I think we can all agree that we watchOutlanderfor the love stories.Diana Gabaldonknows how to write them.
Showrunners know how to shoot them.
One thought continues to circulate through my mind as I watch details unfold on Frasier’s Ridge.
Sam Heughan as Jamie Fraser.Robert Wilson/Starz
Take Jamie (Sam Heughan), for instance.
He’s sworn an oath to Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and later cashes in on that pent-up energy.
But he’s confused by the indigenous peoples' request.
And then there’s Claire, who once again is accused of witchcraft.
She’s a strong female with a brain and a mouth.
But, every time she turns around, someone is questioning her personality.
Today, that person is Tom Christie (Mark Lewis Jones).
A woman has no authority to operate on a man.
Plus, Tom feels God has given him this infirmity for a reason.
Claire is used to this treatment, so she lets bygones be bygones.
Question: Is Malva interested in Claire’s medical training?
Or does she secretly think Claire is a witch and she’s all about the dark arts?
Moreover, would she be in Gryffindor or Slytherin house?
Assuming Malva sneaked away from her father and brother, she arrives at Marsali’s house ready to learn.
We learn that Fergus (Romann Berrux) is not getting drunk and beating Marsali.
Unfortunately, Marsali is the one getting angry at Fergus.
She’s mad at him for drinking and staying away for days on end.
Fergus is defending himself by grabbing Marsali’s wrists so she won’t beat him over the head.
What is wrong with Fergus?
Why is he behaving so uncharacteristically?
Marsali knows what’s wrong with Fergus.
Then sheself medicates with etherwhen she hallucinates Lionel Brown (Ned Dennehy) in her operating room.
The next day, Jamie returns home to find Major MacDonald (Jim Sweeney) waiting for a report.
Young Ian is perturbed when Jamie doesn’t request arsenal for the Cherokee.
They must use the knowledge of the future to make informed decisions.
And what are the odds that the reaction is the same as to Bree’s match invention?
Poor Roger (Richard Rankin).
Tom Christie asks him to perform Granny Wilson’s service.
Lo and behold, the older woman starts breathing just as the sin eater arrives.
Yes, I said “sin eater.”
What is going on?
Claire explains that Granny Wilson (Anne Kidd) has suffered from an aortic aneurism.
This is why she was cold to the touch and had an incredibly low pulse.
The sin eater “absorbs her sins” and is paid a few token coins.
Then she dies in peace.
Poor Claire is blamed for Granny Wilson’s resurrection.
The term “witch” is thrown around again, and Claire is forbidden from entering the new church.
Anyone who wants to gather, no matter if they are Protestant or Catholic, is welcome.
Jamie allows Tom to keep the steeple but insists Tom adds a bell.
Is it a school?
Is it a church?
That’s Jamie’s point.
It’s a building.
But there’s no time to argue that now.
Marsali is in labor, and Claire wonders if the baby is in distress.
Bree fetches Malva, who acts strange to me.
Roger fetches Fergus, who is drinking at the distillery.
Fergus transforms into the man we all know.
He gathers Marsali in his arms, and her face softens.
Then Fergus starts massaging her breast, and I feel the need to look away.
When he starts the suckling process, I want to leave the room, as Claire does.
I myself want to hide behind a couch cushion when things get rowdy.
Malva is fascinated by this solution.
She thought Marsali hated Fergus.
By the sound of things, Marsali seems to be enjoying herself.
Then, suddenly, his facial expression changes, and the blood drains from his face.
Is Fergus going to drop the baby?
Is the baby missing a limb?
Claire retrieves the bundle and watches as Fergus rushes out of the house.
She hands Marsali her son and announces that the baby is healthy, but he is affected by dwarfism.
Marsali peeps behind the folded blankets and stares back in awe.
Marsali is in love.
The next day, the Cherokee visit Jamie, asking if he requested guns.
He vows that if Jamie won’t' help them, then he will.
This spurs Jamie to write the governor, asking for guns and ammunition for the Cherokee.
He now understands that Ian fights with them because they are his family.
And he will fight for Ian, because he is Jamie’s family.
Speaking of family, Tom Christie is back to ask Claire if she will operate on his hand.
Did he turn over a new leaf?
What do you think Malva’s smile meant as her father struggled to manage his belt?
Is she embracing her mother’s dark soul?
Is she into witchcraft?
Is she gleeful that her father is a weak man?
Will she borrow some of Bree’s matches and burn the place down?
Or am I entirely off with that theory, and Malva wants to embrace science?
