Slainte Mhath to our Sassenach and A. Malcolm!!! After I watched this week’s episode of Starz’s Outlander, one word came to mind (after the word passion of course) …AWKWARD!!! Every touch, every conversation, every renewed acquaintance has an undercurrent of awkwardness and tension to the situation. But wouldn’t that be exactly what would happen after 20 years of being thought dead by everyone but Jamie (Sam Heughan)? Claire (Caitriona Balfe) must convince people she isn’t dead, but I am getting ahead of the events of Outlander season three episode six. Let’s start back at the Print Shop of Alexander Malcolm. {Fan tidbit, the set for the Print Shop was reworked from Master Raymond’s Apothecary in season two.}
At the end of season three episode five, “Freedom & Whisky,” we watched as Claire took her trip toward the print shop of A. Malcolm. This episode starts with A. Malcolm, Himself! Jamie looks so dashing heading down High Street, but I do miss the kilt. He reaches the shop and wipes a smudge off the same sign that Claire would be touching in a matter of minutes. He heads into the shop and goes about his business. Jamie’s business is not just simply printing, but has a bit of a knack for seditious printing. At least it was seditious, according to the Crown. What would we expect from our dashing hero who has almost been killed for treason so very many times already in his life?
After sending some workers away with tasks to attend to, he begins to work on a printing project. Jamie takes out a pair of spectacles to view his handiwork. (The glasses are new. With all he has been through, it’s amazing he only needs glasses.) The bell at the front door rings as someone enters, and here is Jamie’s perspective of Claire’s entrance back into his life. He looks up, falls back on the press, and promptly faints. Cue the “The Skye Boat” music. It was great they gave us Jamie’s side of it; we don’t get that very much in the books since things are told from Claire’s point of view.
Jamie’s eyes clear and he sees Claire leaning over him. She made her way down to him on the floor while he was passed out. They both are wrapped in incredible emotion all at once. During Jamie’s fall, he knocked the ale he was drinking onto his pants. He thought maybe he had lost all control of his faculties but was relieved when it was just the ale on his breeks. He’s rather shy of taking off his pants in front of Claire, but she reminds him they’re still married.
He takes off his pants and is standing in his shirt and vest before her. She has unshed tears in her eyes as he grabs her hand that bears his ring. He leans in a bit and she steps back a bit, both actions are very clumsy and awkwardly cute. Jamie asks if he can kiss her ever so formally and polite. They press lips so gently and remain leaning forehead to forehead, both with tears and tenderness engulfing them. Jamie mentions how he would see her at various times, but she would never touch him. Claire says that she can touch him now, as they stand there holding each other tightly. In the book, it was that Claire never said anything to him in his visions of her, but that was shot out the window as a reason when she spoke to him in the first episode this season when he was wounded on the Moor.
After one of Jamie’s associates catches them standing together, Jamie without trousers, they both share a bit of a laugh and head to the back of the shop for him to get a spare pair. After putting on the pants, he finally thinks to ask about the child Claire was carrying when she left him. Claire reaches into one of her ‘bat suit’ pockets for a stack of photographs. Only the rare tintype or a painted amulet was used during Jamie’s time so, naturally, he has no idea what a photograph is.
Claire tells him they have a daughter, and that she knows of him. Jamie has to pull the glasses out of his pocket; the action shows Claire that he did have some changes due to age. Claire admits she dyed the gray out of her hair. Time marches on for us all, and I love that the story makes honest points about the everyday subtle underpinnings of life.
As Jamie looks at the first picture – it’s of Claire holding Brianna as a wee bairn – Jamie’s so overcome he must sit down on his cot. He croaks out a request for her name. Claire says she named her Brianna. Jamie smiles and says that’s an awful name for a lass. Claire defends the choice and says she had promised to name the child after Jamie’s father, Brian. Jamie asks to know of her, so Claire shares some of the traits Bree had that are like Jamie. Her first words, smiling in her sleep like him, her red hair from her father…just as Faith did. Keep in mind, Jamie had not seen either of his daughters face to face.
The next picture is Claire and Bree after Claire graduated from medical school. Claire mentions that she’s a doctor, a surgeon. Completely unsurprised, Jamie says she’s always been a doctor, it’s just now she has the title as well. The next picture of Bree is of her almost grown, as a teenager, sitting and reading a book. Then a picture with Bree and their dog. The following picture is Bree with an axe. Jamie sounds proud that she’s strong enough to split wood. The next picture takes Jamie by surprise. Bree’s sitting on the beach in a bikini. Remember Da, 200 years difference here!! The last picture is of her smiling, holding up some small fish she caught. The colors are faded in that photo.
Jamie gets a look on his face, stands, and goes to the hearth. Claire thinks he’s angry about the bikini Bree was wearing, but Jamie returns with a small item. Jamie begins explaining about his son, Willie. Claire asks if Jamie loved the boy’s mother, and Jamie says no, he did not. That tale of his son came much later in the book. Again, the books are from Claire’s point of view so we know about it when Claire did.
Claire tells him that she knew he would have had a life while they were apart. Jamie asks if Claire left Frank to return to him, and she admits that she did not. Frank died a few years ago, she says. They get into the back and forth of events and how Frank raised Brianna as his own daughter.
