Shark on the Ridge! A recap of season 8 lesson 7 by your Aussie blogging lass

 Outlander Homepage Originals 

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*DISCLAIMER: If you are a show only fan who doesn’t like comparisons with the book that may contain spoilers OR you are a book reader who has no problem with the changes that were made in episode 7, you probably don’t want to read any further than this! *

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We were so smug, weren’t we, book readers? We thought we knew what was coming. We thought we were prepared for the tragedy that awaited us in episode 7. But then, the writers flipped the script - again - and by the end of the hour, two plot lines from the book lay in tatters and the invented plot line that refused to go away had been unsatisfactorily explained. There was much swearing at the screen from this reviewer during the episode and by the time it was done, one simple question remained: Why? 

Why make so many changes? Why lie to the fans and say that Outlander canon wasn’t being messed with? Why say the final season would be a love letter to the fans, when at the present time, after 12 years and almost 8 seasons, the story now bears little resemblance to Diana Gabaldon’s beautiful world? Why, when books 8 and 9 of her series - the books on which this season is purportedly based- contain over 1700 pages of carefully planned plot lines, do you throw them out and think you can do better? It is baffling, and oh so disappointing. But on we go…

As the episode begins, Jamie is climbing Kings Mountain. As he climbs, Frank’s voiceover describes the battle that is to come. It is interesting to note that this is definitely Frank’s voice, not Black Jack’s. It is the voice of a historian, recounting history, not the malevolent voice of a ghost intent on tormenting Jamie. According to the commentary, the battle, every bit as swift and one-sided as Culloden had been, will this time see the British defeated. Only 28 rebels will be killed, and according to Frank, Jamie is destined to be one of them. 

Back at the Ridge, Jamie tells Claire later that he climbed the mountain hoping for the details to be wrong, but all is exactly as Frank had described. More than that, Jamie says that having now stood on the spot, it all feels like the truth. 

Fergus is teaching Germain and Henri Christian how to use the printer. Henri Christian is nervous, not wanting to disappoint his father and commenting that he is different. Fergus reassures Henri Christian that being different is not something to be disappointed about. Although small, he will do great things. Sure enough, the page is printed without smudges and the boys are proud. Fergus tells them that the print shop will one day be theirs and that the pen is their sword, one that they must never put down. 

At Lord John’s, William confronts Amarathus over her knowledge of Ben’s feigned death. She replies that she had tried to dissuade Ben from joining the rebellion, but that his mind had been made up. He had only agreed to disappear after she had impressed upon him the effect that having a traitor for a father would have on baby Trevor. Amaranthus adds that she wanted a husband who would avoid conflict and peril, and that when John had told her that William had resigned his commission she had initially considered him a good candidate, although she now knows him for who he is. William says that he must inform John and Hal of Ben’s survival, but Amaranthus fears that Ben will be hanged if he does. William is shocked - if Amaranthus still cares for Ben, how could she agree to marry him? Amaranthus is trying to placate him when Lord John walks in and announces that Hal is on his way. John expresses reticence at the news they must deliver, and so William tells him that Ben is alive and a general in the patriot army. William does not speak of Amaranthus’ part in the plan, but she announces that she needs to tell John something too. Brandy is sent for and so we assume that she is about to confess.

Marsali and Brianna are discussing the Comte St Germain as they visit the marketplace and whether the story about Fergus being his son could be true. Marsali briefly fantasises about life as a rich woman and the two laugh. Marsali comments how much they have loved having Brianna and Roger stay, but Brianna tells her that she and Roger will be meeting a man at the wharf that night to pay for the guns and will soon be on their way back to the Ridge. Their conversation is interrupted when Marsali is pelted with tomatoes and sworn at by a man in the street who has strong objections to what Fergus has been printing. Shocked, Brianna drags Marsali away.

At the Ridge, Fanny is visiting Jane’s cairn, talking to her sister about life with the Frasers, while Claire collects herbs nearby. Fanny is going through her collection of treasures when she realises that a piece of lace is missing. Visibly distraught, Fanny says that the lace must be found. It had belonged to Jane, she tells Claire, but had been made by her grandmother who had been a lacemaker in Paris. Claire tries to push the young girl for more details, but Fanny says she doesn’t remember much. Upset, she says that she wants to go home. 

