Outlander Homepage Originals
** DISCLAIMER: During this review, plots from the books and shorter novellas are mentioned. If you don’t want to know these spoilers, don’t read any further! **
Everyone needs someone to talk to from time to time, and if we’re lucky, we know someone whose opinion we trust, to whom we can turn to for advice. There was certainly lots of advice on offer during Outlander’s latest episode, with Jamie, Claire, Roger, Brianna, Rachel and even Frank Randall offering their words of wisdom during the hour. All this imparting of knowledge certainly created the feeling that things are moving swiftly towards a conclusion - but whether this collective advice will prove to be helpful remains to be seen. Once the dust had settled from episode 7, this reviewer felt a lot of trepidation about episode 8. But Ron Moore was listed as the writer, the man who had been responsible for Outlander making it to the screen in the first place, so surely it would be better! On balance, this episode did indeed soothe some of the outrage from the previous one, as well as bringing back some genuine warmth and humour that has been missing for some time. But there were a couple of glaring exceptions to this, happening at the beginning and end of the episode.
As the episode begins, Marsali and Jamie are standing by Fergus’ grave and cairn. They reminisce about Fergus’ sense of humour, before Marsali gets down to the serious matter of her future. She has decided to take Percy Beauchamp up on the offer made to Fergus, she tells Jamie. With Germain now the heir to the Comte St Germain, she will accept the money in order to rebuild the print shop for the children. She also wants to keep up the work of fighting the war with words, not just for them but for herself as well. She identifies with America wanting freedom and independence, she says, as that is what she had wanted when she had left Scotland. She had wanted to make her own way.
Jamie comments that it is dangerous work and she replies with, “If I’m going to risk my life I want it to be for something that matters.” Jamie is full of admiration, telling her that it is wise to take the money, and adding that she only has to ask if she ever needs anything.
The thing that makes her hesitate, Marsali tells Jamie, is the knowledge that Fergus had been against the idea of taking the money, not wanting to publicly claim anyone but Jamie as his father.
“Fergus Fraser was my son,” Jamie replies, looking down at the grave. No piece of paper could ever change Fergus being the “Son of my name and my heart - now, then, forevermore.”
Marsali sends Jamie away in order to have a few private words with her husband. Tearily she tells Fergus that, since he will have heard what Jamie said, she is going to sign the contract for the shop and the children, including the one yet to come. (And honestly, who didn’t have that on their Outlander bingo card? If the book is followed, it will be twins - but we know by now not to trust that things won’t be changed!)
And that it seems, is that. Marsali doesn’t appear for the rest of the episode, so we assume she has just gone off to be independent. This is where the whole storyline goes wrong, in this reviewer’s opinion. Not that Marsali isn’t a completely bada** woman, more than capable of living a feisty life, but it’s hard to accept that Jamie and Claire would let a pregnant woman with four young children return to a city where they would be in danger. Surely they would have wanted her to stay at the Ridge, at least until the baby was born? And even if she insisted on leaving, how is Marsali going to prove that she is Fergus’ widow, or that Germain is now the heir? Where are they going to live? Presumably it will take time for the money to come through and then for the shop to be rebuilt - and even when it is, what’s to stop the men who were sending death threats and setting fires from doing so again? Would Jamie and Claire honestly have been comfortable about them all returning to danger, without even sending someone to accompany them? (And then of course, there’s the whole Diana Gabaldon novella complication of the Comte not actually being dead, but that’s a whole other story. Literally. ) Unless Lauren Lyle had somewhere else to be, this reviewer just doesn’t understand why Marsali and the children didn’t stay put with their family, in safety. If this is truly the end of Marsali’s arc, then it’s a poor one. But the opening credits begin and off we go with the rest of the episode.
