A Life Well Lost – As the first episode of Outlander begins, Claire Randall (Caitriona Balfe) is shown on the gallows with a noose around her neck. A man in the audience, Richard, watches her and she stares at him. After she is pushed, Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) hears someone asking for Uncle Jamie. He believes she lives because he’d feel it if she were gone. Young Ian (John Bell) tells him that John Quincy and the Cherokee are away back to the Ridge to make sure all is well. Jamie wants to go get his wife. At the jail, Sadie Ferguson (Sarah Finigan) asks Claire whether he gave her money. She tells Claire to send for some Holland.

Maisie Tolliver (Liza Sadovy) comes over to say hello to Mrs. Fraser. Maisie tells Claire how she’ll receive a meal each day and will have access to a basin for washing. Sadie tells her to stuff her customs because Claire has money and they want a bottle of Geneva. Claire asks her to get a word to her family, but Maisie admits she can’t do that. Sadie asks Claire if she is the murderess. Then, she invites her to play a card game called Brag. Claire learns that Sadie is locked up for forgery. Since Claire doesn’t want to play for money, they decide to use beans instead. Claire is told that no one has been tried in the last two months. The court is shut down because the justices have gone into hiding. Sadie doesn’t think she should be in a hurry since they can’t hang her until they try her.

Claire insists she is innocent. Sadie believes the sheriff should be the one worrying about hanging. The rebels have made it hell and there is unrest in the streets. Sadie asks what ails her. Claire admits she couldn’t tell her just how long the war would last. The court will likely remain closed for years to come and they would languish there without rescue. Brianna (Sophie Skelton) asks Roger (Richard Rankin) if he is going to be okay with Reverend McMillan. He thinks he’ll be okay although he believes Reverend McMillan wants to test his mettle. She questions what one would even say to a preacher. Reverend McMillian (Iain MacRae) thanks Brianna and asks Roger if he is ready. They speak to a group of prisoners. When Roger repeats a Muhammad Ali quote, one of the men recognizes it.

He tells Roger he is a traveler and needs help. The man identifies himself as Wendigo Donner (Brennan Martin). Roger knows he was one of Lionel Brown’s men, but Wendigo insists he didn’t do anything to Claire. He claims he was going to help her get away. Wendigo was conscripted from jail although he isn’t a thief. He just needed a gemstone to get back to his own time. Even though he has it, he is still stuck there. He came back to help the Indian Nations until the plan got screwed up. Wendigo pleads with Roger to help him. Claire and the other women work at the jail. Lieutenant Tate (Harri Pitches) comes in looking for the healer. He eventually takes Claire with him. Young Ian and Jamie Fraser make it to the jail only for Tom Christie (Mark Lewis Jones) to tell them Claire is gone.

Ian finds out that the soldiers were looking for a healer so they took Claire. Margit tells them about Sadie trying to take responsibility for the murder charge. Sadie tells Jamie that he should talk to Mrs. Tolliver who is the sheriff’s wife. When she comes in, Mrs. Tolliver tells Jamie that Claire was taken on her husband’s orders. He has gone to quell some unrest because rebels are on their way to take Fort Johnston. Claire is taken to Elizabeth Martin (Reanne Farley) who learns she came from the jail. Elizabeth complains about having to run and hide on the ship. Claire promises that she can help so she offers to examine her. Elizabeth has been vomiting all night and she sweated through the sheets.

She tells Claire about the tonics she has been taking. Elizabeth begins worrying that Claire is the one who murdered her husband’s pregnant mistress and cut the baby from her womb. Claire says she wasn’t his mistress and she didn’t kill her. Elizabeth admits she is the talk of the town although her husband doesn’t have time for gossip. Claire gives her tea because she needs fluids for her sake and the baby’s. Elizabeth reveals she has had six children only to lose three of them. She’d rather die than lose another one because it would break her husband’s heart. Claire doesn’t think she’ll have to worry about that since she probably just ate something that disagrees with her. She will ask her husband to send for some different medicine.

Elizabeth won’t say anything about the charge if Claire doesn’t. Brianna wonders why Roger has so much food and a hammer. She suspects he is taking that stuff to Wendigo. Roger thought he’d put in a good word for him with the officers. Brianna reminds him that Wendigo stood by and did nothing while her mother was brutally attacked. Roger doubts he could’ve done anything without getting killed. He tells her what Wendigo is doing there and how he just wants to go home. She doesn’t think he would’ve stood by and watched women get hurt. Roger admits he watched Bonnet throw a child overboard on the ship and her mother jumped in after her. He explains why he didn’t do anything to help. She walks away from him. Governor Josiah Martin (Eugene O’Hare) is told it isn’t a good idea to try to attack in this fog.

