We open on a scene from The Avengers – not those Avengers, the British show from the 1960s (HEY DIANA RIGG YOU ARE AMAZING). It’s 1968, and the camera pans back to reveal a pack of children crowded around the TV, and behind them a man is also watching, well “watching” but really staring into the middle distance that comes from exhaustion and/or grief. If you remove the floppy 1960s hair, you may recognize him as the hot Scottish doctor from The Crimson Field. A woman comes in, and tells him that he ought to get back to his guests (“they keep asking for you”), and he knows she’s not wrong, but he really doesn’t want to. But he does anyway.
In front of a crowd of adults, he gets their attention by tapping on his glass – he thanks them all for coming, it would have meant a great deal to his father. “And if you knew him, you’d know he was not one for leaving anything to chance. Including the toast for his own wake. To Death, the jolly old bouncer now. Our glasses let’s be clinking. If he hadn’t put other out, I trow, tonight we’d not be drinking.” To the Reverend. A woman is in the back, and I swear, I did not recognize her as Claire until she took a drink, because the way Claire holds her whiskey glass is distinctive, and the 60s hair is so unlike her.
The man accepts condolences from many people – his father was a great man, a funny man, he’ll be missed, but the man – Roger – is distracted by a young woman with long red hair going into another room. He excuses himself to go talk to her, but keeps being stopped by well-wishers. He goes into a room, and an American(ish) voice behind him asks if he’s Roger Wakefield. It’s the red-headed woman, and Roger is like, my heart went boom. “Yes. Definitely. That’s me. Yes.” He hasn’t had the pleasure of meeting her, though. Claire remembers him though – “After all these years.” Roger is confused, but then he was only 7 or 8 when he last saw Claire. She introduces herself, and her daughter, Brianna.
Claire and Brianna were in London when they heard about the Reverend (how? 1960s Facebook?) – it was his heart, very quick. Claire says that she hadn’t seen the Reverend in a very long time, but she was fond of him. “So was Daddy,” Brianna breaks in, and Claire’s like “yeah, Frank too.” That’s enough to wig Roger’s memory, and he suddenly realizes who Claire is. “You’re a nurse, as I recall?” Claire says that she’s a doctor now (Brianna: “She’s being modest. She’s a surgeon.”) and that she and Bree are visiting from the States. Boston, where Bree is a history major at Harvard. Roger: I’m on leave from the history department at Oxford! Bree is suitably impressed (or possibly not – it’s hard to tell).
Claire asks if Mrs. Graham is still there, but she died a few years ago. Her granddaughter is around. Claire muses plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose, and excuses herself to go take a look around. Bree and Roger awkward at each other, and Roger starts – first time in Scotland? Will you have time to take in the sights? The Randalls’ plan is to head back down to London that night. “Oh that’s a shame. Beautiful, wild country.” Bree says that she’s long been curious about Scotland, since it was a special place to both her parents.
Fiona, the woman from before, breaks in to tell Roger that it’s time to say goodbye, people are leaving. She looks like a drab brown bird next to Brianna’s tall, sharp hawkishness. Roger excuses himself.
Claire walks through the house, seeing the various bits of historical artifacts, and musing that Mrs. Graham had told her not to chase a ghost the rest of her life, but now that she was there, the ghosts were chasing her. She’s still wearing Jamie’s ring.
Roger sends off the last of the guests, and Claire and Bree are among the last. They should be going, but Roger’s like, London is a long ass drive. No, the plan is to drive as far as they can and then stop in a pub for the night (UK peeps, is it still possible to crash in a pub for the night? Is that still a thing?) Roger will not hear of it; he has plenty of room! Claire tries to decline, but Roger scoffs (“OCH”) and says he’d like the company. Bree: Better than driving down the wrong side of the road in the dark (word, Bree) and besides, it would give her time to take in the sights. “I hear it’s a beautiful, wild country.” Claire, sensing the smoking hot chemistry between the two of them, is okay with it, and remembers that the guest room is at the top of the stairs.
That night, Claire in the the library, drinking, and Roger comes in. Claire couldn’t sleep, and neither could Roger, so they drink together (he’s smoking, people. SMOKING. HOT). Roger wistfully says that he used to beg the Reverend to throw things out, and now he can barely bring himself to do it. Claire: There’s a lot of history here. “Not just the family’s, but Scotland as well.” The college at Inverness has asked for his library, and Roger will give them most of it. But not everything. “He was quite fond of several rare editions of Prince Charles Stuart and the Battle of Culloden.” Claire looks sharply at him. “Culloden.” Roger, not understanding what she means, explains that it was the final battle of the ‘45. “My ancestors fought and died there, actually.” See, his true surname isn’t Wakefield. It’s MacKenzie, and his parents were Jerry and Marjorie MacKenzie. Claire says that she used to know quite a few MacKenzies, once upon a time.
