Murtaghlander
Murtagh! What a welcome sight. Murtagh is always being sent off only to reappear like a reasonably sized drink of beard-water. I want Murtagh to have some plots. Nobody who isn't Claire or Jamie has an ongoing subplot on this show -- or rather, none of them have a plot in which Claire and Jamie aren't directly involved. Prince Charlie doesn't really count; Fergus is mostly a prop. Louise is having Prince Charlie's baby, but she's not on the show anymore, so that's done. Black Jack, I guess, has a plot. But basically, this show doesn't seem to think it's important to invest in its secondary characters beyond how they appear to Claire or Jamie. Rather a shame. TV can flesh out that side of a book's universe very usefully.
ANYWAY: We begin the episode with Claire's VO ominously telling us that some of Lovat's men defected, and he secretly withheld several of his best ones. But at least his wishy-washy son Simon is still... oh, wait, sorry, who am I kidding? We don't see him again and probably never will.
Woollenlander
This is here because we haven't discussed Claire's wrist sweaters yet. They seem cozy. I feel like I need those for when I get cold working in my office (because it gets chilly by dark in the Valley and my office often refuses to give up the lingering chill), but is secretly 90 degrees outside. When I run to the store. Yes, I am rationalizing the return of arm-warmers.
Happylander
Claire smiles more freely in the early minutes of this hour than in recent memory, and the scene where Fergus sees her and Jamie and FLIES at her for a hug is really cute. Of course, the rest of the hour is her having PTSD, so I guess they had to topload it with joy.
Palslander
Rupert and Angus return -- Jamie's two comic-relief pals from season one, although I gather they are down a man. And of course eyes are lowered and heads bowed, and nobody can bring themselves to say out loud what happened to their third... and just as Jamie gets scared, Rupert or Angus says that their friend got married. Rupangus is telling A MARRIED MAN that marriage has ruined everything. I would suggest they can't read a room, but fortunately, Jamie and Claire know Rupangus are buffoons.
Maclander
Despite Colum's objections to the cause, Uncle Dougal MacKenzie is on hand to fight as well, which leads to all the power struggles you might expect. Dougal wants things done his way and is accustomed to being the boss of Jamie -- in season one, he basically used Jamie's flogging scars to scare up funds for the Jacobites -- and he doesn't take kindly to being reminded that Jamie's bagpipes are bigger than his.
Frenchlander
By the way, "Je Suis Prest" is "I am ready," and it's the motto of the ACTUAL Clan Fraser (which has roots in France). It's also a bittersweet reminder that they are readying themselves for a fight that Claire knows is likely already lost.
Kneeslander
I'll tell you what Jamie's prest for: a nice knee-up brood on some rocks. His specialty. I really think Sam Heughan needs a kilt and a pile of something at every fan appearance.
PTSDlander
Claire, meanwhile, luminously starts having haunting flashbacks to her time in World War II. All this war prep -- the sounds, the fury -- is starting to torture her with memories of the nice young fetuses who had no idea the dangers that faced them in the trenches. I heard that the books don't flesh out this PTSD as much; is that true? TV has an easier time seamlessly integrating flashbacks than books, so I can see where this might be an angle to which the showrunners felt they could do extra justice. It does appear to catch Claire by surprise that she's still so affected, as if she thought she'd packed away the 1940s, but forgot to fully zip the suitcase. And the fact that she's a veteran of another war, barreling headfirst into one that's bound to be twice as brutal given that she knows she's on the losing side this time, would logically bring her back to WWII. For a show that too often drops things, or acts like Claire's only emotional tie to her old life is Frank, I found it to be a smart flourish.
Stresslander
And it is quite sad. She recalls two friendly young Americans whom she encountered a few times. One was thrown from their car and the other died trying to rescue him, as Claire huddled by the side of the road. The Germans lit the Jeep on fire, and as the first kid slowly burned to death, Claire heard him calling for his mother over and over again. She lay on the ground with her ears closed until daylight, when friendly troops rescued her. So, yeah, I'd say she's getting a wee nervous about the carnage that faces them. Also, yes, Caitriona Balfe still looks beautiful even when distressed and caked in dirt. Not an important detail, but a true one.
Troopslander
How does a ragtag volunteer army in need of a shower // somehow defeat a global superpower? Well... they don't, honestly, in Scotland's case. And Jamie knows this, so he's trying to train the men in exactly the opposite way: using the kind of efficiency and coordination that the British and even French forces practically have bred into them. The men find this hilarious, until Jamie paints a stirring picture of how quick and slick and brutal those organized attacks can be. Jamie is quite the wordsmith of doom. He's The Grim Speaker.