Roger, Bree, Jamie and Buck are unloading the rifles that Roger and Bree have brought back with them. There is some general discussion about the rifles themselves and the types of guns that Ferguson may have in the battle to come. Brianna talks about the changes in rifle design that will come in the future and the conversation shifts to her own shooting prowess, with Roger commenting that she wasn’t nicknamed Deadeye for nothing. Jamie then asks Brianna if Frank had called her that and Brianna confirms it. Suddenly, the penny drops. Frank’s book had been dedicated to his “Dearest Deadeye”. It had been written for her.
Later, Jamie and Claire discuss all the things that Frank had done so that Brianna was equipped for a life in the past, not only by teaching her to shoot, and ride horses, but also by ensuring that she knew the specifics of American history. Together, Jamie and Claire realise that the book isn’t a taunt from the future for them. Rather it is a warning. Frank was trying to save Jamie for Brianna’s sake, because he had known that Jamie would continue to protect her. Jamie admits that he used to pray for Frank, saying that he had needed God to protect him so that Frank could continue to protect Claire and Brianna.
“Maybe this is Frank’s way of praying for us,” he adds.
Claire too, reassesses what she had felt in the past. She had been angry at Frank for keeping the knowledge of Jamie’s survival at Culloden from her. But, she muses, by staying in the 20th century and becoming a surgeon, she now has the skills to save Jamie’s life should he actually fall in the battle.
At Lord John’s, Amaranthus comes into his study, worried at the length of time that William has been missing. John assures her that William has probably gone to Mount Josiah, adding that he has written a letter to inquire. Amaranthus blames herself for William’s disappearance, saying that she had sent him away. But John won’t let her take the blame, admitting that he and William had had words. Amaranthus is not comforted. She had deceived William, she says, and worries that his character will not allow him to forgive such a deception. John replies that he hopes that William’s qualities of compassion and forgiveness will ultimately carry the day.
Jamie is reading Frank’s book with a greater purpose now, studying the maps that have been drawn while Frank’s voiceover urges him on. “You have a few months yet to prepare, Fraser,” Frank says. “Don’t waste it.”
It is amazing how completely different the voice sounds, now that Jamie is convinced that Frank had been trying to save his life for Brianna, not taunt him with the knowledge of his death. This Frank is the unseen member of the rebel cause, reaching back from the future to provide support.
What an amazing job Tobias Menzies has done with these voiceovers! While we haven’t seen him at all, we have easily imagined both Black Jack and Frank, as each man has lived inside Jamie’s head. From the malevolence and mind games of Black Jack delighting in Jamie’s imminent demise, to Frank the serious historian recounting the details of the battle, to Frank the loving father and Jamie’s almost-partner-in-crime, united by a common love for Brianna, Tobias Menzies has achieved this plot development with his voice alone. It is truly a tour-de-force!
And so the ‘Survive Kings Mountain’ campaign begins in earnest. Jamie is training his militia in the specifics of knife throwing, while Buck is training them in combat with rifles. Brianna too, is putting Frank’s knowledge to work, making sketches of rifle modification, while Claire and Fanny are making preparations in the surgery, rolling bandages.
Buck and Roger are sharpening knives when Buck finally shares his story. He had gone back to see Geillis, he tells Roger, in the hopes of getting to know his mother a little better. But his interest had been misconstrued by both of his parents as being amorous in nature. Worse still, Geillis seemed to be perfectly happy to consider some totally inappropriate mother and son bonding. So, having decided that his wife would remain better off without him, Buck had returned to the stones at Craig Na Dun, choosing to leave his fate in their hands. They duly sent him back to 1980, where he had witnessed Rob Cameron purchasing a gemstone. Knowing what Cameron must have been intending, Buck followed him home and head butted his way into the house.
“I owe Roger Mackenzie a life,” he told the shocked Rob, “and yours’ll do.”
Cameron immediately grabbed a knife which he brandished wildly in Buck’s direction, but the older man wasted no time in turning the knife around. With the body of Cameron lying on the floor, the knife protruding from his belly, Buck helped himself to the gemstone, Roger’s guide book, a satchel and Rob’s “bonny hat”, before returning to the 1700s.