He speaks to Lieutenant Tate about the rebels and the Redcoats. Tate recommends sailing north for the sake of his family. Claire interrupts to take Josiah if she can go to Wilmington to fetch some supplies for his wife. While they argue about it, men come aboard in the name of King George’s Army. Josiah tells Claire to make a list and they’ll send a messenger to collect whatever she needs. He makes it clear that Claire will remain on the ship for the duration of their voyage. Major Donald MacDonald (Robin Laing) comes in to confirm that they’ve lost Fort Johnston. Jamie and Ian try to get more information about Claire’s whereabouts. Major MacDonald mentions the murder allegation against Claire. He asks if her husband has declared himself for the Crown.

Donald suggests there is doubt about Jamie’s integrity. Josiah asks him to leave. Tom Christie receives a note from Claire to see if he can get the items for the patient onboard HMS Cruizer. Tate tells him that he’ll wait for him at the harbor. Tom notices that “vir meus” is written on the list. Claire tells Josiah that she assumed he knew what her charge was and was turning a blind eye. Claire says he needed her help and she gave it. She explains that she is innocent and found the woman in question already dead. She did whatever she could to save the unborn child. Claire will also do whatever she can for Elizabeth and the baby. Josiah talks about his painful losses. He questions what Claire and her husband’s personal convictions are. Josiah admits being charged with murder is one thing, but being accused of treason is another.

Tom Christie runs into Jamie and tells him where Claire is. Claire is relieved to see Jamie board the boat. When he speaks to Josiah, he is told his wife is a prisoner of the Crown. Jamie says he declared martial law so he has custody over any prisoners. He pleads with Josiah to release his wife. Josiah is a reasonable man so he offers him a proposition. He tells Jamie to gather as many men as he can and report to Major MacDonald. He will need to commit his troop to MacDonald’s campaign. Once Josiah receives word that he has 200 men, he will release Claire. Jamie speaks to his wife before leaving. Roger approaches Brianna and tries to smooth things over with her. He confirmed he hasn’t helped a certain conscript escape.

Roger admits he wants to do something for him though. He is going to help Wendigo by praying for him. Once he does, Brianna tells him he is going to be a great minister. Jamie tells Ian that he will be going back to the ship and he will do whatever he must. Tom approaches Jamie and tells him that he is the answer to his prayers. Over the years, Tom has watched men come to Jamie to ask for help. Tom offers to go to the ship and tell the governor what he has done. Jamie swore to Claire that she’d have the protection of his name. Tom argues that he will honor that promise by letting him go to her. He doesn’t have a clan of his own so Jamie should let him do this. Jamie asks Tom to send Claire back to him. Tom reveals that Claire told them what she would’ve said about Malva at her funeral.

He doesn’t know what type of burial awaits him, but he knows he won’t have an eulogy. He wonders what Jamie might’ve said about him. Jamie would say that Tom Christie was an honorable Scot and a leader of men in his own way. Tom goes to the ship where he tells Claire that she’ll see Jamie soon. He has come to confess to the murder of his daughter. The girl was a witch and so was her mother. Tom reveals that Malva was his brother’s daughter. When the Rising came, he declared for the Stuarts. His brother, Edgar, begged him not to go. Tom asks him to look after his wife and Allan. Mona was a witch and an enchantress. He succumbed to her. He tried to save her with prayer, but she was eventually hanged for the murder of his brother.

By the time Malva came to him, she already had it. He tried to stop her from working her wiles upon men. When Claire says she was with a child, Tom doesn’t think it is wrong to prevent another witch from entering the world. He reveals that she tried to kill him and Claire. They talk about how she lusted after wealth and freedom. He has been waiting his entire life for something he knew existed. He thought it was God, but the love of God alone could not sustain him. Tom confirms he has written down his confession. He has left a copy with the newspaper in Wilmington. Once they publish it, Claire will go free. Tom wants the chance to give his life to someone who is worthy of his love. Claire is taken to land where she reunites with Jamie.

Jamie explains that Tom told him what he wanted to do and he didn’t make him confess. Claire says it didn’t make sense that he didn’t speak up in front of Brown. Jamie wondered if it was Brown who killed Malva himself. She just can’t believe it was Tom and hopes he didn’t make that confession for her. Jamie says she has done no wrong to Tom if he feels the same way he does. Jamie approaches Richard Brown after seeing his horse. Jamie doesn’t want a drink until after. Richard warns him that his kin will hunt him down if he harms a hair on his head. Jamie says his nephew and the Indian he tormented will be paying his men a visit. Any goodness that prevails in Jamie is because of his wife. Richard doesn’t think Jamie will kill him in cold blood. Jamie tells him to make peace with the lord before coming after him.

 

Outlander Review

The opening episode of Outlander’s seventh season was a pleasant surprise although it was a little slow. The performances remain solid and there is genuine chemistry between the characters. The camerawork and cinematography are refreshing without being over-the-top or too stylish.

The story is interesting enough although it is hard to know what the future holds from this episode alone. Instead, the episode primarily focused on saving Claire and letting her rejoin Jamie. It also did a good job of being moody even though there wasn’t a lot going on.

It was good enough to get me interested in the rest of the season and that hasn’t happened a lot recently. This episode scores a 6.5 out of 10. Recaps of Outlander can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising on Reel Mockery here.