Roger asks if he might ask her a personal question, and the camera pushes in on his sad face – so terribly sad. “How did you do it? Finally say goodbye to that one person you loved most in all the world?” Claire says that she hasn’t been very good at saying goodbye, and that’s the hell of it – whether you say it or not, they are gone and you have to go on without them. “Because that’s what they would want.” Claire thanks him for the whiskey and wishes him a goodnight.
At the window in the guest room, Claire looks at the moon, then at Brianna, sound asleep. Claire tucks in the blankets a touch more snuggly and whispers, “God, you are so like him.” The picture fades from Brianna’s hair to Jamie’s as he trudges with Charles – fucking Charles – through the camp at Culloden. It’s April 16th, and it is 7:23 am.
Jamie tells Charles that the army isn’t ready for battle – they are cold, they are starving, and they must retreat before the British realize the advantage and squish them all. Charles whips his head around, and loftily says that Jamie is his Doubting Thomas, and “Mark me, before this day is over, I will make a believer of you.” Ugh.
Jamie finds Claire and mutters darkly that it’s a blessing that Colum didn’t live to see this. Claire: It’s the Prince. Jamie: It’s the battle. Murtagh rides up and reports that Cumberland has broken camp and the British army is on the move – they’ll be there soon. Jamie tells him to report to the Stuffed Shirt generals. Claire: I have one last idea – but I can’t tell you in public. They head inside.
Back in 1968, Brianna and Roger drive through the Scottish countryside to 60’s soul music (that’s what the subtitles say). Roger opens a gate in a large stone building, and Bree walks through…it’s Fort William. He gives her the historical notes, on the use of the British army, and she says, “Military history isn’t really my speciality.” Roger flails for a second, “It was your father’s, though, right?” Bree reminisces about dropping an ice cream cone off of Fort Ticonderoga while Frank held forth on the heroics of Ethan Allen.
Roger reaches into what he knows about American history and embarrasses himself, and Bree’s like, dude, I live in Boston. Rev War history is a religious text in Boston. “With Washington as the messiah and Benedict Arnold as Judas, no doubt.” “Benedict Arnold is a deeply misunderstood historical figure.” Roger: I thought you didn’t do military history. Bree affects a bad Scottish accent: “We Randalls are a verra complicated clan, laddie.” He’s SMITTEN. AND HOT.
Bree asks if he remembers her father, and he remembers bits and pieces – snappy dresser, hat down over one eye. And he seemed kind. Bree: He was. The kindest man in the world. The camera angle shifts and we see that they’re having this conversation in front of the whipping post in the courtyard. Roger says that Claire seems kind, as well, and Bree rolls her eyes. She lives in another world. Bree says that this place gives her the chills and Roger is like yeah, lots of Scots were flogged and died here. Lots of blood in this ground.
Claire is in her own car, and drives and drives until she pulls into Lallybroch. The roof is gone; it’s a crumbling hulk. There’s a For Sale sign as memories pile up – Jamie telling her about how his father built the house, meeting wee Jamie and Jenny, the potatoes, the birth of Maggie…Jamie saying she belonged here. Claire sits on the steps and there’s a ghost or memory or ghost of a memory of Jamie in the arch. Just for a minute. She gets back into the car, leaving the shell behind.
Back in 1746, it’s 7:36 am, once away from prying ears, Claire explains that everything is hinged on Charles, and if they removed him from the equation, then it would all stop. Right? Jamie: What the fuck (it’s in Gaelic, but that’s what I’m assuming he said). Claire: I have the same thing Colum took (oh yeah by the way he committed suicide, did you know? No? He did though). Jamie: WHAT THE FUCK. Claire: I’ve been treating him for scurvy, I could put this in his tea. Jamie: What the ACTUAL FUCK. Claire: It’s not painful. Jamie: …no one would know? (whatthefuck). Claire: No one would ever know.
Back in 1968, Bree asks Roger if he knows anything about an “incident” that happened between her parents – something big that happened when they were in Scotland. Roger: I was seven. I remember Mrs. Graham crying in the tool shed, because things were broken. She said Frank had lost his temper and smashed all the things. She wasn’t crying because he broke stuff, though. Bree: My father had a temper, but he controlled it! A lot! When did this happen? Roger: 47 or 48?