It seems that the explanation of the Faith Lived storyline is about to begin…

Meanwhile, Amaranthus has confessed what she knew to Lord John. William is on her side, providing plausible reasons for Amaranthus’ silence up until now, but John is far more suspicious. Seeing this, Amaranthus becomes angry, smashing a glass and stalking from the room. Left alone, the conversation shifts to the closeness that has developed between William and Amaranthus. John cautions William of the need to make sure things are kept perfunctory and familial. 

“I don’t  have any interest in entangling myself with anyone who deceives me,” William says. 

John retorts that while he doesn’t approve of what Amaranthus has done, he does understand that she was protecting her child.

“That seems to be a common excuse,” William replies petulantly and stalks off too, leaving behind a very frustrated Lord John. 

Marsali is scrubbing the tomato stains off her clothing when Fergus gets home. Another note has been left in the door, threatening them. This one quotes the “Ladybird Ladybird” rhyme, which continues “Your house is on fire and your children are gone.” It is a horrible message, but Fergus and Marsali deal with it by firstly criticising the spelling and then confining the paper to the drawer where they have kept other such anonymous missives, ranking them from best to worst. This one apparently falls somewhere in the middle. 

Henri Christian runs out to greet his father, his hands covered in ink. After a brief exchange, the young boy is sent to wash the ink off before it stains. Marsali and Fergus speak about how perfect he is, and how the print shop has been so good for the boys. Marsali refuses to have that joy ruined by idle threats.

“For all our children,” Fergus says, embracing her, “present and future.” 

It is an invitation to be sure, and one that Marsali is happy to accept, commenting that Fergus must be trying to populate the entire colony. With their door locked, they give themselves wholeheartedly to the task of “making love and making babies.”

Claire is telling Jamie about the lace that Fanny has lost. Jamie conveniently remembers a lace maker across the street from Master Raymond’s apothecary when they had lived in France. He comments that he once went there and heard a child’s cry, wondering if that child had in fact been their daughter. They reminisce about that time in their lives and consider whether Mother Hildegarde had named their baby Faith for a wider purpose, reminding them to believe in what they had and the life ahead of them.  This segues into Claire’s fear about losing Jamie in the battle ahead. 

“How can I have faith when I face that possibility?” she asks. 

Jamie tells her that it is the unseen threads that bind them and tells her to hold onto him.

“Always,” she replies.

It is night and John sits outside, drinking. Two things are obvious: he is still frustrated by what has occurred and this is not his first glass. Loosening his cravat, he rubs his hand wearily over his face as a carriage draws up outside. It is Percy Beauchamp with information about Captain Richardson. The man has been seen boarding a ship and will soon head to Savannah. Percy promises to bring more information when he has it and asks John what he intends to do with the Captain. John refuses to say, and tells Percy to forget the conversation altogether.

And so Percy changes tack, complimenting John on how well he looks and reminiscing about a past encounter. 

“Perseverance,” says John, “Never was a man so well named.” 

But the sarcasm doesn’t last long, and whether it is the brandy, the need to relieve his frustration, or just a moment of foolishness, John succumbs to the flattery and they begin kissing. 

John can’t get a break this hour though, as who should walk in but William, who is immediately horrified by what he sees. Percy beats a hasty retreat and we then witness petulant William part 2 (or is it part 3) have another tantrum. William asks if this is why John never mentioned being Governor at Ardsmuir, or his previous connection with Jamie. Why else would a man ask a traitorous prisoner to raise his son, William says. “Was he one of your conquests, or were you one of his?”

“Neither,” John answers, but William doesn’t believe him, branding John a liar, a hypocrite and a sodomite.

John tries to reason with William, apologising for what the younger man had seen. He reiterates that he and Jamie had been nothing more than friends, friends who had each sacrificed much for William’s sake. 

