Outlander Recap: Is This Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe's Best Episode Yet?
So far, this season of Outlander has felt a little inert-part of that has to do, no doubt, with the fact that Jamie and Claire are living in relative isolation out at Fraser's Ridge. With Brianna on her way back into the past, we know there are plenty of emotional moments to come, but "Blood of My Blood" really ramped up the feelings quota in a very welcome way. Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan both did an incredible job portraying the Frasers' complex and subtle emotions this episode, and fans were rewarded with an extremely romantic Claire and Jamie scene at the end.
Here's what happened in this week's Outlander:
Hello, gratuitous shot of Jamie cutting wood with his giant, strong arms. Nice to see you!
Well, well, well, if it isn't Lord John Grey. The look on his face as he sees Jamie once more is so hungry I just called Papa John's. I'm starving now. "What the devil," says Jamie, which is literally what I said out loud when I saw his old friend, too.
Obsessed with John using the colonies version of "I was just in the neighborhood," which is, apparently, "I have business in Virginia," which as we all know, is not exactly close by.
John wants Jamie to understand that Willie-sorry, William-might not remember him, given it's been such a long time since they were all at Helwater. Not ideal, but Jamie thinks it's better that way.
Hoo boy-not sure I'd be so keen on attending this extremely awkward dinner. On the one hand, you have Jamie and the love of his life, Claire. Jamie is the love of John's life, and William is secretly Jamie's son, but thinks John is his father. Murtagh is politically opposed to John's acquaintance the governor, and, well, it can't be all that fun for Claire to see the child Jamie fathered under duress so long ago. What fun!
Watching William struggle to understand why Jamie wouldn't acknowledge their past acquaintance in such formal language-he's so little!-is heartbreaking. He remembers the groom "Mac" from his younger years and is understandably confused. But Jamie's hands are tied; he won't reveal that he's William's real father, so the relationship between the two is going to remain rather odd and tense, it seems.
Claire's very suspicious of John, wondering out loud why he's come to visit Fraser's Ridge when it's so far away from his own estate. (LOL, he's in love with your husband, that's why.) But she wants to make sure he's not doing the governor's dirty work in North Carolina. Consider John warned!
What with Brianna growing up in the future and William being raised as someone else's son, Jamie has experienced a lot of loss and sorrow about children. While he's certainly had young people like Young Ian and Fergus to care for, it's sad to remember that he hasn't been able to fully experience fatherhood, unlike Frank and Claire. Sam Heughan did some really beautiful work in this episode.
"As soon as our guests leave, I'll be expecting your full attention." You tell him, Claire!!!!!!!!!
Unfortunately, ClaMie's sexy time has to wait, because Lord John has the measles. Priority number one is to keep William away so that he won't also be infected, so off he goes with Jamie on a tour of Fraser's Ridge. But if John thinks recovery is going to be a nice lie down, he's in for a surprise. Claire is not the kind of person to keep her opinions to herself, even when talking to a convalescent. After he describes his late wife Isabel as a kind of "sister," she asks whether Isabel could have been happy with that arrangement. "You cannot at all be a comfortable woman to live with," says John.
John and Claire really raise each other's hackles, and their mutual love of Jamie and respective long separations from him make them both very prickly. Caitriona Balfe is so good in this episode, too.
Gross, I really didn't need to see those steaming entrails fall out of the deer. Whatever it takes to get some father–son bonding in, I suppose.
Little William is a fiery little soul. All of a sudden, following a delicious(?) repast of deer liver, he becomes very upset, and tells Jamie it's his fault for John becoming ill. If John dies, William will blame Jamie. This whole "secret dad" thing is not all it's cracked up to be!
Meanwhile, back at the cabin, John is getting worse. In his feverish state, he finally reveals that there is something Jamie and him share that Claire doesn't know about; she's shocked to hear that Jamie offered himself to John back at Helwater in exchange for his taking care of William.
Now William's gone and run away. Bad move, Willie! Now he's gone and taken a fish from Cherokee land. Even worse move, Willie! Some of the Cherokee men arrive and say that he must pay with blood for the fish he took. Distraught, Jamie offers himself instead, saying that he's William's father and that their blood is the same. Then, taking after both his fathers in self-sacrificing bravery, it seems, William denies it and says the theft was all his fault. After all that, the young Cherokee man leaves William with just a small cut on his hand-perhaps because of his courage.
It appears that John is much better. He's repentant for his sickbed confessions and explains to Claire what actually saddens him the most-it's not that Jamie won't love him, which he's known forever. Rather, he sees Claire's happiness and knows that because he's gay, he never provided that satisfaction to his own wife. Claire apologizes too. She knows her frostiness was due to the fact that Jamie and John did spend so much time together.
Proving that Outlander really want to make us cry this episode, William asks Jamie a question that's clearly been troubling him for a long time. He wants to know why Jamie didn't look back at him when he left Helwater all those years ago. Poor baby! But Jamie's answer-that he didn't want to give William false hope, because he didn't think they'd ever see each other again-seems to satisfy him, even though it seems to be a bit of a dodge on Jamie's part.
Claire and John are on the same page now. She understands all too well his situation, and tells him he also deserves to find the kind of love she and Jamie have together. It's a kind thing to say; while John has wealth and a son, he is one of the most romantically tragic characters in the show.
Of course, on his way out of Fraser's Ridge, li'l William turns back to look at Jamie. It's his way of showing that he hopes they'll see each other again. I'M NOT CRYING, YOU'RE CRYING.
Okay, NOW it's sexy time. Or it would be if Jamie weren't so goddamn thoughtful. Out comes the ring he's had Murtagh secretly make for Claire from his mother's candlesticks. Who knew Murtagh was so talented? The ring is exquisite-it makes Claire so happy, and that's before she even sees the inscription, which reads "Give me a thousand kisses" in Gaelic. Obviously, they have to start on those smooches right away. Some of the other affectionate scenes in this season have felt a little shoehorned in, but this romantic scene-also long-awaited by fans-feels even more tender and important because of the emotionally intense events of the episode.
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