[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 808: “In the Forest”
Written by Ronald D. Moore, Directed by Tracey Deer
To put it mildly, the Outlander fanbase that has read the books is still reeling from the effects of last week’s episode. There is not much else the writers could throw at the reader-fans right now that would put them further into a spiral, other than killing off the beloved couple in the final episodes. Let us not underestimate their tactics, as the story this season has continued to build on Jamie (Sam Heughan) being in danger of death because of Frank’s writing in his historical book.
The scene before the opening credits centers on Jamie and Marsali (Lauren Lyle) in what is assumed to be right after Fergus’ funeral. When we last saw the family, they were all enveloped in the news of Fergus’ death as Marsali, her kids, and Roger (Richard Rankin) and Brianna (Sophie Skelton) arrived from Savannah on the Ridge. The beginning of this episode bookends the aftermath of his death, showing Marsali and Jamie dealing with his death in a conversation, as well as giving away what Marsali and her kids will be doing in the future. We also learn that another child is in the womb. With limited time left in the Outlander story, this may be the last time we see Marsali, although Lord John (David Berry) getting himself wrapped up in some nefarious plot may bring the other Fraser family back into the picture.
While William (Charles Vandervaart) continues to dwell on the many things that people continue to do to him, the latest being that his adopted father is gay, Lord John holds down the home front in Savannah. Amaranthus (Carla Woodcock) continues to fret over William’s location and betraying him. A letter arrives that is not from William but from Percy (Michael Lindall), asking Lord John to meet with him. Lord John does just that, but gets trounced upon by Captain Richardson (Ben Lambert), knocking Lord John out. The question about Percy is whether, in this timeline, Marsali has already met with him about the Comte’s land.
William showing up at Fraser’s Ridge had to happen for this series to wrap up eventually. While William is on the defensive with Jamie at the beginning of his visit, the father-son duo let bygones be bygones after rehashing old history and questions of abandonment, first when fishing together and then again while hunting. It will be interesting to see whether William sticks around until he hears about Lord John, allowing Jamie and William to ride off to the rescue, or whether this messes with the Kings Mountain battle timeline too much.
Jamie continues to ramp up his militia’s training for the upcoming battle, along with new, unexpected recruits. Brianna continues to use her memory and engineering prowess to manufacture more modern rifles, which will no doubt help in the battle. Jamie questions whether Ferguson will have access to more modern artillery, given that he has more money on his side.
Brianna’s nickname of “Deadeye” comes up because of Roger, and it is only then that Jamie puts two and two together and figures out that Frank’s book’s dedication is for Brianna. This revelation is confusing because how did Claire not know what nicknames Frank had for Brianna. It is this nickname that cements Jamie and Claire’s determination that the book is written for Brianna, not to torment Jamie with his impending death.
Buck (Diarmaid Murtagh) confesses to Roger about what happened to him before showing up at Fraser’s Ridge. He stayed in the original timeline playing one-sided footsie with his mother, Geillis, while escaping his jealous father, Dougal. He returned to the 1980s to do away with Rob Cameron (Chris Fulton), a wise choice, as it appeared Rob intended to go back in time to find that gold. Buck is quite the experienced time-traveler now in comparison to his other family members.
While the Frasers dealt with the death of Fergus, Fanny (Florrie May Wilkinson) continues to have moral questions about the death of her sister, Jane. In her young mind, the possibility that her sister may be damned to hell for actions in her life may also be creeping into her moral psyche. So much has happened to Fanny in the span of maybe a year that anyone’s head would be screwed up when viewing actions from a religious standpoint. Thankfully, Fanny has a couple of good religious family members to speak to, Rachel (Izzy Meikle-Small) and Roger, who becomes ordained in this episode. At the end of the episode, Fanny appears to have her soul relieved of weight and speaks to Jane at her cairn. While choosing a stone to add to her cairn from the stream, Fanny comes upon a green stone that cuts her and then makes her hear buzzing noises. Considering the writers have now permanently and genetically linked Fanny to Claire, the outcome of finding this stone is not surprising, but why bring this up at all?
Outlander is not always clear with the passage of time in these episodes, but in this one, it is shown physically through the growth of Brianna’s pregnant belly. It is flat at the start, but approaching a full-grown bump at the end. I surmised in my last review that we may never see this new child, but it might already be born in the next episode. If Marsali stayed at Fraser’s Ridge, we might have seen her belly grow as well.
“In the Forest” accomplished many things in one tightly woven episode, and that is because the original writer and showrunner, Ronald D. Moore, returned for one episode of his show’s final season. He has not contributed to Outlander in this manner since the premiere episode of season three, and he has been sorely missed, in my opinion. As we approach the end of the series, it is nice for fans to see flashbacks to earlier times in these last episodes, and this episode did just that, featuring both new and old flashbacks.
With very little time left in the television world of Outlander, there appears to be too much going on to be succinctly wrapped up in two to three hours, considering the complexities added this week. Unless the series is going to drop a two-hour movie as its end, there are a lot of fan questions and theories that will not have time to be resolved. There is a growing trepidation, especially after last week’s episode, that Outlander will not stick the final landing.
IN TWO WEEKS, ON FRIDAY, MAY 8TH, AT 8 PM ET: EPISODE 809: “PHAROS.”
Synopsis: “Political threats come to a head when an old friend of Claire and Jamie’s goes missing.”
