[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 803: “Abies Fraseri”
Written by Madeline Brestal, Directed by Metin Hüseyin
“Abies Fraseri” is an episode that recalls past events and lets them rear their ugly heads, creating conflict in the present. As much as the title may make one think that there was an impending fight over lumber, it is more serious than that, unfortunately.
In William’s (Charles Vandervaart) story, we see him continue to believe that his cousin Ben is alive, even after presenting the evidence to his father, Lord John Grey (David Berry). The more level-headed Grey has quite ordinary explanations for William’s reasons why Ben may be alive. There is some eye-rolling at William’s continued belief in a conspiracy. William joins Lord John at a luncheon for the British army officers. William approaches Major General Leslie (Nicholas Tizzard) and inquires about Ben’s last communications. It is in this conversation that William learns about Lord John’s employment as the Governor of Ardsmuir prison in Scotland.
At this same luncheon, Lord John unfortunately sits next to Percy Beauchamp (Michael Lindall), and Percy has a tight grasp on Lord John’s leg. The former lovers have a quick chat that ends with Lord John asking about Captain Richardson’s whereabouts, as Lord John still wants to take revenge on Richardson’s plot to kidnap William in the last season.
Back at home, William finds out the tin soldier trinket that Ben was supposed to keep on him at all times was actually in a drawer in Amaranthus’ (Carla Woodcock) possession. The dull sparks between William and Amaranthus continue, and they end the episode with a chaste kiss.
Speaking of Lord John, a letter arrives from him on the Ridge, dredging up complicated matters from last season. Lord John wrote to Claire (Caitriona Balfe) to see if Brianna (Sophie Skelton) could come and draw a portrait of Amaranthus and baby Trevor. Somehow, Lord John already knows that Brianna returned to the Ridge, which means that William must also know. Jamie is still harboring a grudge with Lord John because of his marriage to Claire and Claire and Lord John sleeping together THAT ONE TIME. We know Jamie is a jealous man, and it seems that jealousy wins over rationality in Jamie’s mind. He already beat the crap out of John, but I guess he still is not over it, or at least has not dealt with it yet. Jamie trying to tell Claire that Brianna cannot go to Lord John’s was pretty rich, and honestly, the fiery Claire did not come out enough to deal with Jamie’s attitude.
Brianna, Roger (Richard Rankin), Claire, and Jamie discuss the potential trip to Savannah to see Lord John. Brianna and Roger discuss trying to make this a buy trip for guns at the same time, but Jamie is not having it, mostly because it involves Lord John. There is some inconsistency with the discussion around Savannah because Jamie, Claire, and Fanny (Florrie May Wilkinson) were just recently there, and it did not seem like they had to maneuver and evade the British while in town. Savannah is also where Fergus and Marsali are, and Fergus, aka Claudel, was already brought up in the conversation between Percy and Lord John.
The created Faith issue continues to rear its ugly, unnecessary head, doing so in this episode when Claire helps a mother deliver twins. The inclusion of free Black men and women in the area is important, and I appreciated how this episode illustrated that the Frasers have no bigotry or qualms about helping those of another race, even secretly. After the first baby is birthed successfully, the second struggles to survive and appears to have died, despite Claire’s efforts. Jamie can see the baby is no longer alive, but somehow Claire is able to bring the baby back to life while holding her in her arms. There are some flashbacks to Claire’s birth of Faith, and the voices of Master Raymond (Dominique Pinon) and Mother Hildegarde (Frances de la Tour) come in and out during the process. The show is continuing to try to show that Faith somehow lived, but she was not returned to Claire for some reason.
The antagonists of season eight are here to stay, but Jamie continues revealing their true ambitions. While Jamie shows Fanny a cairn for her dear departed Jane, shots ring out. Cleveland (Turlough Convery) has met up with a couple of Loyalists and possibly former British soldiers and shot them dead. They were moving some rifles through Fraser’s Ridge. Jamie prevents their post-mortem hanging, but Fanny points out that these bad men were with Cunningham (Kieran Bew) when she was in town with Brianna. While Cleveland makes off with the rifles, Jamie confronts Cunningham, who is trying to sidestep Jamie finding out his true intentions. It turns out Cunningham is not “retired” and is very much involved in recruiting backcountry folks into Loyalist militias. Jamie is not as angry about this betrayal and appears to acquiesce to Cunningham’s explanation that there are indeed people on Fraser’s Ridge who are loyal to the Crown. Jamie came out of the conversation appearing weak and non-confrontational—maybe he is trying to understand what is happening first before planning any action. Still, it does set a precedent for those on Jamie’s land to be secretive and get away with it. Lord John got an angrier reaction out of Jamie than Cunningham did.
This episode continues the season eight plot while adding important callbacks to previous seasons and developing talents foretold seasons ago. The use of Frank’s (Tobias Menzies) voice in Jamie’s head seeks to unmoor him from his confidence and to make him feel that his fate may already be determined, helpless to change it, just as Claire and Jamie tried to change the fate of Culloden.
NEXT WEEK ON FRIDAY, MARCH 27TH, AT 8 PM ET: EPISODE 804: “MUSKETS, LIBERTY, AND SAUERKRAUT.”
Synopsis: “The Frasers and the MacKenzies prepare for battle; the Murrays are met with an impossible choice for their young family.”
