Outlander: Into the Viper’s Nest

Last time on Outlander: Frank and Claire Randall go to Inverness, Scotland on their second honeymoon to reconnect after spending the Second World War apart. And for Frank to explore his ancestry, including a British soldier named Jonathan “Black Jack” Randall. When Claire visits a stone circle outside the town, she falls through time and lands in the 18th century. There, she comes face to face with Black Jack himself. He proves himself to be the evil doppelganger and Claire is rescued by a group of Highlanders. She is forced to travel with them and starts to bond with a member of their group named Jamie, who is very injury-prone. As Claire finally comes to terms with her situation, the group arrives at Castle Leoch.

CREDITS! Anyone know if the song is on iTunes? I would love to have it!

(Mrs. Fitz determining if this is better or worse than the stray dogs they brought back last time)

Our friendly band of Highlanders troop into Castle Leoch with Claire in tow. People mill about, going about their usual activities. The friendly band is met by Mrs. Fitzgibbons, the castle housekeeper. She offers to get Claire some…clothing…but she wants to tend to Jamie first. Mrs. Fitzgibbons is like “Why?” Claire explains that Jamie has been shot and she wants to keep the wound from getting infected inflamed. (Claire’s internal thought process: “This is going to be harder than I thought.”). Mrs. Fitzgibbons orders Jamie to report to the kitchen.

She leaves Claire and Jamie in front of the fire. Before she leaves, she instructs Claire to call her “Mrs. Fitz” like the rest of the household. Claire sets about tending to Jamie’s wounds, which means taking off his shirt. No one in the audience is complaining. But it does reveal the scars on his back. Claire asks Jamie about them.

Storytime! And I’m going to warn people that this is really where some of the hard/triggery aspects of Outlander start to kick in. Jamie explains he was whipped by the British. Specifically, Black Jack. He explains that one day he was out working on his family’s farm while his father was attending a funeral. A scream pierces the air and Jamie runs back to the house to see his sister Jenny being accosted by several soldiers. He attacks them and orders her to run into the house.

But she’s intercepted by Black Jack. He drags her back out of the house and uses her to make Jamie comply. 

(This is totally Black Jack's "I'm the villain. Duh." face)

Including ripping open her bodice and threatening to rape her as her brother watches. He stops fighting but Black Jack wants to punish him, having the soldiers beat him. Jenny pleads for her brother, offering to have sex with the man. Over Jamie’s protestations, Jenny and Black Jack go into the house.

We cut back to the kitchen. There’s only the crackle of the fire as Jamie stares straight ahead. He says he 
was knocked out and woke up surrounded by chickens in a cart. Later, he got the whipping from Black Jack. And that’s the end of that story. For now. He thanks Claire for patching him up and says she has soothing hands. Her husband is a lucky man, he declares.

Claire pauses by the fire as thoughts of Frank fill her mind. She imagines him finding the car, abandoned. He takes the key, wondering where his wife is. Frank and the Rev. Wakefield scour the countryside for her. Claire wonders what Frank is thinking—was she dead? Hurt? Had she run off with another guy?

(Frank and the Rev. Wakefield ready themselves for Scotland's longest game of "Marco Polo")

She is distressed and Jamie notices. He asks her if her husband is not living. Claire can honestly answer that her husband is not alive. Of course, it’s because he isn’t born yet but details, schmetails. Claire breaks down crying and Jamie comforts her. And this definitely shows Heughan’s and Balfe’s chemistry as I had to start fanning myself for a bit.

(Can't you feel it?)

Claire regains control of her emotions and thanks him. Jamie tells her she never has to be scared of him nor of anybody as long as she’s with him. Claire asks what about when she’s not with him. He warns her that she’s an Englishwoman in a place where the English aren’t welcome. So pretty much—watch her back. He leaves and Mrs. Fitz takes Claire to her bedroom.

Moments later, Mrs. Fitz is waking Claire up. She has some broth for her to eat and fresh clothing. Mrs. Fitz helps Claire strip and is not sure what type of corset Claire is wearing. She explains it’s a brassiere and just says they’re French. That explains everything for Mrs. Fitz. Soon Claire’s naked, but not for long. For anyone interested in historical clothing, this is a great scene to watch to see what exactly 18th century women would’ve worn.

(I like Claire's hair better styled that way)

With Claire in proper clothing, Mrs. Fitz declares that she’s ready to go see “Himself.” Who is this “Himself”? Why it’s Colum MacKenzie, leader of the clan MacKenzie and Dougal’s brother. Claire waits in his study and uses the brief chance to find out when she is. The answer—1743. In a voice over, she lets us know what’s going on at the time—pretty much England owns Scotland, the Scottish don’t like it, and the French continue to hate the English and vice versa. We all caught up? Good.

Colum enters and we see he has bowed legs, no doubt from a disease that has no name at the time he’s living. Claire does her best not to stare and steels herself for an interrogation. She recalls Frank talking about training spies how to withstand enemy interrogations by advising them to stick as close to the truth as possible. So she claims she was traveling to visit relatives, was separated from her manservant, got lost in the woods and was accosted by Black Jack. Colum believes everything up to that last point and he asks her why Black Jack would try to rape her. Claire asks him if there’s ever a good reason for rape. Colum has to admit there isn’t. Claire asks to go back to Inverness and Colum says he’ll make arrangements after a gathering on Saturday.

Claire leaves and talks about how landing in the past feel like landing on an alien world. But as she watches Dougal play with some children, she realizes that the alien world may not be so strange after all.

She goes for dinner and has a “new kid in the cafeteria” moment. You know, where everyone stops and stares at her as she walks through and tries to find a place to sit. 

(How dare she be from somewhere else!) 