“I’ve had enough of your ingratitude!” John yells. If William wants to fritter away his life, he can do it elsewhere. When he says that William shouldn’t speak to his father like this again, William interrupts with “I don’t have a father!” before storming off yet again.

At this point, book readers are just as frustrated and upset as John. This scene does not occur in the books. It is also against John’s nature to risk so much as to openly embrace another man when anyone could come in. He is far more discreet and careful than the writers have given him credit for, and it is difficult to understand why this has happened, other than for pure shock value, or perhaps to give William yet another chance to make it all about him. (Honestly, John, pass us the brandy and we’ll join you for a drink.)

And from one ridiculous story line to another, Jamie walks in to the Ridge with a letter from Ian, who has spoken to a girl from the brothel where Jane and Fanny had lived. The girl had a copy of a pamphlet with a story about Jane that was published after her death, full of details about the murder. But Ian has tracked down the writer of the pamphlet and persuaded him to share his notes. 

The scene morphs into Jane telling the man her entire family story. She says that as her grandmother lay dying, the woman had told her mother, Faith, how a strange man from the apothecary had arrived with a baby and asked the woman to care for it. If he didn’t return, she was to find Lady Broch Tuarach. But when the woman went in search, she was told that the Lady had left the country. By now in love with the girl, she raised her as her own. Years later, Jane says, Faith had discovered that Lady Broch Tuarach lived in North Carolina and had set out with her husband and two daughters to find her, when their ship was taken by pirates and she was killed. Jane tells the man that she wants Fanny to know how much she loves her and that she is at peace with dying. If God owes her anything, Jane says, then He will help Fanny find Lady Broch Tuarach when she has gone, so that she has a chance to be safe and loved as she deserves.

“Faith was coming to find us,” Claire says, looking at Jamie in disbelief.

Not as much disbelief as we have. It’s just all too convenient. Why would Jane tell her story so willingly to a complete stranger, particularly a man for whom she has no trust or respect? Why was this pamphlet only discovered by one girl at the brothel and why has it never been mentioned before? Why would the writer choose to share the family story with Ian, who has just showed up out of the blue? And if it was so important for Fanny to find Lady Broch Tuarach, why didn’t Jane tell her sister the story herself, or entrust her sister’s care to someone she did trust - Wiiliam, for example. It still makes no sense.

Smoke wakes one of Fergus and Marsali’s children. The house is on fire. Marsali and Fergus  gather the girls, but Germain and Henri Christian are missing. Marsali realises that the boys must be on the roof, where they often go to look at the stars. Marsali takes the girls outside and Fergus goes to rescue the boys. By the time he finds them, they can no longer go back down the stairs.

Roger and Brianna have arrived back from the wharf and run over to Marsali. Brianna takes the girls away, while Marsali watches the roof. As the flames take hold, Fergus ties a rope around Germain and tells Henri Christian to hang onto his brother.

“No Papa, I won’t leave you,” Henri Christian says, but Fergus promises that he will come down right behind them. He begins to lower the boys, but Henri Christian loses his grip and falls.

But suddenly, Roger is there, and catches Henri Christian in his arms. Marsali calls up to Fergus to let him know that Henri Christian is alright, as Germain too is lowered to the ground. Fergus looks down at Marsali and smiles - and then the roof gives way. Marsali screams - along with everyone watching the episode. 

This again, is a major departure from the book. In Diana Gabaldon’s version, Roger is not there to do a carbon copy of his father and catch a falling child. It is indeed Henri Christian who dies, not Fergus. In the book, a devastated Marsali and Fergus bring their remaining children to the Ridge, where they eventually add to their family and rebuild their lives. So why have the writers done this? According to Diana Gabaldon, it could have been that her description of the boy’s death was too graphic. She suggested that if they weren’t going to do that, they could just burn down the shop, but no. Fergus died a hero, another piece of Outlander canon was murdered and all the book readers who had been secure in their knowledge of what was going to happen were completely blindsided. 

