says. “After all this time?”
Claire explains that while they hadn’t been able to stop Charles Stuart and the Battle of Culloden, he nevertheless had lived, along with his men.
“I know something about France,” she tells him. “Something that might save many lives, especially Michael’s. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t tell them.”
Jamie asks what will happen if they don’t believe her, likening it to the bible story about Jeremiah prophesying the defeat of Jerusalem and ending up being thrown in a well for his trouble.
“How far away is the well?” she asks.
Jamie smiles tenderly at her. “Claire,” he says, “have you ever been in any doubt that I need you?”
“No,” she replies.”To the best of my knowledge, you have needed me urgently from the moment you saw me, and I haven’t any reason to think that you’ve gotten any more self sufficient since.”
The two embrace and the scene ends.
This is another lovely scene portrayed to perfection by Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe. Jamie and Claire are secure in their love and trust for each other, and both want only to mend things for the people around them.
The next morning, Claire warns a stunned Murray family about the dangers that lie ahead for France in the coming years and tells Michael not to stay in France beyond 1788. Jenny asks Claire directly how she knows this.
“I know this because I am not of this time,” Claire replies, revealing her 1918 birthdate. The looks of disbelief on the faces around the table are perfection!
Meanwhile, Roger is walking up towards the entrance to Lallybroch, willing Jem to be within its protective walls. Throughout this scene, the point of view shifts between Roger and the action that is playing out with Claire and the others.
Debate continues around the table as to whether the stories about Claire are true. Is she a witch or a fairy woman? Young Ian admits that he doesn’t know precisely, but offers his own description of “an old one.” Jamie steps in, saying that while there is no accurate name for what Claire is, the fact remains that she has knowledge of what will happen and that the others should listen to her.
Claire acknowledges that what she has revealed is a lot to take in, but swears that she is telling the truth, when a sudden thump on the door makes them jump.
“Seek and ye shall find,” Roger’s voiceover says, as his fist pounds on the wooden door. “Knock and the door shall be opened unto you.”
Jamie offers to answer the door, leaving a silent table behind. As he opens it, we see Roger step backwards, looking into the eyes of… someone entirely different.
Roger stammers his apologies for the intrusion, introducing himself and telling the man in front of him, who he assumes to be Old Ian, that he needs his help. But the man introduces himself as Brian Fraser, the Laird of Lallybroch and Roger is shocked to realise that he is in the wrong time. Trying desperately to explain himself and tell Brian what has happened to Jem, his mind is racing. What year is it? Has Jem travelled to the wrong time as well? Brian has not seen Jem, but invites Roger inside for a dram.
Meanwhile, Jamie is looking into the eyes of his own visitor - Joan, Laoghaire’s daughter. She smiles at him and apologises for missing his visit. Jamie invites her in, but Joan says that she wants to talk to him alone.
While book readers already knew that Roger had not travelled to the time period he was expecting, this was nevertheless a compelling and clever reveal. The writers should be congratulated for the way this dual narrative was introduced. The action continues to shift between the different Lallybroch perspectives, but each storyline is easy to follow.
Roger is recalling what he knows of Jamie’s father. Brian has already died by the time of the Battle of Culloden, so he knows it is earlier than 1746. While Brian speaks, Roger is looking for clues, in order to pinpoint a date. Brian comments that there aren’t many Camerons in the region, and asks Roger why he thinks Rob might be there.
“He was seen near Craig Na Dun,” Roger replies, obviously omitting the fact that that sighting would be hundreds of years in the future.
Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of a younger Jenny, who has come to call her father in for supper. Brian mistakes Roger’s shock as interest in his daughter and is quick to announce, kindly but firmly, that Jenny already has her eye on another man - Ian Murray. Jenny is embarrassed and Roger apologises for his rudeness, explaining that he is a married man himself. Brian remarks that since Roger will not get much further in his search before nightfall, he should stay the night and that perhaps one of the tenants will be able to help in the morning. Roger is grateful for the hospitality.
Jamie and Joan stroll through the forest, and Joan explains that the problem is with her dowry. Jamie asks who she means to marry and is surprised by her answer: Jesus Christ. Joan wishes to take her vows and become a nun, but Laoghaire will not release her dowry to allow her to do so. Furthermore, Joan is unable to leave Balriggan for as long as Laoghaire is living in sin with the farmhand. Jamie asks why the two do not marry and Joan explains that it is due to the agreement made between Jamie and Laoghaire years before. Jamie had agreed to support Laoghaire financially, but only until such time as she married again, and at that time, the property of Balriggan would cease to be hers. It would break Laoghaire’s heart to lose Balriggan, Joan explains, but she won’t be without Joey either.
“What do you want me to do about it?” Jamie asks.
“I dinna ken,” Joan replies, “but if anyone can think of something, it’s you.”
They smile at each other, and keep walking.
