The last episode of Outlander saw Jamie and Claire on a high seas adventure. They boarded a ship to follow young Ian to Jamaica, but Claire was kidnapped by the captain of a British vessel to help combat the illness plaguing their crew. What happened this week? Please note that there are spoilers ahead.
To start, Jamie and Captain Raines are at odds. The British ship, the Porpoise, with Claire aboard, is getting farther away from the Artemis. Jamie wants them to move faster, but Raines doesn’t wish to go any faster than what he considers safe. The captain tells Jamie about the arrangement with the Porpoise, that Claire will be delivered to them upon reaching Jamaica. A skirmish ensues and Jamie is taken away to a cell below deck.
On the Porpoise, Claire is doing her best to help the men. Although she misses Jamie, she is relieved that he is on the Artemis and away from the disease ravaging the British ship. While working as the ship’s doctor, Claire finds a friend in fourteen-year-old Elias Pound, who gives her a rabbit’s foot given to him by his late mother. Sadly, Elias sees one of his friends die on the ship. The deceased are stitched up in what looks to be body bags, and the last stitch must go through the nose as a way to be sure the person inside is dead. It’s said that the last stitch should be sewn by a friend, and Elias completes the grim task. A funeral is held on deck for the victims, before their bodies are slipped into a watery grave.
Claire asks to see the journal from the deceased surgeon of the Porpoise and discovers that Joe Howard was reassigned to another area on the ship, as he showed no signs of illness as everyone in the area died. He now works in the ship’s galley and Claire has him removed because she fears he is the disease’s source.
As for Jamie, he is imprisoned again. He has a plan for Fergus when the young man pays him a visit. He wants Fergus to get the keys to the cell and free Jamie so that he can take control of the ship and catch up to the Porpoise. Fergus isn’t keen on the idea of mutiny, but if he fulfills this request, Jamie tells him that he will give him his blessing to marry Marsali.
Claire inquires about a Portuguese flag she spotted on the Porpoise. She’s told that they boarded a ship looking for a surgeon, and Claire thinks it may be from the ship taking Ian to Jamaica. She intends to ask Captain Leonard, but he’s not in his quarters, so she flips through the pages of the captain’s logbook. Not only does she discover that the flag was taken from a different Portuguese ship, but she learns that Jamie is a wanted man, and a Harry Tompkins aboard the Porpoise recognized him.
Harry Tompkins is brought to Claire under the guise of possibly being another disease carrier. It turns out this is Sir Percival’s man who was in the print shop the night of the fire. He knows both Claire and Jamie, and informs her that her husband is wanted for high treason and murder, as he tells her they found a man’s body in a cask of crème de menthe. (This is the man who attacked Claire and suffered the head injury). Claire says that Jamie didn’t kill the man, but Tompkins tells her the plan is to capture and execute Jamie when he comes to retrieve Claire in Jamaica. Claire didn’t kill Tompkins as he’d asked, but instead has him locked up across from Howard to prolong his suffering.
Meanwhile, Fergus visits Jamie again sans keys and tells him that he won’t free him. There’s chatter among the men about throwing Fergus and Jamie overboard, and he will not risk Jamie’s life or leaving Marsali alone should mutiny fail. Fergus leaves before Jamie can persuade him otherwise.
Conditions are improving on the Porpoise, except young Elias succumbs to the disease. It’s a good idea to have tissues handy during his final moments with Claire.
However, there’s some good news to be had for the Porpoise. Just as they were running out of drinking water, they make landfall at Grand Turk Island. Claire has another friend on board in Annekje Johansen, whose goats provide milk for the men. She was grateful to Claire for saving her husband from alcohol poisoning, and she wants to help Claire. They disembark, and Annekje urges Claire to run off and warn Jamie, but she is intercepted by Captain Leonard. The captain knows that she saw his logbook, and he says he must turn in Jamie. She asks him to look the other way on the matter, but he responds by having her escorted back to the ship.
Freedom comes to Jamie from an unexpected source. Marsali and Raines visit Jamie, and she assures him that Jamie will not attempt to overthrow the ship. Jamie is released and gives his blessing to the young couple to be officially married in Jamaica.
Back on the Porpoise, Annekje tries to convince Claire to jump and swim to land. She resists at first, but Claire takes the plunge into the water below, which is how the episode ends.
I guess we’ll have to wait until next week to see how Claire fared after her jump. Will the Artemis catch up to the British ship only to find that Claire is missing? Is it next Sunday yet? Have I told you how much I enjoy this show?
