Water, water everywhere but nary a drop to drink. As Starz’s Outlander season three episode 11 begins, we return to where we left off in week 10 of season three (titled “Heaven and Earth”) with Claire (Caitriona Balfe) in the ocean floating on her makeshift raft. Episode 11 of season three, “Uncharted,” starts in such a way that you might feel like you could spit cotton, though there’s water everywhere.
Claire’s close enough to land that her little raft turns over with a small wave, naturally waking her from her attempt at sleep. She comes sputtering to the surface and sees the land. Being weakened by the journey through the waves, she’s tossed on the shore like a patch of dark and stringy seaweed.
Claire gets to her feet and picks up her things that floated ashore with her. It’s a beautiful scenic view, but not so much when you’re stranded alone with no direction or idea where you are. Claire lays out her things to dry and she contemplates her situation. She knows her paramount concern, even above Jamie, is water. She can only survive three days without hydration.
With the sun beating down, Claire makes a small shelter out of her skirt to take a short respite from the sun’s rays. She continues to fear for Jamie all the while. In her wanderings, she steps on a couple of flint stones and keeps them for possible later use in building a fire. Later that night she does just that, with a little practice and more than a few internal curse words.
The next morning, Claire wakes to an entire army of ants engulfing her calves and shins. (These are some massive ants! They look like they could almost carry her off. She jumps up and starts slapping them off, then tries to doctor the bites as best she can with what provisions she has. That is to say, with a piece of cloth.
With each day, she weakens and as she travels inland the foliage thickens. She finds a coconut tree but doesn’t have a way to get at the milk. As I said, not a drop to drink. If your mouth is not as dry as that beach full of sand by this point, then you’re not paying attention.
As the sun sets, Claire finds a palm tree to rest against for the night. With possibly the rudest and startling awakening possible, Claire wakes to find a massive python making its way across her chest. She does the smart thing by letting the reptile continue on its journey. (I would have freaked out entirely. I don’t do snakes!)
Claire gets up and continues looking for something, anything, that can help her. She stops long enough to scratch at her ant bites. When she raises her shift up, we can see the damage those tiny little beasts did to our heroine’s legs. WOW! She needs treatment on them or she will be scarred, not to mention they could get infected.
On day three wandering through the thick brush, she staggers into a clearing to see a priest and his dog. Claire passes out on the ground to the sound of the dog barking and wakes to find herself in a bed. She’s sunburned, thirsty, exhausted, and tied up.
An older woman, Mamacita (Vivi Lepori), comes in to tend to her and she’s not the friendliest of attendants. Claire’s throat is so dry she can hardly swallow, and yet Mamacita practically pours the entire glass of water down her throat. She tells Claire she tied her up to keep her from scratching her ant bites. The thing is, she says all this in her native tongue, not English, so Claire still doesn’t know why she’s tied up.
The woman takes what garments Claire has so she can clean or mend them. She does notice the zipper in her undergarments. That’s a deviation from the book, but makes sense given the differences in the show versus the book.
Claire falls asleep again and the next thing she sees when she wakes up is the priest watching over her. The priest’s name is Father Fogden (Nick Fletcher). He warns Claire not to drink the water too quickly after he unties her and helps her to sit up. Claire tells him she’s a doctor from the colonies, and the priest likens her to St. Bridget. Our Sassenach is no Saint, but she does perform miraculous healing at times.
Claire asks about where she is and how to get to Jamaica. Fogden tells Claire she’s at Hacienda de la Fuente, which is a couple of days travel from Jamaica. She’s still determined to make it to Jamie in time to tell him of the warrants out for his arrest. The good Father walks over and picks up a coconut, telling her it’s far too dangerous for her to travel yet according to Coco. (The scene reminds me of the Castaway movie). The Father’s rather eccentric and talks to his coconut friend like it’s a person.
Mamacita takes Claire outside to a washtub. (Talk about an oasis in the desert!) Even though the goat pens are close by, the cool water feels like God’s own healing touch upon Claire’s body. (The goats are in the series; in the book the priest had sheep.)
Mamacita prepares a meal for them to eat. While eating, Claire asks Father Fogden how he came to be out in the Caribbean. The priest explains he started in Cuba but fell in love with a beautiful woman and they fled the island. The woman was Mamacita’s daughter who had died some years ago. This explains Mamacita’s dislike for Claire; she was afraid the priest would like Claire now.
Claire mentions she needs to leave for the local town right away so she can find a ship to take her to Jamaica. Father Fogden says she’s too ill to leave for at least a week, maybe two. Claire starts to argue but Mamacita jumps in arguing for Claire to go immediately. Of course, it’s not to help Claire but instead to get her away from the good Father.
Claire goes into another room while the pair argue further. In the adjoining room, she finds a small mirror that would fit in her pocket. She notices a beautiful dress hanging nearby. The priest comes in and explains it belonged to the love he lost. He tells Claire about the situation, so now Claire realizes why Mamacita was so nasty to her. He confesses to Claire that Mamacita need not be so concerned, he could never forget her daughter. Claire tells the priest she has such a love for her husband and that’s why she so urgently must reach Jamaica. Now they both understand the other’s situation. The priest says he must consult with Coco the coconut in the morning to be sure.
