While an improvement from 705, I must admit this episode was a little bit of a downer for me. I had some high expectations because of being a book reader. The retreat from Ticonderoga was pretty epic in the books, and I couldn’t wait to see it come to life on screen. So I felt a little let down by this episode. It’s kinda like bread dough that been left out too long, and it’s over proofed. It’s still ok but doesn’t taste quite right. Homemade jam can cover most of the sins of over proofed bread but something still feels a little off.

After the opening credits roll, William arrives at my favorite pencil fort, where it’s now under British control. We see him meet Robert the Bruce – I mean Brigadier General Fraser.

Meanwhile, American forces cross the water and are on the run. Rachel is trying to comfort a distraught woman, Mrs. Raven. Mrs. Raven is worried that Ian being an Indian will hurt her. Rachel says Ian is gentle as a lamb. If only Rachel knew….

However, it’s pretty easy to see that Mrs. Raven isn’t gonna last long. She’s scared, paranoid, and prone to hysteria. She is definitely is gonna be one of the first ones caught, and Claire or Rachel are gonna get sucked in with her.

Roger goes to talk to Jem’s principal and get roped in teaching Gaelic. Like a true teacher, he can’t say no. I love how he blames Jem’s knowledge of Gaelic curses on Grandda Jamie.

Back in the past, Claire goes after a lost Mrs. Raven. Sadly, Mrs Raven takes her own life and Claire gets captured. Jamie & Ian find Mrs. Raven’s corpse and due to their tracking skills, they figure out Claire was taken. Poor Claire ends up back at Ticonderoga and goes into head doctor mode, telling the British soldiers what’s what. She finds poor Walter Woodcock, who isn’t doing well. Claire’s already lost one patient, and I’m afraid she’s going to lose more.

Meanwhile, William checks in with the sketchy Captain Richardson. I fear William is trying so hard to move up the ranks that he’s failing to use all of his skills to read Richardson correctly. Young William is still learning to “wax on, wax off.”

Back with the prisoners, Walter and company aren’t doing well. Claire goes on the warpath and tears into William, demanding food, water, medicine, and supplies. At first overjoyed to see Mrs. Fraser, the savior of Daddy LJG’s battle with the measles, William is horrified when he realizes Claire is a rebel. He promises to help, but their supply lines are behind. I’m sure they’d all like some bread, even if it happened to be over proofed.

What isn’t proofed or even baked are Bree and Roger’s theories on time travel. While William’s half-sister is explaining to Roger the details of the time travel portal in the tunnel, they connect the dots and figure out of the ley lines for Roger’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to Time Travel. Unfortunately he forgets he has to go do a Gaelic presentation at Jem’s school. Bree grabs a whole bunch of things of Roger’s desk to help him get out the door, including the Time Traveler’s Guide. This won’t end well…

Meanwhile a cute friend of William’s stops by with some of the things Claire asked for, including a flask of whisky. He delivers one of the best lines of the episode. Claire asks him how he knew who she way. He says Williams told him she was the “curly wig giving order like a Major General.” That’s our Claire. She’ll fight whoever to get what her patients need.

Back to the Future (and pop culture reference totally intentional there), Roger gives a great presentation at Jem’s school. We also get a great reference back to Season 1 when Roger brings up the waulking songs. Richard Rankin does a fabulous job singing the call and response songs. Roger has Jem and his friend pass out some materials. Unfortunately, his Time Traveler’s guide was in with the materials and is found by that no-good Rob Cameron. His smile is a sweet as jam. Actually, it’s too sweet. It’s like someone dumped a whole bunch of sugar in the jam and now you feel sick because it’s too sweet. Although props to the costume department for the 80’s style. I think my dad had the same leather coat Rob was wearing.

The only person who is genuinely sweet is Walter. Sadly, he is getting worse. Claire can’t do much but give him comfort as he passes. In true Claire fashion, she encourages him to think of something he loves. It reminds me of Season 1, during the wild boar hunt when she helps a hurt clansman pass away peacefully. Not too long afterwards, Young Ian shows up to rescue Claire. Kudos to Jamie for learning he doesn’t always have to go in and save Claire. Think smarter, not harder. He’s definitely up to Mr. Miyagi’s standards. However, as luck would have it, Ian’s cousin Williams spots him, and the jig is up. William realizes what Ian is doing, aka rescuing William’s unofficial step-mom (well realizing the rescue part, not the unofficial step-mom part). While William argues with Ian, his real dad Jamie sets a distraction. William lets them go since Ian saved his life. They are quitsies, even, debt paid, score settled, tit for tat., through.

