Death Be Not Proud – As this episode of Outlander begins, a box is delivered to the Mackenzie house. Fiona Graham (Iona Claire) tells Roger (Richard Rankin) and Brianna (Sophie Skelton) that she has been dying to know what is inside the box. The bank said it had been in their vault for 200 years. Once Roger opens the box, he finds a musket ball and letters. In the letter, Jamie (Sam Heughan) tells his daughter that they’re alive if she is reading the letter. In the past, Claire (Caitriona Balfe) pleads with Wendigo (Brennan Martin) to blow out the match. Jamie, Claire, and the others manage to escape the building before it blows up.

They rush to get help and put out the fire. They’re unable to put out the fire. Jamie says they’re not dead. They mention the obituaries before Claire says the bloody newspapers never get anything right. In the present, Roger suggests Brianna burned the house down although she blames mommy’s ether. Roger says Wendigo lit one of her matches. She caused a fire that they survived. Roger says it was a different fire before telling her to look at the date. The fire from the obituary didn’t happen because there was nothing left to burn. Brianna realizes that they changed history and saved them. Claire looks through the remnants of the fire.

Once she sits down with Jamie, he asks why she never says no when called to the aid of a dying man. Claire says she cannot admit there is anything to do but to go on. Ian (John Bell) gives Jamie the picture he found and asks him about Willie. Ian recognizes his face from when he was at the Ridge. He says it is a shame that they never returned. Jamie says he saw them again in Wilmington just because they saw his cousins away. He is a grown soldier who goes by William now. Ian suspects he must be proud because the boy is surely a Fraser. Jamie admits William can never know he is his son. Ian promises to never tell a soul about it. Lizzie (Caitlin O’Ryan) offers to help Claire remove the soot from her outfit. Josiah (Paul Gorman) says he and Kezzie could carry what they’ve salvaged up to Roger and Brianna’s old cabin.

They’ve looked everywhere for Adso, but haven’t been able to find him. Claire is sure he’ll turn up somewhere. Jamie approaches Mr. Arch Bug (Hugh Ross) to ask about the gold with the mark of the fleur-de-lis that was meant for Charles Stuart. He asks how it came to be in his wife’s possession. Jamie says thieves burned down his house so he won’t have any more on the Ridge. Arch tells him that it was his own blood that’s done the taking. He claims Jocasta Cameron and her husband, Hector, are the thieves. Arch says there were three of them when the gold came ashore from France. Dougal MacKenzie took one-third and Hector Cameron took another. He was the third man and tacksman to Malcolm Grant who sent him. The French gold is in America, but it came too late to make a difference to the cause.

Grant used it for the good of the clan. Arch doesn’t know what Dougal did with his gold, but Hector fled and was a traitor. Jamie asks how he found what was left of it and got it away. Arch explains he searched every time he went to River Run until he realized it was in Cameron’s crypt with him. Arch took back what that coward stole from Scotland. They argue about Arch’s oaths and whether he is a thief. Arch says the rest of the gold is somewhere Jamie will never find it. Jamie tells Mr. Bug that he is free of his oath to him. Mr. Bug is told to take his wife, leave, and not return. Arch tells his wife that it is all for nothing because they’re being sent away. Mrs. Bug (Sarah Collier) doesn’t think there is any shame in what they’ve done.

She mentions all the things they’ve done for them and argues that they’ve earned this. Later that night, Jamie and Ian keep an eye on Arch to see if he will lead them to the gold. When they approach him, he turns around and shoots at Jamie only to be hit by an arrow from Ian. Jamie is surprised to see that it is Mrs. Bug instead of Archie. Ian immediately regrets shooting her with an arrow. Jamie finds the gold. In the morning, Ian tells Claire that Mrs. Bug was always kind to him and took care of him as well as everyone else. Claire reminds him that he was protecting Jamie. She tells Ian that he just has to keep breathing for now.

Claire had to do that after speaking to Ian. She speaks to Jamie about Arch and why he’d hide the gold under their home. Jamie questions why he didn’t just let her take the gold before saying she will be missed. They prepare to bury the body while talking about guardians of the graveyards. Arch approaches because he wants to be there for his wife’s funeral. After Mrs. Bug is buried, Ian tells Arch that he is responsible for her death. Ian offers to kill himself, but Arch says that would be too easy. Arch asks if he can kill his hound instead. Ian says no because it was his crime. Claire says Arch didn’t return so they looked toward the future. Jamie and Claire try to figure out where the new house is going to stand.

Claire questions whether Jamie would like to be buried there or taken back to Scotland. He tells her to leave it out to the crows if she has to dispose of his carcass. He will never ask about her body because he can’t think of her dead. When she asks when they should start building, Jamie says he keeps thinking about Lallybroch. He swore he’d bring young Ian back to his sister long ago. Claire thinks that is a great idea. Jamie also promised that he’d never face his son across the barrel of a gun. Jamie prays that night. In the morning, he confirms he managed to get some sleep. He had another dream of her time and saw them walk up to the house. When they knocked, a woman with brown hair opened the door.

He goes on to tell Claire that Roger called a girl Fiona. Jamie saw something on the table that he had never seen before. He tells her what he saw and how Jem reached to pick it up. He said he wanted to speak to granddad. Claire tells him it was a telephone. She wishes they could call them. Outside, Ian is asked what he’ll say to his mom when he sees her. He is trying not to think too much. He explains why he gets a weird feeling when thinking about Lallybroch. Jamie tells Claire that no one on the Ridge can know about the gold’s existence. He shows her the place that he and Jem came upon and promised to tell no one about. They enter the case and talk about the dead man’s body inside. They find a place to hide the gold.

Later, Claire writes a letter to Brianna telling her that they plan on going to Scotland. Jamie writes to his daughter and tells her about the property that was once held in trust by the Camerons for an Italian gentleman. Roger reads the letter and learns that Jem knows where the property is kept. Roger and Brianna try to figure out what the letter means. They admit they’re curious because this is stuff of Legend in Scotland. Brianna doesn’t want to read all the letters at once because it’ll be like mom and dad are really gone. Roger says they can ration them out when they get back to Boston. She wants to show him a place before they leave. Jamie gives Claire another blade. Brianna and Roger visit the old house.

Jamie and Claire tell Lizzie goodbye although they promise to come back. Brianna is happy they’re there and that Mandy is healthy, but she can’t help missing them. A woman approaches to see if they’re interested in buying the house. As they prepare to leave, Claire happens to find her cat. She says goodbye to the cat and says Lizzie will give her a warm place by the fire. Claire tells the cat to go home. Jamie comforts Claire. She notices a stick nearby from the time they marked Fraser’s Ridge. Jamie tells Claire that they will come back there one day. They ride away as the episode ends.

 

Outlander Review

This episode of Outlander was just as moody as the previous two this season. It was slightly slower than the other two without much direction. It is hard to know where the series is going at this point because the core story isn’t clearly defined from any of the previous episodes. Truthfully, the season has been a little all over the place.

The performances remain solid and the scenery is excellent. The moodiness of the show is a highlight since you can always feel the emotions that the scenes are trying to portray. It just needs more focus on where it is going and what it is trying to achieve. The episode scores a 6 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.