Outlander: The Heart of Darkness

Last time on “Outlander”: Dougal and his merry group of Scots travelled the MacKenzie lands to gather the rent from the people who lived there. Claire went along and her 20th century sensibilities ran contrary to 18th century practices. But she soon becomes one of the boys as she realizes the MacKenzies are raising money for the Jacobite cause. A British soldier arrives to check on Claire, which is where we ended.

CREDITS! I have nothing else to discuss, but I will give a warning: This episode is graphic and violent. I will not use screen caps of anything too gory, but even me talking about it could be a trigger. You have been warned.
We open with Lieutenant Jeremy Foster once again asking Claire if she’s all right and if she’s with the MacKenzies of her own free will. Dougal tries to answer but Foster shuts him down. Claire hesitates before assuring Foster and his men that she is a guest of the Clan MacKenzie and is in no danger. Foster is relieved but says he must bring her to his superior officer anyway. Dougal says he must go with her. Foster doesn’t really care one way or the other.

(Look who has the power now, Dougal)

(Oh. Crap.)

They ride through the Scottish countryside. Claire voiceovers that she was glad to be back amongst Brits, even if she was still two centuries in the past. They pull into the garrison and Dougal looks uncomfortable. Claire realizes that even though they are in Scotland on MacKenzie land, this place belongs to the British. He is the stranger, the Outlander, here.

Claire and Dougal are brought upstairs where they meet the Garrison Commander, Lord Thomas. He’s enchanted to see Claire, saying it’s been too long since he’s seen a true English Rose. 

(If you look up the word "dandy," you'll no doubt find this guy's picture)

Claire is flattered. Dougal probably wants to throw up. She introduces Dougal and then he has to suffer Lord Thomas and the soldiers mocking him and his accent. Lord Thomas even calls him a “creature” and they talk as if Dougal weren’t there. Claire changes the subject and reminds them to be civil. Dougal takes his leave, telling Claire he’ll just be downstairs.

(Lord, give me strength and enough whiskey to forget this ever happened)

As they eat and drink claret, Claire regales them with stories of her adventures in the Highlands. Everyone is charmed, including Lord Thomas. He offers to have Lt. Foster escort her back to Inverness so she can book passage to be reunited with her family in France. Claire can almost see the stones and Frank again. She’s so close…

And then Black Jack enters the picture. Miss him? Probably not. But he’s back. And very dusty. Lord Thomas scolds him for endangering the claret with his muck. Black Jack’s more focused on the Scots downstairs. Lord Thomas vouches for him and sends Black Jack from the room. As he leaves, he catches Claire’s eye. They stare at each other with such an intensity that even Lord Thomas notices it. He asks if they know each other. Black Jack lies and says he thought he did, but he was mistaken. Claire says she was thinking the very same thing.

(She wasn't a figment of my imagination!)

Black Jack leaves the room long enough to pound the mud off his boots and shake the dust off his uniform. He joins Lord Thomas’ table. And it gives Lord Thomas a brilliant idea—Black Jack should escort Claire to Inverness! She could then regale him with her stories—“Mrs. Beauchamp Amongst the Savages,” he calls them. And I suddenly flashback to my drama classes where we discussed the idea of the Noble Savage—someone the white people could relate to because that “savage” was like white people, believing in the same values because heavens knows the “savages” didn’t believe in anything human. (Please note the sarcasm. It’s very racist and we should be glad it’s no longer popular).

Black Jack is curious about her adventures as well. He tells them the story of a British soldier found sitting on a tree stump, holding his decapitated head. He knows the Scots were behind it. Claire counters with the story of the two men nailed to trees with “Traitor” carved into their bodies. No one seems moved by it. Claire continues to defend the Scots, saying the British were invaders and taking their lands. Everyone gets a little suspicious, wondering where Claire’s loyalties really lie. She assures Lord Thomas that she is loyal to Crown and Country but he doesn’t seem convinced.

(The Scots can brainwash people. We need to be alert against their powers)

A soldier rushes in to say they were fired upon by some Scottish rebels. There’s an injured soldier downstairs. Claire’s nurse instincts take over and she jumps up to help the man. As she rushes downstairs, she passes Dougal. He assures her that their party was ordered to stay a good distance from the garrison so they weren’t responsible. Claire goes over to the soldier and realizes that the arm will need to be amputated. She voiceovers that she hoped she had done her last after the end of the war. Here’s to note a bloody part—we see part of the amputation: the doctor sawing as the soldier screams in agony as his blood sprays over Claire.

Claire returns upstairs to find the room empty, save for Black Jack and the soldier lucky enough to be giving him a shave. 

(This poor soul drew the short straw)

She recognizes the blade—it’s still in the Randall family come the 1940s. We get a flashback (flashforward?) to Claire in a night shirt shaving a bare-chested (!) Frank. I had a large crush on Sam Heughan going into this series, I’ve developed a nice sized one on Tobias Menzies.

(Oh, yes. Definitely have a crush)

She asks where the others went and is told Lord Thomas is pursuing the Scottish rebels who attacked the soldier. The soldier tells Black Jack not to talk as he can’t promise not to nick him. And then he nicks him. Everything gets tense as the soldier begs for mercy. Black Jack switches places with the soldier and tells him he has to control his nerves. It looks like he will slit the soldier’s throat, but spares him at the end. The soldier all but runs from the room.