Ian and Claire find Jamie. Poor Claire struggles with survivors guilt. She downs some brandy, and she gives the second best line of the episode. Jamie asks he where she got the brandy, and she says “your son.” Mic drop………

Jamie, Ian, and Claire join back up with the American forces. Just when you think the episode is over, we see Ian go to find Rollo. Rollo has made friends with Rachel. True love means dog sitting…things are moving fast. Hands touch while petting Rollo. William doesn’t stand a chance with Rachel because he doesn’t have a dog.

Jamie catches some dinner, and it impresses Daniel Morgan. Before he knows it, Jamie joins Morgan’s riflemen and becomes at 18th century sniper. Claire’s grateful as it should keep Jamie off the front line. But things are headed towards the infamous battle of Saratoga. Claire & Jamie have a sweet conversation in their tent, which includes the next best line, “tell me about my son.”

And just when you think the episode has ended on a sweet note, we go back to the 80’s, where it seems that Roger is chilling and putting the groceries away. But he notices someone is at the window. He runs outside and catches Buck MacKenzie, his great-granddaddy many times over. Buck also happened to get Roger hung at Alamance. So what in the world is he doing here in the future? Like a roux, the plot thickens…

Overall, it’s a good episode. It’s definitely better than 705 (sorry any 705 fans that thought it was the best episode of season 7), and we get some great book lines in the show. I’d love to know what non-book readers thought. While my book reader expectations got deflated like over proofed dough, maybe the real problem lies in too much story and not enough air time to tell it well. I thought the episode was over when they reached the American camp, but then we saw Rachel, Rollo & Ian together, as well as the great pillow talk with Claire and Jamie. (Although the term “pillow talk” makes me think of this). Though I’m glad we got those wonderful moments, they felt like afterthoughts. In fact, this episode reminds me of meat that didn’t get a chance to marinade long enough. It was delicious, but if we had been given a little bit more episode time to flesh some things out and be a little more cohesive, it would have been even better.

Comfort Food: No-Knead Artisan Bread – side note, if you do over proof your yeast bread dough, turn it into pizza dough or foccacia.

Dram: Courvoisier. I’m not much of a brandy fan, but I Courvoisier isn’t bad. It doesn’t have the the smokiness of whisky, which is why I haven’t dabbled too much. I’d love to hear what your favorite brandies are.

Song: Somebody That I Use to Know

The more I was writing, the more I realized this song is perfect for the episode. Yes, it’s about a break up. But in many ways, the lyrics match perfectly for our characters. For example, one of the lines is “You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness.” Mrs. Raven is someone who is addicted to her sadness. You can tell she’s been through a lot, but she would rather believe the worst than what is true. In the book, she seems to be a hypochondriac that starts to relish in the morbid surgeries Claire has to perform. She starts to lose her grip on reality. The theme of betrayal in the song also fits perfectly for William. He’s delighted to see Claire, until he realizes she’s a rebel. He helps her out of memory of Claire’s kindness towards him and Lord John when they visited the Ridge. He also feels the deception and betrayal from Ian when he comes to rescue Claire. If only William knew he was actually Ian’s cousin. This song is also perfect for Claire. Over the years, as Claire has treated patients, the ones that she hasn’t been able to save are all people that she used to know. I think Claire feels the depth of that loss at the end as she tells Jamie about what happened to her. There are so many somebodies that she used to know, and now Walter Woodcock is another.

Spoiler thoughts ahead if you are on a rewatch

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Awww…Lieutenant Sandy….so cute and sweet. Too bad he dies in the next episode…

I love seeing the highland coo crafts on the wall at Jem’s school! I don’t think I caught that on my first watch. 

The rewatch was enjoyable and yet how much was paired down from the books makes my heart sad for all the lovely details missed. It makes me wonder if the episode is more cohesive for non-book readers. 

Seeing Buck and Rob at the end of the episode sets many things in place for what will happen throughout the rest of the season. I love the character arcs each one goes through. 

If only Claire and William knew in this episode that they’d become step-mom and step-son 2x over in season 7…

I’m still hoping for an Ian and William adventure in Season 8.  We see the beginning of a great chemistry between the two characters and actors.

I’m bummed we didn’t get more with Principal Menzies. He’s got a great role in the books. Now we’ll never know his greatness in the show…