Colum invites to sit with him and Dougal. He introduces Claire to his wife, Letitia. Claire asks about “Mr. McTavish” and Letitia gives her husband a look like “Who the heck is that and why don’t I know he’s in our house?” Colum clarifies that she’s talking about Jamie and assures Claire that he is fine. He asks Dougal where Jamie is and Dougal tells his brother that he is working in the stables. Colum approves.

Colum then continues to interrogate her in the guise of polite conversation. She makes up a story about going to visit family she had never met before in France and you can tell Colum isn’t buying any of it. That he’s having fun watching her dig her own hole. Claire thinks she’s saved when one of the children comes running into the hall. She says hello to him and he responds back. Claire asks for his name and Letitia orders the boy to do so. He’s Hamish. She makes a comment about him being Dougal’s son and everyone goes silent. She realizes she made a mistake and Colum tells her that Hamish is his son. There’s a reason why this is a sore subject and not just brushed off as “relatives look a like!” And I’m sure it’ll be revealed later. If not, remind me to tell you.

Claire excuses herself and all but runs from the dining hall. As she walks back to her room, she realizes she fell into an interrogation trap Frank warned about—she was plied with food and wine and given a chance to just talk. She reminds herself to be more careful if she wants to survive her remaining five days at Castle Leoch.

The next day, Claire goes down to the kitchens and asks Mrs. Fitz were the stables are. She wants to check on Mr. McTavish…”Jamie,” she clarifies at Mrs. Fitz’s blank look. Mrs. Fitz gives her directions and some food for Jamie. Aww, picnic time you guys!

(Jamie and a horse. That's the sound of ovaries everywhere exploding you're hearing)

Jamie’s out with the horses and women’s ovaries everywhere just exploded. Seriously. Claire startles him and she apologizes when the horse he was trying to break runs away from him. He says that the horse is just spirited and that’s a good thing. We all know he’s also talking about Claire too. She offers to change his bandages and that she’s brought food. Jamie’s all for the picnic.

(And a good heart-to-heart as well)

They have a little chat and Jamie reveals that the reason no one recognizes the name “McTavish” is that it isn’t his real last name. He’s a wanted man and so they’ve changed his name for his safety. Claire asks him what he did. Jamie killed a man. Except he didn’t. Black Jack claims he killed a soldier while escaping but Jamie didn’t. He’s been on the run since and knows there’s a price on his head. Claire asks him why he told her all this and Jamie replies that he trusts her. Alec, the stable master, comes in and is not too thrilled to see Jamie flirting instead of working. Claire apologizes and leaves Jamie to his work.

She goes exploring the flora around Castle Leoch, spotting some mushrooms. But a voice tells her that they are poisonous. Claire spins around and is introduced to Geillis Duncan, another resident at Castle Leoch. She and Claire talk for a bit and later, Geillis stays by Claire’s side at the gathering. She translates for Claire (and the audience) as the scene is predominately spoken in Scots.

(Be wary of this one. That's all I'll say)

A man drags a young girl up with him and everyone goes silent. Geillis tells Claire that the man is the girl’s father and he’s accusing her of “loose” behavior. He wants the Laird to issue a punishment for her behavior. The Laird decides she should be beaten and Claire looks ready to be sick. But she notices Jamie and Murtagh talking…well, arguing. She’s intrigued.

(Heading for trouble)

Jamie steps forward and Geillis says he’s offering to take the girl’s (Laoghaire) punishment for her. He chooses to be beaten by Rupert, who begins to pummel him. Once Colum has enough to seeing his nephew beaten, he declares the punishment over. The gathering is also over and everyone disperses.

Claire follows Jamie outside to check on him, but he’s okay. Just a little sore. If you think he’s had a lot thrown at him now, wait until we get later in the series. There’s a reason I say a character’s been through the Jamie Fraser Wringer when reading a book where the author keeps throwing trauma after trauma at the main character. She asks if he knew the girl but Jamie says he didn’t. He just didn’t want to see her get embarrassed like that. Claire is touched and cleans him up with the water Mrs. Fitz brings. Laoghaire is her granddaughter and she’s grateful to Jamie. He thanks Claire for taking care of him and she tells him that this is the last time. She’s leaving the next day. Jamie looks upset.

All together now: Aww.

The next morning, Claire gets ready to hop onto someone’s wagon and get herself back to Inverness. As she walks through the courtyard, she sees Jamie cuddling with Laoghaire and tries to act as if it doesn’t bother her. It does. But she’s soon distracted by the arrival of Dougal. He says Colum wants to see her. Dougal leads her through the castle and Claire realizes they are heading to the room where she and Frank engaged in some sexytimes in the first episode. Looks like she’s either going to learn about the room’s purpose or meet the Clan MacKenzie’s troll!

(Spoilers: There are no trolls)

Colum tells Claire that the rooms used to belong to man who was a healer. But he fell ill himself and died. Well, that’s ironic. And absolutely a hazard of the profession. But still ironic. Colum says Claire’s well known to be a healer herself. So, she’s staying at Castle Leoch as their healer. Yay! The only one not celebrating though is Claire, who wants to know why Colum really wants her to stay. And the truth is—he’s pretty sure she’s a spy. So he’s keeping her closer.

As Colum limps out, Claire takes a good look at her prison. Sorry, Claire.

(Claire's fate sinks in)

So, episode 2. Things are moving along nicely, in my opinion. The pacing is good and the story is intriguing. I also like that they are incorporating Frank more than he was in the novel. I often felt while I was reading that he was forgotten, a mere afterthought. Not so in this case. And I also think Menzies has some of the credit for that as well. Anyway, I’m going to go mop up the drool that accumulated from all the shirtless scenes Sam Heughan was in.

See you next week!