What a crazy episode! Finally I feel like the flow of this episode was much better. Not too fast, not too jolted. I’ll be curious to see what it will be like to watch these recent 3 episodes back to back, if they would flow more together on a binge vs weekly releases. 

Maybe it’s all the shortbread and whiskey I had during this episode, but this had so many amazing things in this episode. Claire in her grief was again riveting and crushing. I think the show chose the right way to frame her grief and struggle with taking her own life. I’ve had my dark moments where it’s easy to think I can’t go on, and it was the realization that my kids were much worse off without me than with me that helped me fight to stay. It’s also sweet to see how much Young Ian loves Claire. It’s evident that to lose his father, Jamie, and Claire (if she chose to go back to the future) would be so hard on him. Ian lets Claire know she is loved and not alone. And to hear her admit that the future doesn’t feel like home anymore is that reminder that home is the people you love. She and Jamie were committed to helping create America for Bree. So here she will stay, even if it means dancing with spies and going to one social event a week.  I did think Claire having to commit to one social event a week was a great callback to Season 3 when Claire was trying to gather the energy to go to Frank’s staff party. 

As for the BIG EVENT as us readers call it, aka John and Claire “not grieving alone,” I’ll be curious to see what non-book readers think. I was so mad at Diana and Claire when I first read. It’s not how I would choose to grieve but Claire and I are very different individuals. It took subsequent reads to understand what a dark place Claire and John both were in and trying to put the pieces of their lives back together. Poor LJG had scratches all over his chest so he took a good beating by being Claire’s punching bag during their relations. I think it was tastefully shot to show that their sleeping together was not about cheating or getting over Jamie or lust. They both had some big emotions and lots of alcohol and took their pain out on each other. Pain bonds people and while their marriage was short-lived, in an odd way, both loving Jamie and being married allowed them to be honest with someone about how bad their grief was. John can’t tell anyone. We see that from William questioning LJG about marrying Claire. And Claire wouldn’t and couldn’t put that pain on Young Ian. There aren’t therapists in Philly. Claire can’t go to the gym to work out some of these emotions. I mean, her gym these past 10 years has been Jamie Fraser.

I loved Ian & Rachel’s scenes and we finally got a kiss! I think Ian’s got a winner in Rachel. She hears him out on Ian’s complicated past, doesn’t bat an eye and just accepts him. Although Ian’s gonna have to work on his communication skills. Rachel was very confused that his wife was still alive. But I do love how Ian said he chooses Rachel and hopes she chooses him as well.

We finally got a tiny bit of Bree this week. That Rob Cameron is a greasy pig. Sorry Cameron, hate to break it to you but Bree’s dealt with worse. It was satisfying to see her take him out with a frying pan. Nothing like Le Creuset! Bree’s always gonna have some PTSD from Bonnet, but it has been nice this season to see her finally get her groove back between having some great chemistry with Roger, calling out sexists coworkers, that amazing job interview (“What part of the job requires a penis?”), and barely flinching when Rob takes a kitchen knife out and takes him out instead. This is the daughter of Jamie and Claire Fraser. Wee Cameron doesna know he picked the wrong girl to try and intimidate. Although I would have still liked to have seen her beat him with her jeans like she did in the book. 

Roger and Buck really hit a standstill this week. No Jem Jr or Jem Sr (aka Daddy). I think Roger’s figured out Jem Jr. isn’t here and is losing hope about Jem Sr. Although his Presbyterian beliefs are making him wonder if he was predestined for this all along.

David Berry hit it out of the park this week. The grief felt real, although I wonder if chess is his kind of foreplay. LJG was so honest and vulnerable with Claire after the BIG EVENT. After answering all of Claire’s direct questions, he leaves the bedroom with grace and dignity for both him and Claire. I love how he explains to Claire why he says no to Henry marrying Mercy. It’s not him being racist or elitist. He simply knows what it would do to the family and to Henry, as well as some of the real implications of interracial marriage at this time. Sadly, it’s really not that long ago that it became legal in the US. We get some wonderful windows into what LJG has lived with his entire life and the fear of what could happen to him if people found out he was gay. And of course, it wouldn’t be possible to have Lord John Grey without a social event. It’s a classic LJG affair that looks fabulous, but no one of real consequence is having a good time. I mean, the log carriers are living their best life but Claire’s moping, William’s moping, and Richardson is being a cad. Something has been very fishy about him from the beginning. (Don’t know if anyone caught it but he mentioned “American forces,” not “rebels” or “colonists” but American. We know from the show that no one calls the colonies Americans except for Claire…. This is code red Claire. Something ain’t good here.) I know some people had issues with them dancing and talking Rebel-shop surrounded my Loyalists, but I consider this one of the necessary evils of adapting these behemoth books.

But dang, even in grief, Claire cleans up pretty nicely. Is that what happens when you sleep with LJG? His ability to look amazing all the time rubs off on you? Sorry. Probably too soon for all the huge Jamie fans that are mad at Claire & John. I did love Williams and Claire ribbing each other about dancing. Sadly, I never heard him call her Mother Claire. While it feels formal to us Americans, it comes across so sweet in the books. 

And then bam! The moment I’ve been waiting for. I knew it was coming, but it was still amazing to hear Jamie’s voice, see him show up in all blue, and to see Claire come alive. Poor LJG was so happy and sad in one moment. Jamie is alive but he’s kissing someone else. Cue Vitamin C Quartet’s version of “Dancing On My Own” from Bridgerton Season 2. Although technically, Claire is both their wife. Dang, this is gonna make the the holidays really awkward. 

But, just as Claire is coming back alive, William is near and hears he’s someone’s son and comes face to face with one James Alexander Malcom’s MacKenzie Fraser. Wow, 7 seasons in and it’s still a mouthful. William is rightfully upset, and then some Redcoats show up and all hell breaks loose. I know people were griping about Claire spying and getting in trouble, but I wonder what Jamie’s done now to be chased by Redcoats. And in true Outlander fashion, we end the episode with Jamie on the run with an abducted LJG, William is ready to explode, and all the while, Claire is standing like a silly school girl with a dreamy smile about Jamie that I don’t think we’ve seen since Season 1. She’s probably thinking “that’s my man. Being chased by Redcoats since 1743. All’s right in the world.”

My only bad in this whole ordeal was William throwing the rosary beads at Jamie. This is a lot more earned in the books because Jamie gives Williams his rosary before he leaves and not the wooden snake that the show chose to do. In the books, William throwing the rosary at Jamie is a big deal because William has always had them on him since Jamie left Helwater, and they were a huge source of comfort to him, even if he didn’t remember much about Jamie. So to realize everything about his life is a lie and to throw that rosary at Jamie is a big deal. Where in the show, the rosary has been such blink and miss it moments and it was retrofitted into the story by having Ian give William the beads. Maybe they could have had him throw the Sawny Snake at Jamie, except maybe that would have given him a concussion.

Poor William. There’s no therapists for him in Philly either. Lost his Quaker crush and now has a Scottish Jacobite Colonial Rebel for a dad. And his biological dad kidnapped his adopted dad. And his new step-mother is married to both dads. I can feel some poor choices coming next episode.

This week’s Dram: Still Highland Park 12. Too many highs and lows to change!

This week’s comfortable food: Survival Shortbread.