Bree remembers a lockbox her father kept in a closet, and she knew where he kept the key, so one day she opened it. There were letters from Rev. Wakefield, mostly academic stuff, but one letter mentioned an incident and it was big and possibly bad, and totally something he didn’t want to spell out on paper. It scared Bree, and she never looked at it again. Roger: He kept a journal every night; there are boxes of them! We can go looking for them, if you don’t mind getting grubby. “Grubby doesn’t bother me, you should see my bedroom! …that didn’t come out right.” It did not.
In the village, Claire drives to the land records office – it has a St. Andrew’s Cross and Free Scotland painted on the wall. The clerk inside says that she traced the land records for Lallybroch, and found a Deed of Sassine from 1745 that transferred ownership of Lallybroch from one James Fraser to James Jacob Fraser Murray. The transfer was witnessed by Murtagh Fitzgibbons Fraser and a Claire Beauchamp “…well, it’s a bit smudged, but I think her surname’s Fraser as well.” Claire holds the parchment in her hand and touches her own signature from 220 years ago. After Young Jamie, it stayed in the Murray family for generations. The clerk helpfully made a copy of all the documents for Claire. Claire asks if the clerk could run a genealogical search for Roger Mackenzie, as well.
Back at the manse, Bree comes in, and Claire smiling, asks her how was the date? “It wasn’t a date.” Claire allows that he is handsome (yup) and intelligent (yup) “Not to mention, he has a lovely physique.” (YUP) “Who says physique? STOP.” Claire asks where they went, and Bree tells her Fort William. “Have you been?” “Once. Didn’t much care for the place.” Claire tells Bree that she just puttered around the village. “Places you and Daddy went before?” “…some.” Bree turns to face Claire head on and asks if she misses Frank. Claire says of course, and Bree’s like doesn’t always seem like it, or that you ever loved him. Claire: What a thing to say! She did love him. Really.
8:17 am: Claire and Jamie have been staring at that bottle of yellow jasmine for like, 20 minutes. Jamie: This would be actual facts murder. Dougal is peeking through the door, while Claire’s like one life for thousands. I’m good with that math. Ross (or Kincaid) enters to call Jamie to the field, and after he leaves, Jamie hands Claire the bottle. “You’d have to move quickly.” Dougal enters, snarling in Gaelic, “You ungrateful son-of-a-bastard.” Nice that he won’t insult his sister, even at a time like this. “You filthy whoring witch.” That’s to Claire.
In 1968, Bree and Roger walk into a 60s brutalist building (Inverness College, I think?). Roger needs to meet with the curator, and once he’s done they can start “the great excavation.” Bree will be fine. She wanders a bit, a stumbles into a Free Scotland rally. A woman – a woman with a very familiar voice – is railing that united the United Kingdom was the beginning of the end for Scotland – “We lost more than our independence, we lost our spirit.” Westminster has stolen money, voice, futures – it’s Geillis Duncan! She puts Prince Charles Edward Stuart up with the golden boys Arthur of Wales and Richard the Lionheart. “We’ve all heard of the Battle of Culloden. But imagine how different Scotland would be now if we had won. Where is our Bonnie Prince Charlie today?” The crowd murmurs in agreement. “I. AM. BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE.” Uh. “You. Are. Bonnie Prince Charlie.” Sure. “WE ARE BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE.” Mmmmhmmm. The crowd rouses into chanting Scotland! Scotland! While Bree looks around and lets the emotion wash over her.
After the chanting is done, Geillis is handing out flyers, and Bree walks up to her. She liked the speech, but…wasn’t it the Scottish king, James VI that united the Crowns? And Anne, his Scottish granddaughter, who signed the Acts of Union? Sure, Geillis says, but Anne was Anglican, under the influence of Westminster so…she wasn’t a REAL Scot. Bree: Would have been trading one king for another though, yeah? Nah, Charlie was a Catholic and a Scot (who never set foot in Scotland until the 45, didn’t know the language or the culture, and was half Polish BUT WHATEVER), unlike the various Georgies and the German Hanovers (descended from the House of Stuart BUT WHATEVER) so Charles’ loyalty would have been to the Scots. Bree is unconvinced by this argument.
Geillis cocks her head and surmises that Brianna is American. “So why are you here?” Bree: I’m a history student, and I like watching history being made. (Man this past month in 2016 would have THRILLED YOU NO END, BRIANNA.) Roger finds them at that point, and Geillis invites them to another big rally with the White Roses of Scotland. “We’ll be making history.”
