**This is not a spoiler-free review of this episode. This review is also from a non-reader, and any comments revealing spoilers from the books will be deleted.**
Aye Sassenach — that’s where I plan to launch the first MacDubhDonald’s.
Episode 801: “Soul of a Rebel”
Written by Sarah H. Haught, Directed by Jan Matthys
Welcome back, Outlander fans. It’s an honor to be back for one last season. (We missed you, Kat! -Sarah)
I just have one huge question.
Just one.
What do you mean, Jamie is going to die?
DIE??
Die??
I digress. There’s a lot that leads up to the huge cliffhanger, so let’s recap it, shall we?
The whole Faith twist last season rears its head again at the start of the episode. Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitriona Balfe) basically go full Bonnie and Clyde on the two pirates who likely killed their daughter and sold off Faith’s daughters to a brothel.
Little Fanny (Florrie May Wilkinson) is adorable, but you know what I loved more in this episode?
Speaking of brothels…
FERGUS (César Domboy) AND MARSALI (Lauren Lyle) ARE BACK!
And Fergus is being a rebellious little printer, just like his da. The Fraser men really do court danger like it’s their regular order at Starbucks. I do wish we had a bit more time with them in the episode, but I have a feeling they’ll return.
SPEAKING OF RETURNS, it’s a glorious season opener because Claire and Jamie are FINALLY back at Fraser’s Ridge.
I don’t know, guys, this episode was giving, “All of the heroes reunite before the final battle where everyone DIES.”
Dinna fash Sassenach, our legacy will live on when MacDubhDonald’s becomes a franchise.
Young Ian (John Bell) has gone full HGTV on Fraser’s Ridge and built Uncle Jamie and Auntie Claire a new house. Rachel (Izzy Meikle-Small) pops in the episode momentarily and looks just about ready to pop with Young Ian’s child.
There were a LOT of children in this episode, but you know who wins the title of my FAVORITE OUTLANDER KID?
THIS DIVA’S DAUGHTER.
The way Mandy (Rosa Morris) said, “So I’ve heard,” after calling Cunningham’s mother the Wicked Witch of the West, was the funniest moment in the episode. How on Earth did Brianna (Sophie Skelton) and Roger (Richard Rankin) explain to their kids that they were traveling back in time?
I don’t blame Mandy for being sassy with Cunningham’s mother one bit. Oh yeah, Cunningham (Kieran Bew) is a new character who Jamie immediately clocked as suspicious when Cunningham acknowledged his past in the British army.
Honestly, there was so much going on in this episode that I lost track of the newbie characters a bit. The quiet moments in this episode were among the best — Claire silently gasping in disbelief when she saw Brianna, Jamie’s haunting Black Jack Randall flashback, Claire’s request for Jamie to recall how he loved her from the moment he saw her.
Seriously, someone at Fraser’s Ridge should open up a daycare; they’d be richer than King George III.
Lord John Grey (David Berry) appears in a few scenes, with a cute baby in tow, because everyone on this show is pregnant, apparently.
Jamie’s bastard son William (Charles Vandervaart ) is definitely not pregnant, but drunk and sad (but what else is new with him, honestly?)
John has had enough of all the Fraser men giving him shit and explains that the baby is Trevor Grey, the son of Benjamin Grey, William’s cousin. William apparently has the worst luck on this show because dear cousin Benjamin died. Jamie’s bastard son has the audacity to question if baby Trevor is legitimate or if the woman who dropped him off was just trying to get child support from a rich family for her poor baby.
Amaranthus Grey (Carla Woodcock) storms in and informs William that Trevor is more legitimate than his left pinky (well, that’s paraphrasing it, but it is technically true.)
William apologizes to her later, and I couldn’t help but groan — are we giving William another tragic love arc this season?? Is he going to be Mr-Steal-Your-Girl with his dead cousin’s baby momma?
And that’s how I learned never to sleep with your best friend’s widow, William, 0/10 experience.
There’s a lot going on at the Ridge and in William’s head (seriously, someone get him a therapist before he gets another girlfriend), but let’s zero in on that big moment, shall we?
Brianna and Roger basically said, “Screw time travel rules,” and brought back multiple books from their era for the family, including Goodnight Moon and The Lord of the Rings.
But the tome Jamie zeros in on? The Soul of a Rebel.
Written by Frank Randall.
I did not expect that. But Jamie quickly explains to the audience why it’s simply not cool to bring modern books back to the past.
Claire’s first husband claims in the book that Jamie will die in battle in a year.
A YEAR?
YOU’RE TELLING ME THIS MAN SURVIVED SHIPWRECKS, CULLODEN, BLACK JACK RANDALL, AND CLAIRE BEING AWAY FOR TWENTY YEARS ONLY TO DIE IN A BATTLE NEAR FRASER’S RIDGE???
HUH???
I’ll believe it when I see it. Buckle in, folks, the final season’s going to be a fun one. Until next time.
NEXT WEEK ON FRIDAY, MARCH 13TH, AT 8 PM ET: EPISODE 802: “PROPHECIES.”
Synopsis: “When a violent tragedy shakes the Ridge, the Frasers must lean on their new tenants to make the community whole again.”