Claire is alone with Black Jack. He apologizes for his behavior when he first met Claire. She accepts. Black Jack wants to know more about her, asking for honesty. Oh boy. Claire sits down and starts to give the story about being from Oxfordshire. He interrupts and says there are no Beauchamps in Oxfordshire. She counters by saying he wouldn’t know since he’s from Sussex. Black Jack’s face changes and Claire realizes that’s something not commonly known—she only knows because of Frank. He asks how she knows and she lies, saying it’s his accent. Black Jack says his tutors and parents worked hard to lose his accent. He demands the truth.

(I'm save this for a reaction shot for my tumblr posts. Or here.)

So Claire spins another tale. This time, it’s a tale of betrayal and love. She says a soldier stole her heart and promised they’d be together forever. She ran away, following him to Scotland. But he proved to be a cad who had no intentions of staying with her. She was disgraced and upset. As she talks, Black Jack starts drawing on a napkin. He asks her for the soldier’s name but she says she wants to put it all behind her. He doesn’t push it; instead he shows her his drawing of her. She says he’s talented. Black Jack calls it “Beautiful Lies.”

Well, at least he called her beautiful.

Claire decides to harp on his sadistic side, namely the time he whipped someone (Jamie) twice in one week. Black Jack remembers it—he whipped someone down to the bone. And he’s going to tell her about it. Jamie stole a loaf of bread and was punished to be whipped for doing it. I’m not sure who got off more easily: him or Jean Valjean. But Black Jack heard that Jamie didn’t cry out at all during the punishment. And that wouldn’t do. So he decided to whip him again.

(WARNING! This part is very graphic as well. I am not using any screencaps of the gore but just the descriptions could be upsetting. Use caution when reading).

Time for a flashback! Jamie is led to the scaffold while Dougal looks on. Black Jack waits, watching Jamie. You can cut the tension with a knife. He watches as Jamie takes off his shirt, revealing his wounds. After he is shackled, Black Jack studies the handiwork of the other flogger. He seems impressed. Jamie then makes a smart remark and Black Jack gets to his bloody work. He whips Jamie a few times with the tail o’nines he holds and blood starts to run down Jamie’s back.

(Excuse me. I’m getting queasy again just thinking about it)

Black Jack says that Jamie never cried out, which spurred him to make sure Jamie really learned his lesson. One of his soldiers passed out and the people laughed. Black Jack decided to make sure no one laughed. He tells Claire that was when he decided to whip Jamie to the bone. His whipping grows frantic and everyone goes silent. A few people in the crowd look as queasy as me. But still, Jamie did not cry out or beg for mercy. That infuriated Black Jack even more.

(Excuse me. I need another moment)

I’ll spare you the images of poor Jamie afterwards, especially as I could barely stand to look at the screen during this point. The main point is that Black Jack enjoyed every minute of it. He calls it art, something beautiful. Even Claire looks sick at this point. She says, though, that she thinks there’s still some decency in him. That he can be saved. She might be thinking wishful thoughts knowing this is Frank’s ancestor.

(Claire's face says it all)

Black Jack relents and lets her stand. He seems willing to take her to Inverness…right until he punches her in the gut. As she curls up on the floor, trying to catch her breath, he grabs her hair. He tells her there is no good inside of him and he won’t take any of her pity. Black Jack calls in a young soldier and asks him if he’s ever kicked a woman. The soldier looks disturbed at this line of questioning. But Black Jack goads him into kicking Claire.

(Heroine down! I repeat, heroine down!)

Dougal bursts in at this moment, insisting he escort Claire back to their camp. Black Jack says he wants Claire delivered to him at Fort William in a few days so he can continue his interrogation. Dougal supports Claire as she limps out of the room.

They ride away from the garrison, hard and fast. Dougal has them rest at a hidden spring, where Claire catches her breath and drink some water. He once again asks if she’s a British spy. She once again denies it. He reveals that the spring has magical properties and if she had lied, the water would’ve burned her. She asks if he’s now satisfied that she’s a not a spy. He says he is. But that still leaves the problem of Black Jack. Dougal tells her that the only way he can refuse to return her to Black Jack is to turn her into a Scot. She has to marry a MacKenzie. Claire wonders if this was Ned’s idea and if she’ll have to marry Dougal. The answers are yes to the former, no to the latter. While Dougal would love to marry Claire, he has someone else in mind.

Claire sits in a field as Jamie comes down to join her. She says Dougal wants them to be married. He knows. She asks if he’s okay with this. Jamie says he’ll do anything to keep her from Black Jack. She presses on, asking if he has a sweetheart waiting for him somewhere. (CoughLaoghairecough). But Jamie says he doesn’t. He lived in a monastery for several months and he has a price on his head. Not necessarily ideal husband material right there. He stands to give her some time and she asks if he’s okay with the fact she’s not a virgin. He’s okay with it as long as she’s okay with the fact he is.

(Jamie realizes the clue truck hasn't arrived yet)

Claire thinks it over and then storms back up the hill. She grabs the nearest bottle of alcohol and storms off, showing she’s agreed. The MacKenzie men glance at Jamie, who looks a bit turned on.

I think I hear that clue truck coming. It’s about time!

That was an intense episode, huh? But Tobias Menzies and Caitriona Balfe carried it well. Though there was a lack of Jamie in this episode too. Hmm…I’m sure that’ll be rectified soon. Anyway, I hope Menzies submits this episode for Golden Globes consideration.

Next week: The wedding! *Fanfirl squeals*

Screen caps from here.