In a low stone building-the museum at Culloden – Claire eyes a wax figure of Charles – it’s…well, I’ve seen worse. A man walks over and says “tall fellow, wasn’t he?” Claire: Not that tall in real life. “He could have been great. He had the name, the cause, great men who were willing to lay down their lives for him. THey’ve taken a fool and turned him into a hero .” She wanders off while the dude looks at her like “whaaat the fuck.” Another, older couple peers into a display case and wonder what a thing is – it’s a case of artifacts from Culloden Moor, and the thing is a piece of amber. With a dragonfly in it. The wedding present from Hugh Monroe.
At 8:18 am, Jamie tells Dougal that’s it’s not what he thinks. Dougal: Do think I’m stupid. She was urging you to murder of your prince? Dougal says that he knew Claire was a traitor the first time he clapped eyes on her. Dougal monologues some about how this is all about him, and Dougal sees a dirk on the table, while Jamie eyes his sword. Dougal calls Claire some more names, and Jamie’s like hold up now. Dougal draws his sword, and the fight begins in earnest – in close quarters, between a man who taught the other how to fight. Jamie has Claire on his side, though, and she smashes Dougal over the head with a bit of furniture, which gives Jamie the advantage. Jamie, with Claire’s help, slowly plunges the dirk into Dougal’s heart. Both Claire and Jamie need a minute, and Jamie weeps, “I’m so sorry, uncle.”
In 1968, Bree and Roger enter a storeroom and find the Reverend’s journals. It’s dark, and dusty, and gross, and when Bree opens one, a large rat skitters away. Bree is less freaked out than I would be, and Roger hands her a flashlight – whether for light or smashing is unclear. She tells him it’s too late to not be taken by surprise, and he’s like what, do you want me to come up with a rat satire on the spot? She has no idea what that is – it’s a song you sing to let the rats know how poor the eating is so they go away. He then breaks into song, and Bree is sardonically delighted.
Roger gets distracted by a small toy airplane – the kind he used the play with as a Wee Roger, when Bree sees a box labeled Randall. In it, there’s BlackJack’s letter of commission, signed by George II. Further down in the box is a letter from Frank to the Reverend – the Reverend was doing research on BlackJack, but Frank told him to stop, “He’s not the man I thought.” They take the boxes into the library, where there is more light and less rats.
8:26: Thing Two comes in and find Jamie and Claire over Dougal’s body. “I’d have torn out my one good eye to keep from seeing this.” He moves to leave and tell…someone…and Jamie stops him. He begs for two hours before Thing Two tells anyone, so he can tie up some ends, and then he’ll come back and answer for what he’s done. Thing Two agrees to two hours, in memory of the friendship they once had. Two hours.
1968, Culloden Battlefield. Claire walks among the clan stones, hearing Frank’s explanation of the battle and how Culloden was the end of the clans and the Highlander way of life. A woman stands, with a bunch of heather, in front of the Fraser stone. Claire walks up and also looks at the stone, and the woman asks her if she’s a Fraser. “Yes. I am.” The woman smiles kindly, and leaves. Claire looks at the stone, and begins to talk to it. To Jamie.
“I swore I’d never foot in the horrid place. But here I am, and you’re here, too. Or your bones, at least. I’m not going to cry, because you wouldn’t want that. And besides, I’ve come with good news. You have a daughter, Brianna. Named after your father, just as I promised. Jamie…I was angry at you for such a long time. You made me go and live a life that I didn’t want to live. But you were right, damn you. Brianna was safe, and loved, and raised well. But sometimes oh, when she turns and the light catches her red hair and I see her smile in her sleep, it takes my breath away. Because I see you.” Claire tells him about Brianna’s birth, and then everything, everything she can remember. No tears. “Bet you didn’t think I could do that, did you?” That day at the stone, they said a lot, but she never could bring herself to say. But she’s on Culloden, and it’s time now. She places a hand on the stone. “Goodbye, James Fraser. My love. Rest easy, soldier.”
In the library, Bree and Roger are going through the boxes, and Bree finds the newspaper story about Claire’s return. “Kidnapped by the fairies.” Roger guesses this is the incident. Bree wants to see what the Revered had to say in his journals. “Are you sure about this? You may not like what you find.” Brianna, her father’s daughter, wants the truth.
Later, Claire’s come back, and is pouring tea with Brianna flounces into the room. Claire asks if she’d like some tea, and Bree snaps that what she’d like is to know precisely what Claire has been doing the past two days. She doesn’t buy this “puttering” nonsense. Claire asks what’s going on, and Bree ask, “Did you see him? My father?” She doesn’t mean Frank, being dead and all, she means her father, the man Claire was with for three years. Claire is clearly not quite prepared for this conversation.