There are now theories, given the whole Faith Lived plot, that Fergus will miraculously show up in the finale. And look, at this point, anything is possible. Cesar Domboy has been giving lots of lovely interviews about how he was fine with the death - but could it be a Game of Thrones Jon Snow moment? Kit Harrington gave lots of post Jon death interviews too, until he was miraculously revived. Perhaps Master Raymond - or even Comte St Germain himself - had been secretly following Fergus and plucked him from the ashes at the last minute…

At the Ridge, Jamie is suddenly jolted awake.

“What is it?” Claire asks.

Jamie says he doesn’t know, but he has a terrible feeling that something is wrong. 

Yes Jamie, there is. It’s the plot. That’s what’s wrong…

Streaked with smoke, Brianna and Roger sit at Lord John’s, their arms around each other. Brianna asks Roger if anything happened to her, would he stay in this time with the children or return to the 20th century. Roger assures her that nothing will happen, but when pressed, says that he would stay. 

“This is our home,” he says. “Our whole family’s here. The four of us belong here.”

“Five,” Brianna replies. 

And just when we book readers thought there wouldn't be time for Brianna’s third pregnancy, here it is. It remains to be seen whether the child is given a different name though…

Brianna goes to check on Marsali. Lord John has offered another room, but Marsali is sitting on the floor watching the children sleep in the bed, unable to leave them. Brianna tells Marsali she needs to sleep, promising that she will watch over the children. Marsali lays with her head in Brianna’s lap and Brianna strokes her hair while Marsali talks. She tells Brianna of the notes that they had received and how she and Fergus had laughed about them. When she mentions that one of the notes was about fire, Brianna says that it could have been an accident. Marsali then talks about Fergus and how after all these years, she no longer knows where she ended and Fergus began. But now she has no body to hold and nothing left of her husband except ashes and bones. Trying to keep her own tears in check, Brianna tells Marsali that Fergus is in every one of her children (and fan predictions say that she is already pregnant again) and Marsali begins to sob silently.

Despite the inexplicable change of plot, the acting in this scene is magnificent. Lauren Lyle is perfection and Sophie Skelton equally compelling. Kudos to them both. 

And speaking of inexplicable changes of plot, in the next scene Jamie and Claire are telling Fanny her family story, along with the revelation that they are her grandparents. The trouble is that the story that Claire tells directly contradicts everything from season 2. She begins by saying that she thought her little girl had died right after she was born, when in season 2, Claire wakes after her collapse to the news from Mother Hildegarde that her baby was born dead. Next she tells Fanny that she only got to hold the baby for a little while and then later told that the child had died. In season 2, Claire holds the dead child for an entire day, only giving up the baby when Louise de Rohan gently tells her it is time to do so. Then Claire tells Fanny of the song that she once sang to her daughter after she was born, and that since she heard Fanny singing that same song, she realised that Faith must have taught it to her. 

“How did she know the song if she was only a baby?” Fanny (very perceptively) asks. 

“I wish we knew,” Claire says, with Jamie adding that there is so much that they can’t explain. 

(There’s a reason for that, Jamie. The writers are trying to explain a nonsensical plot by attempting to rewrite the true story from 6 seasons ago and it isn’t working. But carry on…)

Claire tells Fanny that she had a lace veil that she now believes was made by Fanny’s grandmother, or the woman that Fanny called her grandmother. Jamie had bought it from the lacemaker and Claire had worn it to the graveyard where she believed Faith was buried. Family is like lace, Claire says. Fragile and delicate, full of holes and gaps (like this plot??) but strong. The threads are hard to tear apart. 

But rather than fall into Claire’s arms, Fanny merely says, “I’d like to go to my room now.” (Same, Fanny. Same.) This is not the reaction Claire and Jamie were expecting and once Fanny has left them alone, they wonder if they did the right thing by telling her. 

Henri Christian wakes Marsali, saying that they need to go back to the print shop. Fergus had told them that they must never put down their sword and it seems that he is bravely determined to continue Fergus’ legacy. Marsali sends him to have breakfast with his siblings and asks Brianna what she is going to do. Brianna says that they can come to the Ridge, or they could consider the offer that had once been made to Fergus, as Germain would now be the heir to Comte St Germain. But Marsali is sure that Fergus would not have wanted that. Brianna comments that Fergus would have wanted them all taken care of, prompting Marsali to say that the option bears considering, “but not today.” The tears return as she says that she must first bury her husband and needs to take him home.

