The Power of Love, Blossoming Relationships & How Physical Closeness is Much More than Just Sex
This week’s episode is another engaging hour of telly, filled with action and relationships, the cornerstone of all the best Outlander episodes. First and foremost, there is the love between Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitriona Balfe), so strong it can even give death a good run for its money. We also see how relationships, once so antagonistic, have thawed into friendship and true affection both between Claire and Marsali (Lauren Lyle) and Jamie and Roger (Richard Rankin).
That’s some journey given the initial antipathy between Claire and Marsali when they first met to Marsali now regarding Claire as a mother figure. And as for Jamie and Roger, their first meeting was even less auspicious, bearing in mind that the first time Jamie met Roger he almost beat him to death and then sold him into slavery. On that score, I have to say Roger is a lot more forgiving than I ever would be. Last but not least, there is the love of a mother for a child as when Brianna (Sophie Skelton) risks her own life to save that of her son’s from a marauding buffalo (don’t ask).
The catalyst for events in this episode is a buffalo hunt. Unfortunately, while Roger and Jamie are separated from the other men, Jamie is bitten by a snake. Unaware of what has befallen Jamie, the men return back home leaving Roger and Jamie to spend the night outdoors where Jamie’s condition becomes progressively worse. It is clear Jamie believes he is dying and is forced to inform Roger of his plan to kill Stephen Bonnet and that should he die then Roger should kill Bonnet in his place.
From a different era and with a much different mind-set, Roger is unsure if he can kill someone in cold blood. (Jamie has never been as fussy as evidenced by his quick dispatch of Lieutenant Knox a while back). However, what does become evident is that the one thing these two men have grown to have in common is a friendship and mutual respect with Jamie finally forgiving Roger for his initial hesitation about coming back to Brianna.
Fortunately for Roger and Jamie, Ian (John Bell) realises that something is wrong and organises a search party to look for them. Jamie’s condition has worsened and believing he is about to die at any minute his last thoughts are naturally about Claire and his family. For Jamie, nothing is more important than family.
Once back at the Ridge, we know Jamie’s condition is bad simply from the look on Claire’s face. Matters aren’t helped as Claire’s needle to inject her home-made penicillin (not a phrase you hear every day) was broken by Lionel Brown at the Battle of Alamance. Forced to give Jamie penicillin orally, Claire fears it won’t be effective enough to stop the infection and she might have to amputate.
The one thing that is made clear throughout this particular storyline is how well Claire and Jamie know and love each other. Jamie can tell Claire fears he might die without her having to say one single word to him on the subject. Aware that Claire may amputate his leg in a last-ditch attempt to save him, Jamie forces Claire to promise if it comes to it that she will let him die instead. This puts Claire in an impossible position; to amputate and let him live with the amputated leg as a constant reproach that she did not keep her word to him; or let the infection take hold and leave him to die and thus lose the love of her life.
If that’s not enough drama going on in the Fraser/MacKenzie household, Roger informs Brianna of Jamie’s plan to kill Bonnet. He points out that under 18th century law Bonnet might be able to take Jemmy away from them, should he be able to prove he sired Jemmy. At first Brianna is sceptical, but then Roger tells her that although Brianna was raped by Bonnet, the rape would be dismissed out of hand, given the prevalent belief at that time that God would never allow a woman to become pregnant during a rape, and therefore she must have been a willing participant. Knowing Bonnet for the unscrupulous bastard he is, and that he is armed with the knowledge that Jemmy is the sole beneficiary of Jocasta’s fortune this does not bode well for the MacKenzies nor Jocasta.
Meanwhile, Jamie insists on being taken to his own bed, fearing it’s his last night on earth. Here he admits to Roger and Ian that he will not allow his leg to be amputated as a ‘matter of honour’. Ian shows his some tough love, angry and ashamed of Jamie that he would rather die, and reminding him that both Fergus (César Domboy) and Ian’s own father have amputated limbs and that neither are less of a person because of it.
As the night progresses, Jamie asks Claire to sleep with him and touch him before he sleeps. It’s an incredibly moving scene. Jamie fearing he is about to die and Claire fearing she is about to lose him. Lying with him, Claire manages to bring him back from the edge. As love scenes go it’s an unusual one but underscores beautifully the love they both feel for each other and that physical closeness is much more than just sex.
It seems Claire’s presence has done the trick. The next morning, Jamie is through the worst and agrees to have his leg amputated. Luckily, Brianna arrives in the nick of time with a home-made syringe made from a snake’s fang (not a phrase you hear every day), enabling Claire to treat the infection and save Jamie’s leg.
But perhaps the biggest shock in this episode is that Fergus gets to say more than just the odd line. Maybe César Domboy has had a massive falling out with the production team, but whatever the reason, this season the character of Fergus has been downgraded to a bit part and we’ve hardly seen him let alone heard him. It’s a shame because he’s a great character. This time round he’s actually in two whole scenes where he gets to speak more than the odd line; the one with Ian and a rather more dramatic scene where he’s in the forest with his two young children when Marsali goes into labour. Given he’s only got one hand and two young kids to keep an eye on that’s going to be some birth. Fortunately we don’t get to witness it: we just see that the new born baby is alive and well.
All in all this was a great episode. Heughan was fantastic as Jamie but no doubt his performance will be overlooked as it always seems to be by most award ceremonies besides those voted for by the public. The story is hotting up nicely – we know something will soon be afoot at Wylie’s Landing and that Stephen Bonnet is bound to make an unwelcome appearance anytime soon. The last three episodes have shown that when Outlander gets it right, it really is great telly with characters we care deeply about. Let’s hope the last couple of episodes continue in the same vein.
