[This is not a spoiler-free review of the episode. If you have not seen the episode yet, read it at your own spoiler risk.]
Episode 802: “Prophecies”
Written by Barbara Stepansky, Directed by Caitríona Balfe
The second episode of Outlander’s final season continues to enmesh the audience into the goings on at Fraser’s Ridge, and alas, there are no boring days in that place.
The side story of William (Charles Vandervaart) begins the episode in a flashback with his two cousins. We learn that Benjamin Grey (Alex Bhat) was the first in the family to receive a commission and leave England. The show pointed out that a game piece that William loved traveled with Benjamin to the Colonies and claimed the trinket would never leave his side. Later on, William travels to the Continental Army camp where Benjamin supposedly died and finds that the trinket is not in his uniform coat, and to make matters worse, the grave of Benjamin Grey does not contain his body. This discovery opens the possibility that Ben escaped, died elsewhere, or was only misidentified, although the latter seems less likely given how this show likes to stoke a mystery.
William also attends the forbidden nuptials of his cousin Henry (Harry Jarvis) to Mercy Woodcock (Gloria Obianyo). There is a mention of a push to make interracial marriage legal in the Colonies; however, we know that it will not be the law of the land for a couple of hundred years more. The wedding also gave Denzell Hunter (Joey Phillips) the chance to make an appearance in the show, and who knows if we will see the character again.
Back on Fraser’s Ridge, the characters are settling into a routine, but, as mentioned earlier, nothing stays calm in the lives of Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitriona Balfe). While Claire settles into a routine with Fanny (Florrie May Wilkinson), Jamie and Roger (Richard Rankin) cut some wood for their houses. Roger speaks to Jamie about Buck, but nothing else seems to be broached from Roger and Brianna’s (Sophie Skelton) time back at Lallybroch. I am questioning if the conversation will ever happen. Eventually, Cunningham (Kieran Bew) arrives to lend a hand, and it is in this conversation that they all realize they are Freemasons.
Not too far away, the women are picking blueberries. What began as a happy bunch of women talking and gathering fruit turns into a tragic event as a bear attacks Amy (Joanne Thomson). She is brought back to the house by Jamie, and Claire attempts to tend to her wounds, but it is for naught. Claire cannot save her. It is in the aftermath that Claire and Mrs. Cunningham (Frances Tomelty) bond over preparing Amy’s body for burial. There appears to be an understanding between the women that goes beyond the first encounter with Mandy in the first episode.
Rachel (Izzy Meikle-Small) gives birth to her and Ian’s (John Bell) son, thankfully without many complications, save for what to call the newly born Murray. It is in this moment that Fanny witnesses what a happy birth can be like, as well as Ian and Jamie bonding over being fathers.
The first meeting on the Ridge for the Freemasons takes place, and in that meeting, Cunningham reveals more about himself. He lost his wife to childbirth and his son at Saratoga. In his son’s death, he miraculously returned to say that he would see his father in seven years. Cunningham has taken this statement as he will die in seven years and not a day before, meaning he thinks he cannot die before that date, making him think he is somewhat immortal until then. This statement makes sense when thinking back to how he was the one to kill Amy’s bear alone and risked his life in doing so.
Jamie continues to struggle with Frank’s book, “Soul of a Rebel,” and starts to share with Roger what is in the book about Jamie. Unfortunately, Roger is not an expert on the Revolutionary War in North Carolina, so he can only be a sounding board for Jamie. What Jamie is stuck on, other than his impending death, is that he supposedly teams up with other men in a battle. He has never heard of these names, and neither has Roger. It appears serendipitous that Jamie read that part because one of those men, Benjamin Cleveland (Turlough Convery), rides up to the Fraser house looking for Jamie. Cleveland propositions Jamie to join the local militia and states outright his hatred for Tories, including Cunningham. He also takes ownership of hanging the Tory men that Jamie and Brianna saw in the last episode. He is not good news, and Jamie wisely turns him down. But is it fate that Jamie will join them if Frank wrote about it in his book?
Ever since the jump in time in season two of Outlander and also in the books, there is the question of what Frank (Tobias Menzies) knew about Claire and Jamie in the past, and even Brianna. We are starting to see some of this revealed this season. The continued voiceover of Frank in Jamie’s mind continues to elicit goosebumps as it is unexpected. However, now that Jamie knows that Frank and Black Jack look alike, the voice of Black Jack is now also Frank’s in Jamie’s mind, tormenting him as Jamie continues to doubt Frank’s intentions and how truthful he is in writing the book.
The two prophecies dealt with in this episode are that of Cunningham’s death in seven years, as well as Jamie’s death in a year. One of these is of more importance to the audience, but with Cunningham throwing caution to the wind in his life for a specific reason, any risks taken could affect people on the Ridge also. This episode continues to move things along and possibly prepares viewers for Jamie’s death, if we believe Frank.
NEXT WEEK ON FRIDAY, MARCH 20TH, AT 8 PM ET: EPISODE 803: “ABIES FRASERI.”
Synopsis: “A new neighbor relies on the Frasers for help, and Jamie exposes a false ally; William looks into the mysterious circumstances of his cousin’s death.”