“Bree…it’s complicated.” Bree think it’s pretty simple – the newspapers have the date of Claire’s return, six months before Bree was born. Bree can do math. Roger enters at this impasse saying that he found something else, but Roger can read a room (“Oh.”) and tries to retreat. Bree won’t let him, “Stay! It’s your house, and you haven’t lied to anyone.” Claire tries to say that she’d rather they talk alone, but Bree’s having none of it. Claire asks them to sit.
Yes, Claire says, there was another man, and she loved him. And yes, he was Bree’s real father. Bree: You lied, all my life. Claire: Frank didn’t want you to know. Bree: Don’t you DARE blame this on him. Claire explains that Frank wanted to raise Bree as his own, he insisted that she not be told, and that’s why they moved to the US. Bree asks if the real reason they’re in Scotland is so she could have a surprise introduction to her real father. No, Claire says, it’s not possible. Bree: Because he has no interest in meeting me? No, he’s dead. And Claire promised Frank she wouldn’t tell Bree, so she hasn’t even ever said his name. “But now you know. And I need to tell you about him. About your real father. Jamie Fraser.”
Bree: I don’t want to know anything about him. Not one thing. She gets up, and Roger holds her back. She did say she wanted the truth, and here it is. Bree sits. Claire begins with telling Bree that Jamie loved her, so much, and he would have raised her himself, except…she stops and gathers herself. “If it wasn’t for the Battle of Culloden.”
8:34 am: Jamie to Murtagh: I’ve killed Dougal Mackenzie. Murtagh’s face is perfection in that I’m surprised but not really surprised kind of way. He allows that he’s not that surprised (Fergus is), only that it took Jamie so long. Jamie: Um. Murtagh: Whatever. What’s to do, then? Jamie pulls out a paper – it’s the deed of sassine. It’ll keep the estate safe from the crown, who can’t seize it from a kid who never went to war. Claire notes that it’s dated from a year ago. Yup, that was it was clearly NOT in Jamie’s possession when he joined the rebellion. All he needs are witnesses – Claire and Murtagh. Jamie is going to have Fergus ride to Lallybroch. Fergus doesn’t want to leave Jamie, but Jamie insists – the deed needs to get to Jenny, and it’s important that someone here remembers. Who lives, who dies, who tells your story, eh?
Bree, listening to this, is like, mom, you are crazy. Roger is uncomfortable, and Bree’s all, I’m not five. I don’t buy this shit. Claire assures her that Frank was her father in every way that matters except one. And she’s just like Jamie, “Your hair, your mannerisms…and he would have raised you if it wasn’t…” “For the Battle of Culloden? OH MY GOD STOP.” Claire pulls out her copy of the deed of sassine – but Bree won’t even look at it. “Just admit it! Admit that you are not a perfect person. Own up to the fact that you fucked some other guy…just like a million other bored housewives.” “I WAS NOT BORED! And what Jamie and I had was a hell of a lot more than fucking! He was the love of my life!” They both stop, appalled for different reasons. Bree: Why are you doing this? Claire: It’s the truth. Bree: Two people know what the truth is, and one of them is dead. Too bad it wasn’t you. That was way harsh, Bree.
8:37 am: Claire and Murtagh sign the deed, while Jamie tells Fergus to ride fast, stop only to sleep and to hide well when he does. “You’re a soldier now, mon fils. I love you like a son.” Claire hugs Fergus fiercely. “Like our OWN son.” Fergus glances at Murtagh, and Murtagh bows to him. Fergus moves off.
In a pub, Bree shoves a letter back at Roger, and is like that proves jack shit. Roger allows that he doesn’t know what it means, but the Reverend thought it meant something. Bree: My mom is crazy, that’s the important thing. Roger: Don’t lash out at me, but that deed did look authentic. Bree: She saw this thing that had a woman with the same name, she’s using it to fantasize, whatever. Roger: Oooooor….she’s telling the truth? Bree: Don’t. Might lash out at you after all. Roger: Look, you said you could never get close to her, and that she always seemed to be in another world, right? Maybe she’s trying to show you. Bree: So you think she might have traveled 200 years into the past? Through a stone? Roger: Doesn’t matter what I think. She believes it. Just saying, keep an open mind? Bree: I prefer an open tab.