Claire calls Fanny for supper, but the girl is not in her room. Jamie and Claire find her at Jane’s cairn and they apologise for telling her the story, worried that they have upset her in their haste to let her know that she belonged to them. But Fanny’s trauma goes deeper than this. She loses everything and everyone she loves, she tells them. “My whole family. And you’re my family. So I’ll lose you too. You’ll go away or you’ll die and I’ll be even more alone.”

Jamie tells her that God says that faith is the evidence of things not seen and he asks her to have faith in them. But it doesn’t take long before Fanny is watching yet another loss. She stands on the balcony as Brianna, Roger, Marsali and the children arrive back home, and sees the agony on everyone’s faces at the realisation that Fergus has gone. 

Jamie is making a coffin, while a Fergus montage plays. This is designed purely to tear at the heartstrings and it works. From scenes with a young Fergus, to the reunion after Claire’s return , to the time when Jamie gave Fergus his surname of Fraser, it’s all tear jerking stuff. Mind you, the montage also includes Fergus saying that it is not goodbye, only au revoir, which some fans are taking as more proof that Fergus is not dead… 

Jamie is crying, when Fanny approaches and tells him to go with her. She has built a cairn for Fergus, saying, “I know he’s not with us, but maybe you’ll find him here. Grandda.” She gives him a stone and takes his hand. This is lovely acting by Florrie Mae Wilkinson. She is just beautiful as Fanny, ridiculous plot aside.

And then comes the final scene, a flashback to 1744. Master Raymond is speaking to a woman, telling her that it is a matter of urgency and that he must leave the city for a short time. She is the only one he trusts to care for the child. Despite the woman’s protestations that the baby is tiny and beautiful, the baby is not as tiny as the premature Faith with “no lashes yet” would have been. If he does not return, the woman is to find Lady Broch Tuarach, but Master Raymond gives no more information about who this is, or how she can be found. Nor does he say why he has taken the child. If it was just because Jamie was in prison and Claire was ill, why couldn’t the nuns care for the child? Why did Mother Hildegarde lie to Claire? No reasons are offered. 

As Master Raymond bids farewell to the baby, the little girl starts to cry. At this he tells the woman that there was a song that Claire would sing and proceeds to give her a crash course in “I do like to be beside the seaside” - despite the fact that he didn’t actually hear Claire sing it. The woman is a quick study and the credits roll to their duet.  We might all need a trip to the seaside to stop our wailing and gnashing of teeth at this ridiculous plot. There are sharks at the seaside too…

As the fallout of this episode continues, those who aren’t as distressed remind the rest of us that the show is an adaptation of the books. The definition of adaptation is “the transformation of an original story into a new medium by changing elements like plot, setting, or character to fit the new format while maintaining the core themes.” It is the last bit “maintaining the core themes” that comes into play here. The Murtagh story, for example, fits the adaptation definition. His plot was changed, but ultimately, it still maintained the core themes - Murtagh still died in a battle while protecting Jamie, uttering the same line as he died. By contrast, none of the changes in this episode can be called adaptations. To have been discovered by William the way he was, Lord John showed a total lapse of judgement that is not in his nature. The Lord John of the books does not risk his life in this way. By killing Fergus instead of his son, the core theme of Fergus’ family has been changed. Although we are still taking bets on Marsali being pregnant, all the plot lines from the book since the fire have now been altered. And with the Faith Lived story line, the writers have completely changed the entire Fraser family tree. That’s not adaptation. That’s fan fiction. And not good fan fiction at that. 

There are only three episodes left of a world that has been on our screens for 12 years now. A world that, up until fairly recently, was for the most part faithful to the story that Diana Gabaldon had created. Sadly, that can no longer be said. How will the story lines be wrapped up now? What other shocks might be store? Apparently, we all have to have faith…

This recap was written by Susie Brown, a writer and teacher librarian who lives in Australia. The opinions expressed are entirely her own, but she is very much afraid that the show has now officially “jumped the shark”.