Outlander: Welcome Back!

Since I haven’t really recapped the last two episodes of season 1…mostly because I’m still forcing myself to watch them…I’ll skip the “Last time on Outlander” for this recap.

We open with Claire on the ground, wishing she were dead. She sits up and finds herself in the stone circle of Craig na Dun and rages against them.

(Poor Claire)

Next, she wonders onto a road and is surprised when a car honks at her. The driver gets out and asks if she’s okay. She asks what year it is and he replies it’s 1948. Claire then demands to know who won the Battle of Culloden. He is now certain she is mad and doesn’t answer. Claire almost assaults him but he finally answers that the British won. Distraught, Claire collapses to the ground and wails. 

(Only about five minutes in and we're already in so much pain)

Frank hurries down a hospital corridor and asks to see Claire Randall. A nurse brings him to a doctor, who explains that Claire is physically fine. She was a bit dehydrated and had some cuts and bruises, but nothing serious. He says they did have to sedate her and she’s not really talking. Frank thanks the doctor and enters her room as a radio plays. 

She asks him to turn it off, though she doesn’t realize it’s Frank yet. He does so as she comments about how loud it is there. At that point, she realizes it’s Frank in her room and she grows awkward. All she can say is “I’m back.”


Frank is overjoyed to see her and tries to approach. She gets a flash of Black Jack, though, and flinches.

(Brilliant moment) 

He retreats and explains that the Rev. Wakefield has agreed to let them stay with him while Claire convalesces. She’s okay with that, though it’s clear she’s numb and just going through the motions. However, she does perk up when she asks if Mrs. Graham still works for Wakefield. Frank isn’t sure and wonders why Claire is asking that. She says she needs to talk with the woman.

At Wakefield’s house, wee Roger sleeps on as his toy plane falls to the floor. This cuts to three fighter jets roaring overhead as Claire asks if they need to do that every day. Mrs. Graham sets out a tea tray and says they are training because of fears of a war with Russia. Claire declares there’s always another fucking war before apologizing. Mrs. Graham lets it go.

(Mr.s Graham gets it)

Claire then says that Jamie didn’t know what the word “fucking” meant. She recalls calling him a “fucking sadist” and then having to explain it to him. Mrs. Graham says he must’ve been special given how Claire smiles when she talks about him. Claire says he was but now he’s dead and rotting the past two centuries, though she can’t imagine it. Mrs. Graham and Claire talk more about Jamie before Claire asks if there are any other books about Culloden. But Mrs. Graham points out that the Reverend has the most extensive collection, which Claire has gone through. Claire just wanted to know for sure if Jamie died in the battle.

Inside the house, Wakefield asks if Claire has said anything about what has happened. Frank says he hasn’t and he’s glad to get her away from the press. Especially since they keep saying she was taken away by the fairies. He wants the nonsense to stop. Wakefield understands. He then asks about the clothing she was wearing. Frank has to admit that the expert he sent them too revealed they were genuine 18th century Scottish wear and that it wasn’t something she could just buy. The truth is staring them in the face but logic can’t bring them to accept it.

That night, Claire invites Frank in to have a talk. He insists she doesn’t have to tell him anything but she replies that it’s time. So they sit together and she goes over her entire story as the night wears on. When she’s done, Frank is patient and believing. Claire can’t believe it and says she knows how it sounds. She then also goes on about how she married another man. But Frank points out that she never took off their wedding ring. So he forgives her.

("Not really looking for forgiveness, but okay...")

Claire then drops another bombshell—she’s pregnant. Frank is overjoyed and is happy. Somehow, he’s forgotten that he’s been separated from her two years and that she married another man during the time. I guess he also never considered that she might be intimate with Jamie during their marriage. Claire spells it out for him and we see Frank snap into Black Jack. He nearly attacks her before retreating, anger radiating from him.

(Well hello, Black Jack)

Frank storms down to the Minister’s…shed? Private room? Anyway, it’s a place where Wakefield keeps a lot of breakable things. Frank rages his way around and just lets out his inner Black Jack.

(Frank smash!)