Back at the manse, Claire looks through the box of clippings and letters, musing about being surrounded by ghosts. She finds the flyer for the White Roses meeting with Geillis Duncan – but not as a ghost. It is the year that Geillis said when they took her to be burned at the stake, and she’s THERE. Her name is Gillian Edgars.
Claire drives to a house, inside is a picture of Geillis with a dude, and the dude answers the door. He tells Claire that Gillian isn’t there- he’s Greg, her husband. He lets Claire inside (she’s told him she’s an old friend), and she asks if she knows where Gillian is, she won’t be in the area long. She’ll likely be with her Roses, but “I’ve not kept up.” He gives Claire a whiskey, and explains that Gillian hangs with the bloody Nationalists and spends all her time and his money on courses – folklore and whatnot. She’s filled up a bunch of notebooks, so… “Why not just learn to type? Get a job if she’s bored?” So she left, and he hasn’t seen her in weeks. He asks Claire to tell Gillian to please come home, he loves her. He’s just….given up. And dozes off, so Claire grabs a bunch of notebooks and leaves.
In the pub, Roger is musing that the pub was probably built around 1820 (so it’s new, aye?) when Gillian pops around. Bree and Roger missed a great rally. Bree says that she and Roger are just having a whiskey (“It’s been a bit of a tricky day,” agrees Roger) “My mother’s INSANE,” says Bree, in that slightly over-enunciated slur of the inebriated. Gillian notes that this is a sentiment echoed by daughters everywhere (word) (love you mom!) (but you’re sometimes crazy). Bree says that she’ll try to catch the next rally, but Gillian is planning on leaving that night. To further the cause. “But don’t stop asking the hard questions. That’s the way the world changes.”
At the Manse, Claire reads through Geillis journals, full of convoluted notes on the art and science of time travel. Gillian had studied and prepared for her journey. Geillis believed that one needed a human sacrifice and gemstones to protect the traveller, and Geillis was planning on going through Craigh na Dun, and soon. “Sadly, I knew how that journey would end, with Geillis burned on a pyre in Cranesmuir. I had to stop her.”
8:43 am: Jamie tells Murtagh to get the Lallybroch men OUT – no one will notice if they sneak off, there’s too much chaos. “Tell them the order comes from me and they’ll follow without question.” Send them home. Murtagh asks if Jamie is sure, and Jamie is – this is over, and won’t be won by the Highlanders, and he doesn’t want his kin to die for nothing, no matter how righteous the cause. Murtagh asks Jamie what he’s going to do, and Jamie’s plan is to take Claire to safety, and then come back to fight and die on Culloden. Murtagh thinks for a second, and says that he’ll get the Lallybroch men off on the road home, but then he’ll be waiting to fight at Jamie’s side – he’s not going to let his godson die alone. “I won’t have you dying for nothing.” “I won’t be. I’ll be dying with you.”
At the manse, Bree comes in while Claire is sitting at the dressing table. Bree doesn’t want to argue, she’s willing to agree that she has a father that isn’t Frank, but she doesn’t want to discuss the whole time travel delusion. She does want to know more about Jamie. “Tell me about him.” Claire is perfectly willing to do this – he was tall, and had red hair, his father’s name was Brian, he spoke French, played chess, his sister’s name was Jenny. “It would take too long to tell you everything about him, but I promise I will.” Claire says that she visited his grave on the moor and was telling him about Brianna- and Bree’s like nope, this is where I tap out.
“I didn’t intend to fall in love. In fact, I fought against it. But I couldn’t deny what I felt for him. I tried, but I couldn’t. It was the most powerful thing I’ve felt in my life.”
In the library, Roger is at the desk, and Claire comes in to pick up the White Roses flyer. Roger asks how things are going, and Claire’s like, well, we’re talking! “A fair improvement on shouting.” Claire asks if Roger knows Gillian Edgars, and he says not really, but Bree does, kind of. Bree enters and says yes, Gillian is great! A little crazy on the nationalist front, but “…I liked her.” Claire asks if Bree knows where she is? Bree doesn’t know at that moment, but Roger says that they ran into her at the pub, and she said she was leaving town that night. “Something about going somewhere to further the cause.” FUCK, says Claire. She’s going through the stones NOW. Bree reminds everyone that she tapped out of this discussion HOURS ago.
Claire: Look, Gillian Edgars is Geillis Duncan from the witch trial, she saved my life, so now I should go save hers. She looks at Roger. “Except I can’t.” Why? “Because of you.” What? When Roger told Claire that he was a MacKenzie, she had a genealogical trace done, and he’s descended from Geillis and Dougal’s son, so…“You’re saying my ancestors were the war chieftain and the witch?” Basically. “Don’t drag Roger into this!” Claire’s like, nah, he’s got the same right to know who he is that you do, so hush, child. Roger: So assuming all of this is true, we DO have to stop her, right? Claire: But if she doesn’t go back, then the baby isn’t born, then Roger isn’t born, so…Roger: But I’m here now, so…? Claire: I DON’T KNOW HOW THIS WORKS.
