This recap doesn’t really want to be a recap, so I’m just going with whatever comes out…
Picking up where we left off, Geillis and Claire are rudely tossed into the thieve’s hole, and though I know that they don’t know that Geillis is pregnant, I couldn’t help but be pissed on behalf of that baby. Really?! Was all that necessary? Notice that Geillis immediately rubs her stomach. Just a small example of the little things Lotte Verbeek does that adds layers to the character and her performance. For all of Geillis’ faults, she does care about some things. We’ll come back to that later.
It’s looking rather dim for these ladies. Geillis thinks Dougal will come for them, not knowing that Colum sent him and Jamie away. On purpose. And again, we see a little crack in the armor when Claire drops this info. I also loved the conversation they have about why Geillis chose Dougal (he’s her lobster) and how it sort of paralleled Dougal’s with Colum: “You actually love the bitch/bastard.” Claire may be realizing too late that she actually loves Jamie too, when Geillis points out that it’s his name she cries out in her sleep. Frank, who?
The trial starts and you get the feeling that the truth really doesn’t matter here. These two women don’t conform to acceptable social mores and therefore must be made an example and eliminated before the other womenfolk start getting ideas. The more things change…
Ned Gowan shows up without Colum’s approval and manages to discredit some pretty damning testimony. Then Laoghaire comes swaggering in with her tears and stretched truths. I honestly feel sorry for this girl if she really thought that this would’ve made Jamie run into her arms. If that isn’t bad enough, Father Bane of Our Existence Bain comes in, complete with quintessential villain back-lighting, calling Claire the whore of Babylon and all. But, wait, is he testifying in Claire’s favor? I almost had a heart attack, thinking that the writers would stray so far from the source material. I should’ve had more faith. Nope, the canny bastard just knows how to work the crowd. You know what they say, Father B? God don’t like ugly…
Ned knows a lost cause when he sees one and tells Claire and Geillis that only one of them can be saved. Ned points out that Geillis has been a suspected witch for years now and that Claire should be the one to live. While he holds off the mob, Geillis once again tries to get at the truth about where Claire is really from. Of course, she already knows where Claire is from. The how of that we’ll get to next season maybe. When Geillis sees that Claire isn’t all that eager to send her to her death, she takes the decision out of her hands. Btw, Claire, I may be wrong, but I don’t think the word barbecue was in wide use in 18th century Scotland. And she dropped the f bomb. Didn’t she use the phrase “The Rising” earlier too? Oh, and just in case that didn’t click for you: 1968! One more thing, here’s my “devil’s mark”, aka my scar from the smallpox vaccine. Geillis: From the future. Like you.
Let’s just get something straight. While Jamie has almost perfect timing and I spent the entire episode in a panic muttering hurryupJamie! over and over again, this is a girl power moment. These two women, despite whatever has happened between them, decided to make the ultimate sacrifice for each other. Starlings vs. Falcons. All or nothing. Ride or die. Whatever we book readers may think of Geillis and no matter how justified, she threw herself on the pyre (pun intended) to give Claire a chance to get away. Just watch her face as Claire is being whipped. Lotte Verbeek owned this episode. And Claire wouldn’t be the character we love if she’d thrown Geillis under this particular bus. Thank you, Toni Graphia, for highlighting that in this moment.
Once they’re far enough away, it’s time for Claire to tell Jamie the truth about who she is. And he believes her, as much as he can. The poor thing feels even more guilty for spanking her after learning that she was just trying to get back to the stones and to her own time. Claire assumes that they’re on their way to Lallybroch, but Jamie has something else in mind. You get the feeling that he’s saying goodbye to her in his own way, hoping to leave her with happy memories of him. I personally just wanted to box his ears and yell that he was taking this “if you love something, set it free” thing a bit too far. Of course they end up at Craigh na Dun and Claire has to make the decision to stay or go. I know most of us were already is tears by this time, but if you weren’t, watching Jamie let her go should’ve brought on the ugly crying.
Though I would’ve loved to see Claire taking those steps towards the stone and then away again before running downhill back to Jamie, her “On your feet, Soldier” had me sobbing like crazy. We’re all crying with you, Jamie. Perfect reminder of that moment in episode 1 when Jamie fell — literally and figuratively — for Claire. That’s a bit of a book spoiler. Sorry. Anyway… Favorite moment of the series so far. I say that a lot, but I mean it this time. At least until the next episode.
So, Claire chooses Jamie (!!!) and we really are off to Lallybroch now. And geez, is it me, or are these weeks going by faster than normal?!
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