He apologizes to Wakefield, who is forgiving. Frank reveals that Claire is pregnant and it’s another man’s. Especially as Frank is sterile. He got some testing done while Claire was away but figured it didn’t matter much since his wife was missing. He doesn’t know how he can raise another man’s child.

Wee Roger walks in and asks the Reverend something, calling him dad. Wakefield gives him permission before giving Frank a pointed look. Frank is chastised, realizing he’s been ranting to a man who took in an orphaned child. He just asks Wakefield not to give him a sermon and Wakefield is like “Too late!” Wakefield tells Frank that he is a man who can’t have children and there is now a child who needs a father. He should seize the chance.

(Look at this cutie!)

So Frank goes to talk to Claire, telling her that he’s been offered a position at Harvard and asks her to come with him to Boston. He wants them to remain married and he’ll be a father to her child. But the baby won’t know anything about Jamie and Claire must promise to stop searching for Jamie. To put him out of her mind and move on. Claire agrees, especially because it was also what Jamie wanted.

(Poor baby)

Claire and Frank pack up. She tries to remove the ring Jamie gave her but he stops her, telling her she can remove it when she’s ready. He then burns her dress, severing the ties to the past before they fly to Boston. As she disembarks the plane, Frank holds out his hand to her. She reaches out as the camera pans around to reveal…

(Reaching out...touching me...touching yooooou) 

…Jamie, standing on a dock in Le Havre in 1744. He helps Claire off the ship and says he’s glad to be on dry land. Jamie got terribly seasick and vows not to get on another boat. Claire teases him while Murtagh tries to get the crew to treat their belongings with more care.

They settle into their new house and Claire tends to Jamie’s wounds. She and Jamie discuss the Jacobite cause and what she knows about it. Claire admits her knowledge isn’t very vast, reciting what she does know. Jamie wonders how they are going to dissuade Prince Charles from invading Scotland and they decide it’s best if Jamie gets himself into the inner circle of the Jacobite rebellion. He agrees, saying he can talk to his cousin, Jared. Jamie then pauses as he wonders what they are going to tell Murtagh.

(Worried Jamie is worried)

First, though, they need to convince Jared. And he’s not so easily swayed. He wonders why his cousin is suddenly a staunch Jacobite, where in the past he tended to stay out of it. Claire helps Jamie take off his shirt to show him his scars. He says that he can’t stand to support any king who allows such brutality to happen. Jared agrees to help Jamie get in with the Jacobite leaders. He also asks Jamie to take care of his business while he’s off doing business and gives Jamie run of his Paris household, which will come in handy with making needed connections. Jamie and Claire agree.

(Jared is either deep in thought or napping. Your choice)

On the docks, Jamie and Murtagh argue about infiltrating the Jacobite cause while Claire goes for a walk to settle her stomach with morning sickness starting. A ship comes into harbor and a crowd gathers as sailors try to prevent them from seeing the person they are carrying off. Curious, Claire follows them into a warehouse.

She examines the man and declares that he has smallpox. Another man is brought in and she reveals he is dead already from it. Everyone gasps and a man begs the harbormaster to keep it quiet. But he can’t and orders the ship as well as it’s cargo to be burned. Claire wants to quarantine the other sailors but Jamie encourages her to hold her tongue, assuring her she can’t do anything else.

(Claire in her natural habitat--a makeshift hospital room)

A well-dressed man bursts into the warehouse and the Frasers learn he is the Comte St. Germaine. And he is the owner of the vessel Claire has just condemned to burn. Speaking in French, with subtitles, he warns her that she has made a powerful enemy and storms off.

(I'm sorry but Black Jack left big shoes to fill and I don't think your feet are big enough)

Life for the Frasers is never dull, huh?

(I guess Jared disagrees. Maybe the poor man suffers from narcolepsy?)

That was a very good start to the season. I can understand why they made the decision to not use the start of the book, Dragonfly in Amber, but I am a bit disappointed. One of the things that got me to the end of the book was the mystery of how Claire came to be back in the 20th century. And trust me, I got mad at the book so I needed that to get me through to the end.

So I’m going to see if this avoids pissing me off like the book did. Wish me luck!

Next time: The Frasers go to Versailles.

Screen caps from here.