Roger: So, we could like…warn her, maybe? Claire: Yes! I could warn her not to draw attention to herself? That might work. Bree: WHAT ARE THE TWO OF YOU SMOKING WHY ARE YOU FEEDING HER DELUSIONS. Whatever, Bree, get in the car, losers, we’re going shopping. Bree stomps out, and Roger chases after her – look, we get Claire and Gillian in the same place, and see what happens? That could make Claire admit she’s making it all up. Or Gillian is equally crazy, and thinks she can travel through a stone into the past? “Then we all get to watch her slam her head into a 5 ton block of granite.”
8:54 am: The army is marching to the battlefield, while Jamie and Claire walk against the flow to a horse. Claire asks where they are going, and Jamie says that he won’t get far, but he can get her to safety. She offers that they can run and sail anywhere, but Jamie nixes that – the country is roused and the ports are closed, there’s nowhere he can go. He’s not afraid to die, and death by battlefield is better than any other fate that awaits him. Claire says she’ll stay with him, and he’s like no. Not allowing that. She says that if she’d been burned at the stake with Geillis, would he have left her? He says no, he would have gone to the stake with her, but this is different – he wouldn’t have been carrying her child. She shakes her head – he can’t know that. It’s too soon. He’s like nah, your courses are like clockwork, but it’s been two months, so…“You kept track? In the middle of this bloody war, you kept track?” Jamie asks how long she’s known, and she admits not long.
He says that this child is all that will ever be left of him, and he gave his word to Rupert, and he kept his word to spare BlackJack’s life so there would be a Frank, and now there will be a Frank, so she has a safe haven she can go to. “You promised me that if it came to this that you would go back through the stones.” Claire says that Jamie is her home, and he says that she is his, but the world is ending, so they, Claire and the baby, need to get to a safe place with someone who will care for them both. She keeps shaking her head as he mounts the horse, and he holds out his hand. “Claire, there’s no time!”
At Craigh na Dun in 1968, there’s splashing on a prone body. Roger’s car drives up to find Greg Edgar’s car, and Claire’s like, fuck, it’s happening NOW. A lighter flicks, and drops on the body and lights it on fire. Claire hurries them up the hill, and Brianna wonders at the smell, and Roger says that, “it smells like a fucking barbeque.” At the stones, Geillis, in 18th century garb, watches the body burn, then turns to the stones – they’re roaring. She runs to the center stone while Claire runs, yelling “Geillis, NO.” Geillis embraces the center stone and vanishes.
Roger: “Where did she go?” Bree: “She went right through the stone!” All three of them can hear the buzzing from the stones, and all three look at Greg Edgars’ burning body. Claire sends Roger to go get help, and Bree looks at the stones, then at her mother.
Claire and Jamie ride to Craigh na Dun, it’s not far, clearly. Claire’s hair has come out of it’s pins, and she doesn’t want to go. “How will I explain all this? How can I go back?” Jamie’s like, I don’t know, that’s your problem. He admits that Frank probably won’t want to hear about Jamie, “But if he does, tell him I’m grateful. And tell him I trust him, and tell him that I hate him to the very marrow of his bones.” The stones are buzzing, and Claire’s just, not ready. She begs Jamie to come with her, they’ll figure it out. Jamie says he can’t, and he means that – he can’t hear the buzzing. And even if he could – he touches the stone and nothing happens – it’s not his place.
“But I’ll find you. I promise. If I have to endure 200 years of purgatory…But when I stand before God, I’ll have one thing to say to weigh against all the rest. Lord, you gave me a rare woman. And God, I loved her well.” They fall to the ground, and have one last, frantic, fuck before the cannons start. Claire pulls the bit of dragonfly in amber out of her pocket and gives it to him. “You keep it with you. Blood of my blood.” “Bone of my bone.” “As long as we both shall live.”
The cannon fire continues, and Jamie gives Claire a ring, the ring from the premiere – that belonged to his father, and she’s to give it to the baby. “I’ll name him Brian. After your father.” They touch foreheads, and he turns them toward the center stone, neither willing to look away. Claire says she loves him, and he loves her. One last kiss, then he turns her toward the stone, and he takes her hand and as they touch it, he says, “Goodbye, Claire.”