Roger is grateful to Buck and says so. Their conversation is interrupted by a now obviously pregnant Brianna, (the only indication that time has passed) who has a surprise for them.
The surprise turns out to be her modified rifles, allowing for faster, more accurate shots. Brianna proves this by easily beating Jamie at a target shooting competition, and happily accepts the praise of Roger, Jamie and Buck. She offers to make more, and Jamie says that such rifles will give a real advantage in battle, watching intently as she shows him how the modifications work.
A man rides up to the Ridge, and is greeted by Claire and Fanny. They are delighted to discover that it is William, who has arrived unexpectedly for a visit. His friendly, easygoing manner with the two of them quickly becomes stiff and formal when Jamie comes out to welcome him. After checking that he will indeed be welcome at their table, William asks after Brianna. It turns out that he has wanted a deep and meaningful conversation with his sister, pouring out his heart over the situation with Amaranthus, accepting her sympathy with gratitude and declaring her to be the only member of his family who has never broken his trust. Brianna comments that spending time at the Ridge might be just what William needs.
It certainly appears that way, with the next scene beginning with a huge family dinner, complete with a separate children’s table. As Fanny, Jem, Mandy and Swiftest of Lizards ask to be excused, William tells Rachel and Ian about the last time he had seen Denny, commenting that Denny would be thrilled to see how happy Rachel is. This happiness compels William to stand and make a toast to Rachel’s newfound family.
Claire and Jamie are discussing how William also seems happy, but it is a happiness that seems contingent on him not being too close to Jamie.
“He’s here, isn’t he?” Claire says. “That’s a start.”
Roger too has an announcement, telling the group that he is soon to be ordained as a Presbyterian minister, his recent application having been accepted. He invites everyone to the ceremony, which will be performed as soon as a travelling minister makes his way to the Ridge. This spurs Jamie on to make his own toast to good news, new beginnings and joyous arrivals, indicating Roger, Ian and Rachel, and William in turn, the latter still looking uncomfortable.
“To our future!” Jamie says, a sentiment echoed by all. It is a lovely scene, but this reviewer couldn’t help thinking that it was dampened by the absence of Marsali and her children.
Ian and Rachel are heading home, Roger and Brianna are doing the dishes and Jamie invites William to go fishing with him the next morning, reminiscing about the last time the two did so. It is not a pleasant memory and William turns down the invitation, using the tour of the Ridge that Brianna has promised him as an excuse. Brianna is not having that though, saying that she won’t have time to show him anything until later in the day. She and Roger then support Jamie’s story that it is tradition on the Ridge that overnight guests must catch their supper. William has been backed into a corner and he knows it.
The actual fishing trip starts out well, however. The two men stand in the water, talking easily enough about the spot near Helwater known as Devil’s Beak, where each had been fishing in the past. It quickly turns into a “I once caught a fish this big” competition, with William (whose hair seems to have turned red overnight) claiming to have caught 2 dozen trout to Jamie’s 10.
“If you don’t believe me, ask my father!” William protests, and just like that, the awkwardness is back.
Jamie asks if William and Lord John have had a falling out and William wastes no time in telling Jamie how he had discovered his indiscreet hypocritical sodomite of a father figure in the arms of another man. He wants to know if Jamie and John had been lovers at Ardsmuir, citing it as a reason for John to raise Jamie’s son as his own. Jamie insists that this was not the case and that John’s life is his own affair, which he will neither defend nor condemn. But he also doles out some fatherly advice, telling William that John one of the best men he has ever known (a pity he didn’t remember that before he beat John senseless and saw him taken prisoner after the aforementioned best man had saved Claire’s life by marrying her) who has done nothing but love William with his heart and soul and given everything he had to give.
“Except the truth,” William retorts. “In that point at least, you are exactly the same.” And lo, petulant William is back. Handing his fishing line to Jamie, he stalks off.
