Outlander is now setting sail for a new destination, which was apparent from the get-go with an updated title sequence and intro song. Plus we all know that with a new location there will be plenty of new faces and action for our favourite couple.
Last week’s episode saw Jamie (Sam Heughan), Claire (Caitriona Balfe), and young Ian (John Bell) return to Lallybroch where Claire finally discovered Jamie’s big secret—he remarried and his wife so happens to be Laoghaire (Nell Hudson). This causes much drama for the pair, especially when Claire assumes Joan to be his daughter. There’s also the added drama with Jenny (Laura Donnelly) who is quite unwelcoming to Claire, Jamie being shot by Laoghaire, and then Ned Gowan (Bill Patterson) returning to instruct that Jamie’s second marriage is void. This left Laoghaire wanting compensation from Jamie, which would come from retrieving the jewels from Selkie Island where young Ian swam across to, but only to be taken aboard an unknown ship.
Setting Sail
Jamie’s cousin Jared Fraser (Robert Cavanah) returns to loan his ship named Artemis so they can go after young Ian, who appears to be heading to Jamaica. Jamie then enquires if Mr Willoughby (Gary Young) and Fergus (César Domboy) have arrived, to which the crew replies that Willoughby has, but Fergus is bringing some “baggage” with him. Jamie believes Ian’s capture is punishment for wanting too much, and says he’ll take Claire back to the stones if she desires, except Claire will go after Ian first. As for Jenny and Ian, they believe the pair are heading to France, and Jamie will send a letter explaining the situation.
After setting sail, Claire wonders why she’s being ignored, and as it turns out, women and redheads are bad luck on a ship according to their superstitions so thus the horseshoe for everyone to touch—but personally, that pair are just bad luck in general.
Fergus appears and with him is Laoghaire’s other daughter, Marsali (Lauren Lyle). The two have been handfast and Jamie is not happy about this news, although they have been apparently courting for a while. Jamie only wants to know if he’s bedded her and since he hasn’t, it’s not binding so Marsali will be sent home. This doesn’t sit well with Marsali so she blackmails Jamie by saying she’ll say she’s been bedded so either she’s ruined or she can remained married. Naturally Jamie isn’t happy with this, so he decides Fergus will sleep in his room with Claire and Marsali together… Great idea Jamie!
A Rocky Start
Jamie is already feeling unwell so Claire gives him ginger tea and discovers Jamie held onto some of Claire’s clothes from their time in Paris. Claire then dines with Captain Raines (Richard Dillane) and says both Marsali and herself should be bare-breasted to counteract the bad luck they bring with them.
Later on, Jamie and Fergus talk, who assumed Jamie would be happy by the marriage, but Jamie says Fergus must be honest about everything, including the women he’s already slept with. Marsali later confronts Jamie as she knows all about Fergus, and Claire says she should “give them a chance” because it may help it to fizzle out, except Jamie will not allow it still.
Jamie remains sick and Willoughby enquires as to how long Jamie will keep going because if he does, they’ll have to remove certain parts from Jamie’s nether-regions—and there’s no way he wants to lose the family jewels! Claire continues to tend to wounds and produce medicine, just like her days at Castle Leoch and she soon walks in on Willoughby treating Jamie with acupuncture. A sheepish Jamie was embarrassed to admit he was seeking treatment elsewhere, when he realises they’re not moving as the wind has stopped—which is most likely because of the bad luck on the ship.
Claire and Jamie steal sweet moments together, such as when they look out onto the ocean and towards the moon speaking of Brianna (Sophie Skelton) who Claire is missing.
Stuck In The Middle of Nowhere
The ship has remained motionless for weeks and their water has gone bad with the crew being reduced to half rations. The superstitious crew suggests to throw the person who has brought bad luck to the ship overboard, but Jamie won’t allow it. However, the man who didn’t touch the horse shoe gets drunk and climbs the mast with Jamie racing after him. He convinces the man to not jump, and the crew soon turn Jamie into the “Jonah” by threatening and chanting for him to jump.
Luckily, the odd Mr. Willoughby spies a bird flying low and begins ringing the bell to gain the attention of everyone when he begins to tell his life story. He speaks of being asked to join the household of the Emperor’s Second Wife, but all servants of the wives must be eunuchs. Unfortunately for Willoughby, he did not want to lose his manhood as he had fallen in love with womankind. His reasoning behind this was quite amusing too, e.g. “the warmth of a mound that fills your hand like a ripe peach”.
So he fled the country to Scotland where women now will not consider him and in a dramatic move, he flings his written story into the air. The papers are swept up by a gust of wind and this is greeted by the sounds of joy from the crew. Willoughby later reveals he knew the wind was coming because the bird flew low signalling that it would soon rain.
Prisoner To The British
As the rain belts down, Claire and Jamie find a spare few moments to be alone and afterwards, Jamie continues to be the gentleman most women desire by saying he likes Claire’s grey hairs showing through.
Alas, that’s all the time they get when a British ship sails towards them and signals that they will board the Artemis, which is concerning as they can press men into service. It turns out that they require a surgeon due to an outbreak, and that so happens to be Claire. She agrees to help, although Jamie doesn’t want her to so she explains to him it sounds like typhoid fever and since she’s from the future, she can’t catch it.
She boards the ship and inspects the sick, and says she will stay for a little while much to the delight of Captain Leonard (Charlie Hiett) to help contain the outbreak, despite most of those who have it will die. She begins preparations only to discover the boat is moving and they are setting sail for shore and taking Claire against her will.
Overall Thoughts?
After last week, Outlander finally feels like Outlander once again, and it seemed to keep up this episode. Although the majority of it was all in one place, there was still quite a bit of action to watch. One thing about Outlander is that although it’s a drama filled with romance and action, it always has more profound moments mixed in with a little comedic relief to help balance it out. Mr Willoughby definitely provided some much-needed chuckles this episode, and it seems poor Claire and Jamie will never be left alone for more than a few minutes.
As for Marsali and Fergus, I do wish we could see more of that relationship and perhaps that could have been slightly alluded to at Lallybroch by Marsali enquiring about him. Also, we lost a chunk of what happened with Willoughby and Fergus after the print-shop burned down—did Fergus ever stop that man? Or shall we just forget about that minor plot and let it drift off into the ocean?
With only four episodes left for this season, we have quite a bit of Voyager to pack in and thank goodness that there are no mini breaks between now and the Season 3 finale!
What did you think of this week’s episode? Tell us in the comments below!
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