Previously on Outlander: Jamie is kidnapped by the redcoats after the Watch tries to extract more money out of Lallybroch.
We start this week off in Lallybroch, with Claire ready to run off and find Jamie alone, and everyone else trying to talk sense into her. Even Ian is going to go, just as soon as someone carves him a wooden leg. In the end, Jenny informs Claire that she’ll go, and shuts down Claire’s protests with sharp words and a withering glare. GO JENNY.
Jenny, who has considerable tracking skills thanks to her brother and Ian, is able to lead them to a camp of redcoats. They have MacQuarrie, but there’s no sign of Jamie. What’s a ragtag band of gals to do except capture a courier and torture the information out of him? Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to know anything, but he has to die anyway, lest he go blabbing around the countryside. Claire simpers, Jenny scowls, and eventually, Murtagh shows up (called upon by Ian, and able to track the women himself). He makes his grand entrance by stabbing the courier to death so the women don’t have to.
Claire and Jenny go through the courier’s letters, and discover that Jamie has escaped. Since he’s wanted (twice over, now?), Jenny thinks he’d head north to Lallybroch.
Now that Murtagh is here, this is the perfect opportunity for Jenny to head back to her infant daughter. Before she goes, though, Claire gives her a piece of advice: start planting potato crops, and sell any non-producing land for gold. Jenny accepts this because Jamie told her that Claire might give some strange advice, but she should follow it. And then it’s time for Claire and Murtagh Take The Highlands, the strangest new buddy comedy to hit the silver screen.
Murtagh’s plan: act as conspicuous as possible so that Jamie will hear of them in the villages, and find them. This includes but is not limited to: Claire healing and telling fortunes, Murtagh dancing woodenly to boos and jeers, and finally, Murtagh presenting Claire as “The Sassenach.” He dresses her up like a man and has her sing a Scottish-themed song to the tune of “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.” It is the most awkward performance ever, and I watched through my hands – but the crowd loved it!
In fact, people loved the performance so much that a band of gypsies steals the act for themselves – which rather defeats the purpose of Jamie being able to find them. Claire confronts them, but Murtagh points out that they’ll sing the song anyway if they really want to. This, of course, doesn’t sit well with Claire, and she freaks out – including telling Murtagh that he’d never lost anyone he’d loved. Murtagh reveals no, he actually had – Jamie’s mother – and even though she’d married another man, he considered Jamie to be like a son.
Just as Claire and Murtagh reach the shore of Scotland with no luck, they receive word that someone had heard their song. Is it Jamie? Nope! It’s Dougal, and he bears the unpleasant message that Jamie has been captured and condemned to hang.
Claire isn’t going to let this happen, though, so she rallies the troops and convinces Dougal and his men to help save Jamie.
Kilt Drops: 0
Boo.
Sasse-WHAT?
- I find it amusing that I am writing this on Mother’s Day (happy Mother’s Day to all!), but WHOA at the lactation scene. I am not squeamish about the facts of life, and understand that Jenny had to do what she needed to, but I’m really surprised that they flat-out showed all of that. At length.
- Without spoilers – or with spoiler tags, if it’s unavoidable – is this still deviating from the book?
- Anyone else surprised that Jenny accepted Claire’s potato advice so readily?
Next episode: Claire finds Jamie…and Black Jack Randall.