Shortly afterwards, it is Claire’s turn to dole out the parental (or step-parental) advice. William is saddling his horse and Claire asks if he had been planning on saying goodbye, or storming off without a word as he had done in Philadelphia. While she doesn’t doubt that he has cause, Claire comments that hasty exits rarely result in happy reunions. William responds sarcastically and Claire immediately calls him out for his remarks, and, not above a bit of emotional blackmail, asks whether, given the fact that they are in the middle of a war and the upcoming risk to Jamie’s life, William would be comfortable if the last words he ended up saying to his father were ones of anger. She goes inside, and William looks out over the fields to see Jamie giving Mandy a horse riding lesson. He remembers his own such lessons as a young boy, as well as their heartfelt goodbye before Jamie had left him behind at Helwater.
Rachel is the next one to offer words of wisdom, this time to Fanny, who is sitting disconsolately on the stairs inside. Some boys at the trading post had read the pamphlet with Jane’s story, (not sure how, since Ian had only sent back a single copy, which had been written some time ago.) Nevertheless, the boys have told Fanny that her sister is now in the eternal flames of hell. Fanny tells Rachel that she had struck one of the boys in anger and that they had run away. Rachel understands, but counsels Fanny that violence rarely brings peace and that even though the boys had said such vile things, it didn’t make them true. Fanny counters that it is written in the bible. Rachel responds that the bible says many things, but that people often find it hard to understand the full measure of God’s mercy, and that perhaps Fanny should speak to Roger about her concerns.
Amaranthus delivers a letter to Lord John that has been left outside, hoping that it brings news of William. But the letter is from Percy Beauchamp, who claims to have news about Richardson and asks John to come to his office in three days time, when he will have more information to share.
Jamie is now leading the militia in battle drills in the woods, imparting his wisdom as William approaches. They share some basic small talk about the men and their eagerness to follow orders, when their conversation is interrupted by Aaron Whittaker, who has arrived with his own men, bringing news of Ferguson. An entire settlement of free men was burned down when they refused to be pressed into service, Whittaker tells Jamie. Learning that Ferguson was after him and his men next, Whitaker and his friends have hidden their families deeper into the mountains and now want to join the Ridge militia.
Jamie accepts Whittaker’s offer gladly, and excuses himself from William’s company in order to introduce Whittaker and his party to the rest of the men. As he walks off, William blurts out the suggestion of going hunting the next morning. It is a stumbling invitation, with William repeating the words “in the forest” a number of times, much to his own embarrassment and Jamie’s amusement. But the date is made, and we hope that this next outing will be more successful.
This was an amusing scene, with the comic timing of Sam Heughan and Charles Vandevaart providing some moments of much needed light heartedness.
Roger is making plans for his ordination ceremony and is singing through a possible hymn when Fanny appears. The hymn is about fathers and sons, prompting Fanny to comment that while God may care about His sons, she doubts that He cares too much about His daughters. Roger asks why she thinks that, but Fanny deflects, asking whether Roger will be different after the ceremony. Roger explains that his role will be different, in that people will see him as a leader. In the same way that Jamie leads men into battle by raising his sword, Roger will also be leading people, but into God’s hands instead. Fanny comments that God should give him a sword too, just in case, but stops short of asking Roger anything about Jane.
The hunting “in the forest” has gone well. While Jamie says a prayer for the soul of the creature he has killed, William is pacing uncomfortably behind him. He apologises for his petulance at the river and asks for Jamie’s forgiveness, which is readily given. William then speaks of Helwater, telling Jamie that he had been the one that William wanted to emulate.
“I loved you. But you left Helwater, left me, and as you rode away you never even looked back. I am your son! I didn’t know it then, but you did. How could you leave me?”
It is an impassioned speech and one that clearly affects Jamie.