Claire is standing outside when Jenny approaches. Jenny tells Claire that she had always known there was something different about her, and that this news, although unbelievable, would explain so much. Taking a deep breath, Jenny says that she wants to beg a favour and asks Claire to cure her husband.
Claire is taken aback, and immediately remorseful. She explains to Jenny that she wishes she could do just that, adding that there are medicines in her time that could treat Old Ian, but that there is no way of producing them. Even if she could, she says, she thinks that it is already too late.
“Don’t you think I would have already done something if I could have?” she asks.
“You might not,” Jenny replies, and shares her reasoning. Claire could hold a grudge, she says, because it was Jenny who had pushed Jamie to marry Laoghaire in the first place, and Jenny again who had sent for Laoghaire when Claire had first returned.
Claire tries to assure Jenny that she is not holding a grudge.
“If there was something I could do for Ian…” she begins.
“Then do it!” a desperate Jenny interrupts.
Claire is equally desperate and sorrowful. She isn’t magic, she explains, nor does she have any power. All that she has is some knowledge, and even that is not enough to save a dying man, albeit it one that she loves.
“I would give my soul if I could do it,” she says.
At this, Jenny’s composure cracks completely. “Maybe you have no soul,” she says, the tears falling as she runs away.
Alone in the darkness, Roger continues to piece together his timeline. Jamie is away at university and is 18 or 19, meaning that Roger has come to either 1739 or 1740. He wonders again if Rob and Jem have also come to the wrong time and assumes that they have. In the end, Roger decides that it doesn’t matter. He simply has to find his son.
The next day, Brian takes Roger to see John Murray, Old Ian’s father. John Murray has heard stories of a “fairy man” in strange clothing wandering the moors. These are the only details he has however, and cannot answer any of Roger’s questions, the most important of which is whether a young boy was with him. The conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Jenny on horseback, not, as John supposes, to see Ian, but with a message for Roger. Buck has been taken ill on his way to Lallybroch and has asked for Roger to come at once. There is no healer that can be sent for, Jenny explains, but there is a herbalist some distance away.
Jamie has been hunting, when he hears a woman’s anguished cries. He follows the sound and comes across Jenny, who is howling in grief and frustration. He calls to her, and she whirls round in shock. Jamie asks if she wants him to go away.
“What difference does it make?” she asks, brokenly. “What difference does any of it make?”
Jamie tells her that they are all heartsick about Old Ian, and she runs to him, burying her head in his chest. Jenny admits her fear - she doesn’t know how to go on without her husband.
Jamie tells her that he understands. He had felt the same when he thought he had lost Claire, he tells her, adding that she is stronger than he ever was. He reminds Jenny of all the things she has done in the past: from cooking the supper when her mother had died, to standing up to Jack Randall, to caring for their father, to giving birth to seven children. He likens his sister to the broch that Lallybroch is built on, telling her that there would be no home without her, because she endures.
“I ken that when Ian finally leaves us,” Jamie tells her, “You will make supper and run this place like you always have, for your children and your grandchildren.”
He kisses her hand and Jenny gives him a small grateful smile, before asking whether she could possibly hide away in Jamie’s cave.
“I wouldn’t recommend it,” Jamie answers. “It’s cold and very damp.”
Arms around each other, they head back to the house.
This was a lovely scene, as not only does it reestablish the bond between brother and sister, but it simultaneously establishes a chemistry between Sam Heughan and Kristin Atherton. In a handful of scenes, they have created a believable siblings rapport. While some fans have apparently expressed their dissatisfaction with “the new Jenny”, this reviewer doesn’t share their opinion.
Inside the house a little later, Laoghaire, Joey and Joan are standing in front of Jamie, who has a legal document in front of him. He means to settle the legal matter, he says, that pertains to Joan, commenting that their previous arrangement has hindered her prospects.
Laoghaire is impatient with her daughter, insisting that Joan is to marry. Jamie comments that Joan can hardly be blamed for wishing to avoid marriage, given that she hasn’t had many worthy examples to emulate. He produces the document that has been drawn up by an aged Ned Gowan. It is an amendment, to be witnessed by Claire, stating that if Laoghaire marries Joey Boswell Murray, he will transfer the ownership of Balriggan to her for the rest of her natural life. The alimony payments will cease, Laoghaire will release Joan’s dowry, and Jamie will contribute a small amount of gold for Joan’s upkeep in a convent of her choice. He drops two gold balls into Laoghaire’s hand, by way of good faith.
“Balriggan will be mine?” Laoghaire asks.
“Will that be agreeable to you?” Jamie replies.
With a curt nod, Laoghaire agrees.
Joan expresses her gratitude to Jamie, who asks his stepdaughter to pray for him once she has taken her vows.
“Every day,” she replies with a soft smile, “and twice on Sundays.”