Jamie suddenly remembers after the clock chime that he was supposed to be at the tavern. On the way to the tavern, they encounter Fergus (Cesar Domboy). Claire notices the false hand on Fergus’ left arm and asks what happened. In the book, he had a hook, but the show had an artificial hand. Claire naturally asks what happened, and Fergus explains he lost it fighting redcoats. Then he asks her where she’s been. Claire’s story in the show was different than the books. She explained she went to America in the show; the book had her going to France as her original tale to the MacKenzie’s in season one.
Fergus and Jamie have a side conversation a little away from Claire that eludes to a legal matter now that Claire is back. Book readers know what this little breadcrumb means, but show-only fans will have to wait to find out later what they are referring to. They must go to the tavern, The World’s End, to deal with Mr. Willoughby (Gary Young). He’s a rather eccentric Chinese man with odd sexual fetishes.
Jamie picks the man up off the floor when they enter the tavern and then pays a barmaid for Willoughby’s actions of licking her elbow. In the book, he freaked the barmaid out by grabbing her feet. Jamie makes him sit down and watch after Claire as he rushes off to his meeting. Claire asks Mr. Willoughby what his real name is, and he explains that his original name was very close to a rather rude Gaelic word so they chose something that would serve better for Scotland.
After paying the bribe money in the backroom, a.k.a. Jamie’s appointment, he comes back out to retrieve Claire. Claire and Jamie head down the street to his room in the attic of a brothel. Madame Jeanne (Cyrielle Debreuil) is very surprised, to say the least. The height of awkward! The Madame looks rather jealous and Claire’s completely frigid. They make their way up to his room in the attic and Claire starts the inquisition. (She was much more reserved about it than I would be.) She asks if he was a customer, and Jamie says that SHE was a customer of his. It’s a convenient arrangement for him to have a room away from the Print Shop at times, so he stays there for a warm bed and hot meal.
Jamie suddenly blurts out the question I’m sure he had been thinking the entire time since she arrived. “Why have you come back?” Claire admits her timing had to do with her assumption he was dead. He asks how she found out he was alive and where he was. Claire explains a young historian helped her find him. They both are getting deeper into the abyss of their fears about why the other was there. Claire was afraid that Jamie possibly had other reasons for wanting her to go. Jamie was afraid of how little they knew each other, that he was so different that she would not want him. They both get close enough to be in the other’s space, and finally say the equivalent of ‘damn the torpedoes.’ They kiss and a knock at the door announces their dinner has arrived. They sit down to a meal, glass of wine, and some much-needed catching up…always desire in the eyes. Jamie asks Claire if she would come to his bed with him. Might I say for her, YEAH BOY!!!
They rise and make a ritual out of disrobing one another. Each taking one piece of clothing off the other in their turn – very cute, and clumsy. Claire’s ‘new’ corset has a zipper instead of laces, and it throws Jamie off a bit. One more sign of her new arrival from the future. Jamie eventually has Claire completely without clothes, while he stands in his shirt. Claire’s bashful and jokes he’s losing his sight after all when he says she’s the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. Claire says she wants to see him and takes off his shirt. (The statement harkens back to their wedding night.) They both admit they’re scared and Claire verbally brings up their wedding night, that it was easier if they started touching like Jamie suggested then.
They try to get into the bed and fumble it terribly. Jamie headbutts her by accident, and she thinks her nose is broken. Again, AWKWARD but cute! Who hasn’t had a totally unromantic experience in a bed with a partner? But they kick things off in fine fashion and have a rousing and aggressive love-making session. They both eventually melt into each other’s arms.
Jamie starts talking about how beautiful her skin is and how much he has always wanted her. They continue with cute pillow talk and finally get around to Claire asking Jamie what he REALLY does for a living. Jamie asks her to guess as he gets out of bed for food. They run down a list of things, joking along the way, but Claire mentions she knew he was in prison at one point when they are talking of his treasonous activities. Jamie eludes to the fact that his life is still dangerous. Claire mentions she’s not going anywhere. Jamie finally gets around to telling her he’s a smuggler. They use the brothel as an offloading point and storage.
The couple maneuver themselves into a second round of passion, this time much softer and slower. Before drifting off to sleep in the arms of the other, Jamie brings up Brianna and how glad he is that she is alive and safe. You can see on Claire’s face that she misses Bree. They finally drift off to sleep together. Finally, together.
In the early hours of the morning, Claire leans back over to catch Jamie watching her. They still talk about changes of age, but they also harken back to Jamie asking what it was between them. Neither knows, but they do know it continues to be there between them. It is obvious Jamie has been with other women, so Claire asks if he ever loved anyone else. Jamie says that he never had and never will love anyone but her. They have sex again. Mid-life with that kind of stamina…mmmm boy!
Later, Jamie’s up and dressed when Claire wakes. He must attend to some business but will return later, so she slips off to sleep again. A while later wee Ian (John Bell) comes looking for Jamie. Claire and Ian meet for the first time and Claire must explain that she’s his aunt and that she’s not dead. He runs off after a short time, and Claire heads downstairs looking for something to eat. She has a very entertaining chat with the ladies of the brothel before the Madame comes in and asks why she’s out of Jamie’s room. Claire mentions she came in search of food, but has had enough to eat and heads back upstairs.
When she arrives in their room, a man’s there turning things over looking for ledgers, so he says. Claire tells him to leave. He grabs her and the episode ends abruptly. Quite the cliffhanger to end on. Those who have read the books know what happens, but it didn’t happen in Jamie’s room in the book. I’m not about to spoil it for you, so join me next week to find out what this man is doing and how Claire handles her first danger since coming back through the stones.
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 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