Claire wakes up the next morning to find her garments clean and folded. After she dresses, Claire has a rather loud conversation with Coco as Father Fogden comes in. Mamacita screams from outside about a Chinaman who killed one of their goats. When they mention this in English to Claire, she realizes they’re talking about Mr. Willoughby (Gary Young). Claire knows this means Jamie is on the beach nearby. She begs to know where and Mamacita tells her. Claire takes off running in the direction Mamacita points.
On the beach, the men who survived the misfortune that befell the Artemis as they went through the shoals are gathering supplies. They lost the captain and several of the crew, but the men who remain are repairing the mast and sails. Jamie (Sam Heughan), Fergus (Cesar Domboy), Marsali (Lauren Lyle), and several others are among those on the beach.
Claire runs as fast as she can, and in her distraction she cuts her arm on a broken branch. She’s aggressively bleeding as she reaches the coast. Jamie and the crew are back aboard the Artemis by the time Claire makes it to the beach. The ship’s about to make way when Claire thinks to pull the mirror from her pocket to get their attention. The glare manages to catch Jamie’s eye, so he asks for a spyglass and sees Claire.
Jamie takes the longboat with some men and makes his way back to shore to be reunited with Claire. There’s a heart-pounding moment as they both run toward each other on the shore.
Mr. Willoughby has to sew up the gash Claire got on her arm from the branch. Claire finally tells Jamie of the warrants out for his arrest. Jamie mentions he gave Fergus his blessing, and Claire says she can help with the wedding of Fergus and Marsali. The price of the wedding is for Mr. Willoughby to make reparation to Father Fogden for the loss of his goat.
Marsali’s trying to get dressed for her wedding in a room in the Father’s house and Claire helps her. Claire asks if she’s nervous. Marsali confesses she’s only concerned about not having a bairn just yet. Marsali comments on how she saw her mother and Jamie interact in comparison to Claire and Jamie. Marsali wants her experience with Fergus to be more like how Jamie is with Claire – affectionate and loving. Claire tells her she’ll explain how to prevent pregnancy when they get back on the ship.
As they’re conducting the wedding, Father Fogden points to another man as the groom since Fergus is missing a hand. (The entire wedding is rather comical.) He asks Marsali if Fergus had lost his cock along with his hand, and she says she dinna ken but would like to find out if he would hurry things along. Everyone has a laugh at that exchange.
The priest asks for her full name so the union can be legal, and he rather likes Marsali’s name a little too much. He then turns to Fergus to get his name. Since Fergus was born in a brothel he doesn’t have a surname. Jamie offers his name for him. Fergus is an official Fraser from that moment on. If you did not tear up at this exchange, then you are not a devoted fan. Sorry, but it’s true. That poor boy has been a son to Jamie in all ways except blood. He should have the Fraser name.
Fergus, with tears in his eyes, looks at Jamie and Claire – the only real parents he’s ever had. The wedding continues with Fergus putting the ring on Marsali’s finger, and Father Fogden blessing the union. He then walks over and blesses Claire and Jamie’s union, too.
That night they set sail again, with Jamie and Claire in the Captain’s Cabin. Jamie enters with Claire’s little kit containing the antibiotic. She’s eating a soup prepared just for her since she needs the nourishment after her ordeal.
Claire starts to put her needle set together so she can give herself a shot. She has a high fever and needs the antibiotic to take care of the infection in her arm. Jamie tries to help her but she insists on doing it herself, one-handed no less. She gets only so far with one hand though and that means Jamie must load the needle for her. Jamie’s surprised by all the proceedings involved. Claire suggests he could get his revenge on her by giving her the shot in the arse. (I’ve had to give a shot to a loved one, not as easy as Claire makes it look. I have to admit I was more like Jamie.) Jamie can’t plunge the needle into her skin so Claire takes the shot from him and sticks herself. But, Jamie is able to push down the plunger to give her the medicine. Fraser teamwork on display!
Claire gives Jamie a rather lecherous leer when the administration of the medicine is concluded. She asks what kind of soup she was eating and Jamie informs her it was Turtle Soup, and that she’s drunk off it. Claire tells Jamie to bolt the door and that she intends to have more than the soup. Jamie says he wasn’t going to take advantage of a drunk and feverish woman, but Claire gets her way in the end.
While they are rather raucous in their activities, Mr. Willoughby comes to inquire if Claire liked the soup. Needless to say, Mr. Willoughby can hear what’s going on behind the bolted door. He turns to go with a broad smile on his face.
We are down to the last two Outlander episodes this season. The big question remains: Will Jamie and Claire retrieve young Ian (John Bell) in time?
More on Outlander:
– Outlander Season 3 Episode 1 “The Battle Joined” Recap
– Outlander Season 3 Episode 2 “Surrender” Recap
– Outlander Season 3 Episode 3 “All Debts Paid” Recap
– Outlander Season 3 Episode 4 “Of Lost Things” Recap
– Outlander Season 3 Episode 5 “Freedom & Whisky” Recap
– Outlander Season 3 Episode 6 “A. Malcolm” Recap
– Outlander Season 3 Episode 7 “Crème De Menthe” Recap
– Outlander Season 3 Episode 8 “First Wife” Recap
– Outlander Season 3 Episode 9 “The Doldrums” Recap
– Outlander Season 3 Episode 10 “Heaven and Earth” Recap
– Exclusive Interview on Season 3 with Executive Producer Ronald D. Moore
– One-on-One with Sophie Skelton
– Richard Rankin Interview on Outlander Season 3 and Playing Roger
– Caitriona Balfe, Sam Heughan and Tobias Menzies Q&A