Later, Claire is tying a parcel of letters for Brianna and Roger, which Jamie says they will take to the bank of Edinburgh when they can. Jenny comes in with another letter, but this one is addressed to Claire and has come from the colonies. The letter is from Lord John, who is begging Claire’s help. His nephew has been injured in battle, he says, and the doctors have been unable to remove the musket balls lodged in his body. John feels that Claire is the only person who will be able to do so, and asks that she come at once to Philadelphia, where his nephew is convalescing.
Claire confirms that Henry will die without an operation, but says that they can’t leave now, as they need to spend the remaining time with Old Ian. Jamie says that while he can’t leave, she can. Jenny agrees, asking Claire if she believes that she can save Henry. When Claire says that she thinks she can, Jenny doubles down on her insistence. Claire can’t save Old Ian, but she can save another man.
“You’re your friend’s only hope,” she says. “You should go.”
Young Ian has written a letter to Rachel, which he intends to ask Claire to deliver. He won’t leave his father, he tells Jenny, admitting that he knows now that when he ran away to Edinburgh and then to the colonies, that he had broken his father’s heart.
“And what happens to you after?” Young Ian asks. “My duty as a son is at Lallybroch.”
Since no-one knows for sure how much longer Old Ian has left to live, Young Ian has decided that it isn’t fair to ask Rachel to wait for him and he must let her go.
But Jenny has other ideas. Taking the letter from her son’s hand, she rips it in two and tells him to follow her. She leads him out into the graveyard, and takes him towards small grave bearing the name ”Iseabail”, the daughter that Young Ian and Emily had lost. The grave bears the girl’s Mohawk name as well and Jenny says she hopes she has the spelling right, having deciphered it from the letter they had received.
Jenny takes a small stone and places it atop the headstone.
“I thought you’d want a place to come and visit her,’ she says, turning to her son, “to mark that she’d been here on this earth - and with you.” Handing a stone to Young Ian, she assures him that his daughter “will always have a place with us among family.”
Young Ian walks forward and lays his own stone, the anguish on his face plain as he looks at his mother. Jenny tells him that all is well.
“Go to your young woman,” she says. “You’ll always be here with us too.”
Jenny tells Young Ian that he can travel with Claire.
“But I should be with him,” he protests, “for the rest of his life.”
“No,” Jenny retorts. “Your da wants you to go and live the rest of your life.”
The decision made, plans for departure move swiftly. Jenny hands Young Ian a coat, saying that Old Ian had wanted his son to have something of his to keep him warm. Moving to Claire, Jenny hands her a basket and apologies for what she had said, saying that she had spoken hastily and in grief. “I may not understand what you are,” she tells Claire, “but you do have a soul. And I trust in your love for our family.”
This means a lot to Claire and the two women tearfully embrace.
Jamie announces that Claire has a sackful of apples for the voyage and asks if this is enough.
“You can never have enough,” she replies. It is obvious that Claire doesn’t want to leave him, and before they kiss, she urges Jamie to count the days until her return.
Suddenly, Old Ian appears at the top of the steps. With Michael’s help for the first couple of steps, Old Ian makes his way down to his youngest son and folds him into an embrace before moving over to Claire and doing the same. No words are spoken, but no one is under any illusion that this is anything other than a final goodbye. As the wagon moves away, Old Ian stands alone, hand raised in farewell. Young Ian waves back, his eyes locked on his father’s face. It is a beautifully poignant moment. Both men know that they will never see each other again.
Another word of praise for Stephen Cree is due here, for portraying the quiet anguish of a dying man with the utmost sensitivity. It is such a shame that, bar a truly miraculous recovery, he won’t be appearing in many more episodes.
Back in 1739l40, Roger is supporting Buck, arm around his shoulder as the older man clutches his chest.
“The herbalist should be right round the corner,” Roger says, as they walk.
Suddenly, we recognise the town square and the buildings, familiar from way back in season 1.
“This should be it,” Roger says, knocking firmly on the door. Sure enough, when the door is opened, the herbalist is familiar too - Geillis Duncan.
“Oh Christ,” Roger’s voiceover says - and we agree entirely.
It’s not clear how the whole time period thing works, as Geillis seems to show no sign of recognising Roger.
“What may I do for you?” she asks, as the episode comes to a close.
What indeed.
Lots of ground was covered during this episode and viewers were quickly re-immersed in the Outlander world. As fast as unfinished business was dealt with, new complications emerged. The one thing that didn’t seem to fit involved the letter from Lord John and the time it would have taken firstly to reach Claire and for her to then travel to Philadelphia. Given that this would realistically take months, it is highly unlikely that John’s nephew would have survived. But since Outlander is all about time travel, we will just have to suspend our disbelief and see what happens! Whether in 1739, the 1770s or the twentieth century, one thing is certain: there is lots of drama to come!
This episode recap was written by Susie Brown, a teacher-librarian and writer who lives in Australia. While she was impressed with all the acting in the episode, it was the Murray clan- Old Ian, Young Ian and New Jenny - who really pulled at her heartstrings.
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