Cut back to the dark in 1968 – Brianna is saying, “It’s true.” Yup. “Everything you said is true.” Yup. Was that her husband? Claire thinks so. Bree asks if that’s how it works – that someone needs to die to travel through the stones. Claire: Geillis believed that, but no one did for me, so…They head down the hill, and Bree goes, wait a second – is this is the last place you saw my father? Claire: Yes. Bree, FINALLY, says she believes everything Claire said, but from now one she only wants the truth – no more lies. Claire smiles, because in this like so many other ways, Brianna is like Jamie. “Yes, only the truth from now on.”
As dawn begins to break, Bree and Claire are sitting on the hill, when Roger comes back. He’s called the police (anonymously, because who wants to be involved in this?), but who knows how long it will be before they come around. Bree consideres for a second, and tells him to tell Claire what he found.
Roger pulls out a letter – the Reverend did some research at the request of Frank, research he doesn’t know if this tidbit was sent on to Boston. After the battle, some Jacobite officers, seriously wounded, took refuge in a house, and hid there for two days. They were all taken out to be shot, but one, from the Fraser of Lovat’s regiment, escaped execution. Claire’s like, there were a bunch of Frasers. Yeah, Roger says, but only five officers, and four of them have their names on a plaque in the church in Beauly, so we know they died. That leaves one, James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser. “My father,” Bree says. Claire absorbs this – he meant to die, but he didn’t. The sun starts rising as the theme from the dance of druids comes up – he survived. Which means, Claire realizes, as the sun comes up over and through the stones, “I have to go back.”
Elyse: OMG Claire’s perfect 1960’s eye makeup. I’m not a fan of the 60’s aesthetic generally speaking, but I love that eye makeup.
I’m also pleased with the casting of Roger (why is his accent so sexy) and Brianna. And I need Brianna’s plaid scarf. I need it immediately. I also require Claire’s glasses. Not her hideously puffy hair though. Seriously, what did they do to poor Catriona’s hair!? How much Aquanet was involved?
And Bonnie Prince Charlie compares himself to Christ. Cuz he’s not arrogant or anything. Is it bad that I’m 1000% down for a plan to murder him?
OH HEY LET’S GO LOOK AT FORT WILLIAM WHERE YOUR SEKRET DADDY WAS RAPED. GOOD FIRST DATE ROGER.
Honestly the Claire-Heartbreak-Tourism montage was a little too much for me. I understand why it needed to be in the episode, but it felt overdone sometimes, especially when she was talking to Clan Fraser’s headstone.
Also why would Brianna want Roger to witness her mom discussing her infidelity. They’ve known each other for like two minutes. That makes no sense to me. Also while I totally understand Brianna’s reaction (and mine would be likely similar) as a viewer I’m so invested in the Claire/Jamie storyline that her tantrums are hard to swallow. Honestly, Claire needed to slap her at least once (and I’m surprised she didn’t).
Also Jamie knows a lot about Claire’s period which is kind of adorable. “In the middle of this bloody war, you kept track!” Also I’m jealous of Claire’s super regularity. She’s on track even during war.
“Lord you gave me a rare woman. God, I loved her well.” That’s fine. I”ll just be over here sobbing.
Overall verdict: I NEED THE NEXT SEASON RIGHT NOW!
RHG: Well that was a ride. Claire’s 60s hair was… distracting. I mean, it was on point, and correct,and good job Emmy-nominated Terry Dresbach, but (spoilers) thank god we won’t have to see that much next season.
Brianna Randall Fraser is a difficult character (and she’s not that well-written in the books, even Gabaldon has admitted that), and to be honest, she’s a pain in the books, too. I think Sophie’s American accent wasn’t great (and there were some words where it just slipped), but hopefully she’s had some time to work on it during the hiatus.
RICHARD RANKIN IS A VERY ATTRACTIVE MAN.
I liked that almost everyone got a little moment as their send off for the season – Fergus, Dougal, Thing Two, Murtagh – they all got some finality. I’ll miss all of you. I’m also SUPER ANGRY that the Emmys continued to Emmy, and that the only nominations were for costumes and production design, and NO acting awards. Cait, Sam, and Tobias were robbed, and YEAH I KNOW WHO I’D BUMP TO MAKE ROOM FOR THEM. YES I DO.
That wraps up Outlander for us for the season. Poldark, excellent methadone for your Droughtlander DTs, starts airing on Sept 4th in the UK and Sept. 25th in the US, and we’ll be back for that.
Stay cool, everyone.