“I loved you too,” he begins. Jamie explains that while he would have loved to have claimed William as his son, he had nothing to give him except pain. He didn’t look back, he explains, lest the sight of William’s face had shattered his resolve. It was a decision that he regretted for years, until he saw the man that William had become, when he had visited the Ridge with John. Jamie apologises for the way in which William had discovered the truth of their relationship and hopes that William can forgive him too. It appears that he can, for William immediately embraces him, sobbing into Jamie’s shoulder. Jamie’s arms come around his son and the relief is palpable. This is a happy ending yet to occur in the books, and in contrast to the other changes that have been made, this is one that this reviewer is happy to countenance!
Roger’s ordination ceremony is in full swing, the family all looking at him proudly, as Fanny appears hesitantly in the doorway. She only stays a moment, leaving as quickly as she arrives. Roger finds her afterwards to ask why she left and Fanny explains that she cannot stay in a place where her sister would not have been welcome. Given that Jane had committed a murder and then murdered herself, she must now be in Hell, Fanny says, doubling down on her statement by adding that those are the rules of the bible. Roger tells her that different denominations have different beliefs and that suicide isn’t necessarily seen as a sin, adding that the church has been known to change its position on a number of things and that some of the rules had been put in place by man, not God. Fanny is a little comforted and asks Roger if he thinks Jane is with God.
“Now that you’re a reverend, could you ask him for me?” she says.
Roger replies that it isn’t necessary to be a minister to talk to God and that perhaps she could ask Him herself. “Talk to Him,” he urges. “Let Him know how you feel.”
And so Fanny goes to Jane’s cairn, telling Jane that Roger has given her hope that they will see each other again.
“If you can hear me Janey, send me a sign,” she says.
Standing and walking down to the stream, Fanny picks up a shining stone. She looks at it, smiling at its beauty, before suddenly dropping it as if she has been burned. Bending to pick it up again, a buzzing starts and the stone splits in two. The buzzing intensifies, and she puts her hands over her ears in fear.
Noooooooo. Just no. Presumably, we are now expected to believe that Fanny is a time traveller, a trait that she will have picked up from her invented family tree and her relationship to Claire. With only two episodes to go in this entire Outlander journey, why introduce a plot line complication like this now? Is Fanny going to time travel back into the past and stop Jane from killing Harkness? Is she going to go further back and find her mother and bring her to the Ridge for the ultimate family reunion? Just when Ron Moore seemed to have restored some happiness to our hearts, this happens! The trepidation is real, once again.
But the final moments of the episode belong to Lord John, who truly has to be the unluckiest man in the 18th century. He has indeed answered Percy’s call, going to meet him at his office as requested. Percy is late and John is pacing the floor.
Finally, Percy appears. Seemingly nervous, he offers John a sherry, but John refuses, saying that he wants to keep his wits about him. (Understandable, given his last sherry fuelled encounter with Percy had ended with William discovering them mid embrace.) John asks Percy to confirm whether it is true that he has found Captain Richardson, and wants to know where the black hearted scoundrel is.
And then, we hear a pistol being cocked.
“You needn’t look far,” says a voice from behind him. John turns around, Richardson rushes forward and John is pistol whipped into unconsciousness, while Percy at least has the grace to look ashamed.
And so, another episode ends and suddenly only two episodes remain. The penultimate one is in the hands of Diana Gabaldon herself and this reviewer wonders how she felt about trying to bring her changed story to a satisfying conclusion. Rescues need to be made, battles need to be fought, babies need to born and lives need to be saved. Will it all happen satisfactorily? Or will a time travelling teenager travel through the stones to meet up with a French apothecary owner and bring an army of previously dead, unrelated souls to the Ridge to create a whole new ending? Maybe we should just all go into hiding until it’s over. In the Forest, maybe.
This recap was written by Susie Brown, a writer and teacher librarian who lives in Australia. She did love the William and Jamie reunion, but is truly nervous about what is to come. She is trying to follow Roger’s advice and be “open to the conversation.”
