Welcome back Outlander fans! I honestly can’t believe it’s here:Season 4 premiere! The fact that it’s Season 4 already is baffling. Where does time go? (Says the woman writing an article about a time traveling television show.)
This episode starts out with Claire’s voice narrating us through the fascination people have with circles. I found her description of this to be enchanting as well as true. Circles are infinite, which is why they are beautiful, in my opinion. I especially liked the way she illustrated the “simple wedding band.” It’s meant to symbolize something that never ends. A love that never ends…
We then cut to the dashing Jamie Fraser, standing in a small town in North Carolina 1767, and visiting his friend Gavin Hayes in prison. Hayes is awaiting to be hanged for murder but Jamie tries to reassure his friend of his plan to save him while sharing a flask of whiskey with him. As he is doing this, a fellow prisoner asks for a sip from the flask as well. As the audience, we are unaware that this is our introduction to Stephen Bonnet, a ruthless pirate and smuggler, who ends up playing a monumental role later on in the episode.
As Jamie and Ian were digging a grave for Hayes when Ian has flashbacks of Geillis when she kept him prisoner in season 3. Ian describes his horrific experiences with Geillis as she forced herself on him. Ian admits that although he did not want her to do these terrible things to him he also found it pleasurable which also made him feel guilty. I love Jamie’s response to this (which to keep this article clean I can’t say word-for-word.) Basically he tells Ian that he shouldn’t feel guilty for not being able to control the pleasure he felt during those tragic moments with Geillis because he can’t control what his body likes. Even if his mind is telling him that he shouldn’t like it. I felt a sense of sadness for Ian being that he’s so young. The events that took place while he was held captive will surely stay with him the rest of his life.
As they are preparing to leave, Jamie discovers Stephen Bonnet hiding in their cart. He had escaped the gallows and pleads for their help in his travels. Claire decides to go along with Jamie for appearance sake and it was a good thing that she did because the King’s soldiers stopped them. Though I thought Jamie’s quick thinking with the corpse in the cart was a great idea, I also felt it was risky. Stephen Bonnet was lucky that all he got was stuck with the bayonet! (Though knowing what I know of Stephen now, he deserved a lot worse.) As the soldier stuck the bayonet into Stephen’s leg, I loved the reaction on Jamie and Claire’s faces: Pure fright. Good thing that Stephen thought ahead of time and used some of the deer meat as a shield for his body.
Claire mends Stephen’s wound after the soldiers are gone and as she does, Stephen begins to open up to her. In this moment we see Stephen as a kind-hearted, almost scarred, man. He definitely had his demons he was fighting. We, as an audience, almost feel sorry for this individual as he talks of his fear of drowning and as he does so, leads to Claire retelling her experience with drowning herself. (In the third season when she falls from the ship.) It feels as if she and Stephen bonded through their struggle here. Soon after this Stephen departs and Claire and Jamie make their way to camp in the woods.
Now, I have to say (which I have said in previous posts), I look forward to when the story shifts to Jamie and Claire’s love for one another. It’s so personal and so deep that it honestly brings me to tears. The way Jamie speaks to Claire, with such passion and warmth, it gives me chills. It gave me chills here. They are sitting together by the fire, talking about how life is so short and how it can end at any moment. Jamie says to Claire, “When my body dies, my soul will still be yours. Nothing is lost, Sassenach, only changed.” “That’s the first law of thermodynamics,” she responds back. “No,” he replies, “that’s faith.” Claire, being the non-believer of the two of them, says that she doesn’t care what it is, and adds, “I want to be alive with you, right now.” I’m always moved by the power of their love for one another. (Fiction or not, this is how true love should be!)
I love how Claire gives Jamie a history lesson (for her) and foretelling the future to him. She describes the lands of North Carolina and what will become of America. This is what I love about time traveling tales. I love how history is used as a tool to foretell the future. It’s very fascinating.
Jamie and Claire would like to make plans to return to Scotland but in order to do that, they must sell a ruby they salvaged from the Artemis. Jamie makes the ruby into a simple necklace that Claire wears to a fancy dinner in hopes that someone would like to purchase it. Governor Tryon decides he would like to purchase the ruby and overpays for the jewel, giving Jamie and Claire wiggle room to do other things with the money.
Also, the governor offers Jamie a lot of land to stay in North Carolina as a soldier. He is looking for someone with experience and Claire understands this as she knows so much more about events to occur later on. The Revolutionary War will begin and Jamie will be expected to fight. This is interesting because Jamie realizes that Brianna will be born in America and that he wont just be fighting for the British but he will be fighting for his child. For her future. So, Jamie and Claire decide to stay in America.
The next day Jamie and Claire find Ian sitting with a wolf. He had won the wolf in a game with pirates and also a little bit of money. Jamie, although amused, scolds Ian and Ian promises not to involve himself with pirates again. Then they go inside to eat. This is where they tell Fergus, Marsali, Ian and Lesley (a friend and shipmate) that they are staying in America. So, they all decide that they, too, will remain with them. If that wasn’t enough of a surprise, Fergus announces that Marsali is “with child.” I adore the look on Jamie’s face. He’s such a strong, confident man but also has an incredible heart. He isn’t afraid to feel and to show his feelings. (He reminds me a lot of Charles Ingalls from “Little House on the Prairie” in this sense. Swoon.)
Claire and Jamie make their way to visit Jamie’s aunt, who married three men by the last name Cameron, and seemed to have terrible luck keeping her husbands alive. Claire laughs and says, “She has quite the taste for Camerons. Is there something special about them as a clan-aside from them being accident prone?” Jamie replies, “They have a way with words. Camerons are poets and jesters.” I find this part of the episode amusing for my own reasons but getting to know a little more about Jamie’s background is also entertaining.
This part of the episode is my favorite. Chills. Ultimate chills. Jamie surprises Claire with a medicine box and the look in Claire’s eyes as she gazes back at Jamie in astonishment is beautiful. We know Jamie has never been a wealthy man but he’s always found ways to provide. Yet, even in this moment, he is ashamed that he doesn’t have the money to shower Claire in fine jewels as he feels she deserves. My heart broke as Jamie hangs in his head, wishing he could give his wife more than just the plain ring on her finger and his mother’s pearls but Claire’s response was priceless. “You have given me so much more. Brianna for one. I gave the pearls to her. They’re an heirloom after all…and this ring is all I need.” He replies, “Twenty-four years ago I married you, Sassenach. I hope I’ve never given you cause to regret it.” With tears in her eyes, Claire says, “Not for a single day.” Definitely my favorite part of the entire episode.
Now for the worst part of the episode-at least to me. We are once again graced with the presence of Stephen Bonnet, who forces himself into the cabin where everyone is sleeping. Jamie is taken and brutally beaten by a bunch of smugglers while Ian and Lesley fight off men inside. A man tries to take Claire’s wedding bands from her fingers and after Lesley defeats him, Stephen slits Lesley’s throat. (I want to note that it was incredibly creepy that they decided to play “America the Beautiful” during this portion of the episode. Just sayin’.) Then Stephen comes after Claire for her rings and once she removes them, she puts them into her mouth. I honestly do not understand this action considering Stephen just went in and basically fished them out but I could see how desperate she was to save her rings from being taken. (Would you have swallowed them? I might have. That’s what I thought her plan was…)
I thought this was a great start to the Season and I look forward to Sunday’s new episode!
Mindy Campbell
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