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Outlander: Episode 109, The Reckoning – Review

Droughtlander’s over, babies! But remember how you got through this one – make notes if you need to, because eight weeks goes by awfully fast, and we’re in for another, even longer stretch of desert. Treasure these moments now, but try to keep in mind that you’ll have to figure out how to handle the break before Season 2!

If you haven’t read the Outlander books, but you’re enjoying the TV show, you may by this point be wondering about Jamie. Sure he’s cute, but you’ve heard so many women making such HUGE noise about him – not just Sam Heughan, but Jamie – and you’re thinking yeah, but… lots of guys are cute. What’s so special about this one?

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Tonight’s episode, one of the best so far, begins to give us answers to this question. In the first half of the season, Jamie was introduced as a man who got into trouble a fair amount, was good with horses, and who fell in love quickly with a woman who didn’t truly return his feelings. We saw a hint of something special in The Gathering, when he had to find a way out of giving his pledge to Colum without getting killed – either for giving it or for not. And we saw some of his strength and resolve in The Garrison Commander, in the flashback to when he was flogged. But why did Murtagh feel it necessary to tell Claire that Jamie needs “a wife who’s a woman and not a girl”? Why was Dougal so intent on having Rupert beat him nearly to a pulp when Jamie took Laoghaire’s punishment?

This is Jamie’s episode. From the opening monologue through the confrontations with Colum and the reconciliation with Claire, Jamie comes into his own here.

I’ve always known I’ve lived a life different from other men. One day, I turned around and looked back, and saw that each step I’d taken was a choice – to go left, to go right, to go forward – or even not to go at all. Every day, every man has a choice between right and wrong, between love and hate, sometimes between life and death. And the sum of those choices becomes your life. And the day I realized that is the day I became a man.

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After he and Claire scream at each other about her disobeying his orders, and Claire finally sees what it has cost him to rescue her, the play of emotions on his face (and Sam Heughan can REALLY act) is amazing. Deep love, multiple fears, worry, sorrow, pain all move across his face before he barely gets out the word, “Forgiven.”

It starts to be obvious that Jamie isn’t the same kind of man as Rupert and Angus, nor even Colum and Dougal, although he comes closer. If you watch the way he’s treated with respect by the older men, you’ll see that they follow his lead without question. He puts them all in difficult situations – meeting Horrocks, rescuing Claire – but they seem happy to do as he asks. And Murtagh? Who is this mystery man who follows Jamie? I try not to do this too often, but it’s important to understand that Murtagh is a kinsman of Jamie’s on his father’s side, and Jamie’s godfather as well. He isn’t a servant – but he recognizes that Jamie is special, and needs to be nurtured to become the leader he’s meant to be. So he acts almost as a surrogate father, guiding Jamie where possible. He’s given his life to helping to raise this leader of men.

Matt Roberts’ excellent script has several scenes that aren’t taken from the book, but which work very well here. It’s great to see the split between Colum and Dougal through Jamie’s eyes, something that Claire wouldn’t have been able to see. Jamie brokers a peace deal between the brothers, telling Colum, “Let your brother play the rebel, as long as he does it quietly. While you bide your time and wait to see how events transpire. Dougal may be war chief, but he knows that only you can cry for war.” He reminds Colum that there’s actually little possibility of Prince Charles coming and leading an army to take back the throne of Scotland, and this remote chance isn’t worth splitting the clan’s loyalties.

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Colum, too, recognizes that Jamie has leadership qualities, and had already made up his mind to groom Jamie as his successor (this is an interesting departure from the book. No such thing was even hinted at in the book. At PaleyFest, Ron Moore said that any changes they make in the show will have to carry through to the rest of the seasons – if there is an ongoing impact from any change, it will have to continue. We’ll have to see if this plays out in any meaningful way as the seasons go on). “I opened my home to you as sanctuary from the British,” he tells Jamie. “I gave you food. I gave you hospitality. Even when you refused to pledge fealty to me, I continued to grant you quarter and protection. And how am I recompensed? You marry a Sassenach, knowing well enough that none of the clan will support you now as my successor.”

He brokers the same kind of peace between himself and Claire. She is unwilling to recognize that the punishment he gave her for wandering away was justified and necessary, given the standards of the time. “You come from a place where things are easier, I think,” he says to her. “Where it’s no a matter of life and death if you disobey orders or take matters into your own hands. But it’s the hard truth in places and times like these that light actions can have very serious consequences.” And he’s right – Claire doesn’t completely understand this. But he’s enlightened enough to know that he doesn’t want a submissive, cowering woman, and believes she has learned her lesson, as well as she ever will, and that if it’s important to him that their relationship is repaired – and it is important – that he has to bend. “Maybe, for you and me, it has to go a different way,” he tells her. And so, in a mirror of the oath of fealty that he would not give to Colum, he swears loyalty to Claire, vowing never to touch her in anger again.

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It’s beautifully obvious in this series that they’re filming in Scotland – the scenery is stunning, and the use of the outdoor shots truly enhances the production, helping you to understand the isolation of the place and the time. And Bear McCreary’s music, as always, fits perfectly, never overwhelming the scene.

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Of course, there’s lots more in this episode we could talk about – did he handle Laoghaire right? How upset were you when he lingered with his hand on her breast? Were you expecting anything (and these are more for book readers than non-readers) to be done about the ring? Did you see it coming that Dougal had fathered Colum’s son Hamish? What should have been in this episode that wasn’t, in your opinion? And how do you feel about moving this to Jamie’s perspective? Let me know what you think! And keep an eye open for a contest later this week, where I’ll be giving away one (and maybe more) t-shirt from the mid-season premiere in New York.

Follow me on Twitter: @ErinConrad2 and @threeifbyspace

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