Smirkslander
And just when he's REALLY pleased with himself for monologuing so effectively, and making scrubs are starting to stand up and take notice...
Prankslander
... EVERYONE GIVE IT UP FOR AMERICA'S FAVORITE FIGHTING SCOTSMAN. Dougal M! He's taking his kilt by the reins, making redcoats redder with bloodstains. [/Hamilton]
It's actually quite funny and well-done that RIGHT when Jamie has the men seeing his side of things, Dougal tears over to them looking like a frat party prank. He calls it a Highland Charge, or somesuch, proud of how he had the all scurrying off with fear. Jamie is like OH MY GOD STOP IT NO I SEE NOW WHY WE LOST.
Cusslander
Dougal doesn't take kindly to Jamie's reprimand, and so he goes to Claire and tries to come at her sympathetically, as if they both know Jamie is in over his head and he hopes Claire can talk him into seeing reason. This works on Claire about as well as a bag of rusty nails works as a sexual lubricant. After a lengthy shredding of his motives and character -- in season one he did try to stop her from saving Jamie's life while suggesting she should have sex with him on the regular -- Claire says, "You may not understand this, but I will try to be clear. F*CK YOURSELF." Claire: not one to mince words.
Lovelylander
This shot is very, very stirring. I DO hear the people sing. I WILL join in their crusade. I WILL be strong and stand with them. From my couch in the future.
Lashingslander
Dougal forces ten unwilling volunteers to join them; Jamie correctly reads the situation and dismisses them, before sentencing the sentries to six lashes each. He later takes the same punishment himself, plus twelve -- we'll get to why -- as a way of inspiring the men and proving he's not above even his own laws. The sight of his scarred back being whipped anew -- by an unhappy but compliant Murtagh -- was sort of moving. Also, Murtagh's snood never so much as shifts the whole time.
Honestylander
Claire confides in Jamie about her flashbacks, and he tells her he'll send her to Lallybroch during the fight. But Claire says that Lallybroch would be the trench for her: just a place to lie in wait, wondering if and when the worst will happen. As much as she loves all the future dead of Culloden's battlefield, she would rather be there than huddle on the sidelines, immobile and alone. Jamie promises that she will NEVER be alone again, and she tremblingly nods. And thus, more seeds are planted for her return to the forties.
Also, it's here where Claire says she's been trying to stop the war for two years, giving us our most solid word on how long she's been in the past. I know constant chyrons would be intrusive because they MAKE you think about it, but honestly, I was already thinking about it. I always like to err on the side of information. Which is amusing given that my recaps often forget big pieces of it and/or get something wrong. I am flawed.
Pretenselander
Here's why Jamie sentences himself to lashes: The camp's uncovered fires caught the eye of a young Brit who's embedded with a nearby convoy. This Brit, by the way, looks problematically like Wimpy Simon. I assume they auditioned at the same time for Generalized Wussiness.
He sneaks in to try and kill Jamie, but the tables turn on him. Jamie is about to torture him, but Claire steps in and pretends she's a woman being held captive. Jamie twigs to her plan and threatens to rape Claire -- always with the rape, y'all; that it's merely rape role-playing does not help -- unless the guy spills the location of the troops. He does, and Jamie spares his life. "I owe you" that life, the kid says, before swearing that once his debt is paid off he will return and KILL JAMIE SO HARD. "Then I hope we never meet again," Jamie says, charmingly. And honestly, I would make a joke here about Fate brushing its teeth so that they're clean when it takes a bite out of this scenario, but Outlander LOVES to dispense with people so who the hell knows.
Yaylander
You know who digs a little play-acting? Murtagh. He is way into this. He's going to cast himself in the next one. "I can play a mean end table," he thinks.
Greaselander
It seems Jamie isn't ENTIRELY opposed to the body paint. When the little dude gives up the Brits' location, they sneak over dressed like overenthused Oakland Raiders fans and steal the wheels off the carriages so that they can't wheel around their cannons. At the risk of tweaking Hamilton fatigue: A.Ham steals the British cannons during the Revolutionary War, so clearly Outlander's perspective is that the British are REALLY BAD at protecting their weaponry.
Charlielander
The Scots have to flee, lest the Brits find them. And when they arrive at Prince Charlie's camp, Jamie -- after putting Dougal in his place, publicly, time and again -- lets his uncle ride to the Bonny Prince and announce their right honorable presence. Dougal hightails it over to the glampsite in the hopes of getting the tent closest to the pool.
Weatherlander
This entire episode is filmed under a rich blue sky. It's the MOST glorious Scottish weather imaginable. I wonder if it was actually sweltering. Regardless, it made for some especially scenic reaction shots. But now, hopefully, the time for filler content is over. The montage is finished. Let the games begin.