Outlander Recap: An Attempt to Conquer Time

Outlander
Pharos
Season 8 Episode 9
Editor’s Rating ★★★★
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Apologies, Outlander fam, but I’m coming in hot. You’re telling me that these people waited until the penultimate episode of the entire series to give us James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser with hottie colonial pirate half-up-half-down hair? This is what we could have had all this time? Since Jamie landed in the colonies?? Instead, we’ve been suffering through the “I’ve given up” low pony from hell for years? This is actually more painful than Outlander killing off Fergus for no good reason. I’d beg to be sent through the stones so I can do something to change this egregious offense to my person, but Outlander dumps cold water on even that plan by using the bulk of this episode to remind us that no matter how hard we may try, Lost was right all along: What happened happened, even terrible wigs.

But it’s true, folks: It turns out the John Grey kidnapping plot is all about time travel. And solving racism. And also using homophobia as a weapon? There’s a lot going on here. When Lord John comes to in the boat house where he’s being held, his captor, Captain Richardson, unfurls his plan. He has learned that John’s brother, Hal, will soon give a speech to Parliament in which he opposes sending any more funds to this war with the colonies. It will turn sentiment, and without those funds, the British will lose this war and lose the American colonies, and that simply cannot happen. So, Richardson wants Lord John to convince his brother to give a speech saying the opposite, and to get John to do that, he is blackmailing him. Thanks to Percy and another former lover of John’s named Neil, Richardson has letters detailing his romantic relationships with men, which he will send out to every newspaper around, as well as every member of Parliament; John will be hanged for sodomy, and Hal will be discredited thanks to the scandal. If you’re thinking this plan seems needlessly complicated and convoluted and sure to fail, hold on to your butts. 

John, ever our hero, stands his ground and refuses to give in to Richardson’s demands. Richardson, then, is going to hold John hostage until Percy can deliver the blackmail to Hal. Percy can beg John’s forgiveness with “I’m sorry,” “I love you,” and “You were always the strong one, not me,” but John sees him for the sniveling coward he’s always been. No, literally, he is sniveling. But if Percy does truly love him, then he’ll find William and tell him his father loves him and give him John’s signet ring. It’s an heirloom! It’s also part of John’s last-ditch effort to be rescued. 

Seven weeks later, Claire, Jamie, and William have arrived in Savannah, having received a panicked message from Amaranthus about John’s disappearance. We don’t get a scene to show us the Frasers making this decision to rescue this man, whom they all love, which is a shame. It feels like we could have gotten a nice emotional beat to take us from William and Jamie being on the outs with Lord John to realizing they must go save his life. Alas, we will have to play that out in our minds. (My version did make me tear up a little, if I’m being honest.) It doesn’t take long for the group to learn of Richardson’s plan and connect Percy to it all. They arrive at his office and rough him up, but he has little info to give; he does have that ring. Jamie finds the word “pharos” scratched inside — “lighthouse” in Greek. There’s a lighthouse on Tybee Island; they’ll go there first. On his way out, William informs Percy that if they can’t find his father or if they find him and he’s dead, “There will be nowhere safe” for him. It is a line that could easily come from either Jamie or Lord John, and honestly, isn’t that so cute? William threatens people just like his two dads! 

On the island, they spot Richardson in the distance … spending his afternoon fishing. Seven weeks is a long time to hold a man hostage, and he has to get his kicks somewhere. Claire stays to keep an eye on him, while Jamie and William use the opportunity to mount a rescue of Lord John in the boathouse, and yeah, it does look pretty cool when father and son silently rise up out of the water and kill those two guards. They find Lord John, who, it must be said, is rocking a beard that does look fake but also hot. What a time for Hair on Men in this episode! Lord John and William hug and cry, and Jamie watches, and it’s all much nicer than it sounds. 

Meanwhile, Claire sees Richardson close the fishing hole earlier than they assumed, and she handles the situation, per usual. “I’m here on behalf of my former husband,” she tells him as she pulls a gun on him. She walks him back to the boathouse, where Jamie cuffs him and goes to get the boat while having Lord John and William keep watch outside. I would ask why they wouldn’t just walk him to the boat, which seems much simpler, but I know the answer: They need him and Claire alone again so they can have a chat. Richardson pleads with her to let him go because she has no idea what she is unleashing by keeping him here. He explains that he needs the British to win this war because he knows that if the American colonies win, many who live here will actually not be free. “How do you feel about slavery?” is a wild icebreaker, but it clues Claire into something major. And once Richardson goes on about how if the English win, he knows their abolitionist movement will lead to slavery being outlawed in all of their colonies. If the American colonies win this war and are no longer under British rule, enslaved people will not be free for 85 years. There will be another war. So many will die. Claire realizes this man is talking about the Civil War. He knows about the Civil War. He’s a time traveler, too. It is interesting that while we get Claire explaining her story to Richardson, he never explains his — we’ve seen him before, in 1980 as part of Rob Cameron’s crew when he ransacks Lallybroch, but I guess that’s just a little Easter egg for sharp-eyed viewers (or book readers). He does, however, explain that he’s studied everything he could, and everything apparently hinges on Hal Grey’s speech. Even Claire is like, there has to be another way, but Richardson is adamant that outing a closeted gay man to ruin his brother is the only way to end slavery and prevent the Civil War. The sentences this show forces me to write never cease to amaze. 

Claire tries to explain that she’s made attempts to change history — Culloden, Alamance — but it never works. “What has happened before always happens again.” But Richardson begs her again to let him try; there has to be some reason they have this ability. He’s really caught Claire at a vulnerable time. All she wants is to believe there is a chance they could change Jamie’s fate at King’s Mountain. In a weird way, Richardson is giving her hope. So she lets him go. Lord John shoots Richardson right in the head before he even steps out the door. Hope is dead. 

The group returns to Savannah, and Lord John thanks the Frasers for saving his life. Now, Lord John and William may be able to make amends with a loving hug, but the rift between him and Jamie will take much more than that. It will also take much more than Jamie proudly announcing that he’s “decided” to forgive John. The look on Claire’s face when her husband willingly makes such an asshole statement should be hung in a museum; it is perfect. Lord John is basically like how dare you forgive me and slams the door in his face. Of course, it’s Claire who has to remind Jamie that he loves Lord John and could he please stop being the absolute worst right now?

Say what you will about this final season of Outlander, but some of its bigger sins might be worth suffering if only to arrive at this much-anticipated reconciliation between Jamie and Lord John. It not only uses the awkwardness and tension stemming from the fact that Jamie almost killed John when he found out he slept with Claire, but it also quite sweetly draws on the rich history between these two characters. It all feels very earned. It also doesn’t hurt that we get a callback to one of the best lines of the series when Jamie brings up that at the time, John said that he and Claire were both fucking him, and Jamie felt that the sentiment was “a betrayal of their friendship.” Lord John wonders if they even had a real friendship since, you know, what he did was out of grief and never meant to hurt Jamie. Meanwhile, Jamie almost literally killed him. Lord John has given so much to this so-called friendship, and that’s how Jamie treated it. Once Jamie is reminded about how much John has done for him, he softens. He offers a genuine apology for how he’s treated him. He knows William is the man he is today because of John, and he’s grateful. He’s so sorry for all John had to sacrifice in his life for Jamie and for William. Lord John responds that all William ever was was a gift, and he is grateful to Jamie for it. Still, Jamie knows John deserves better, deserves more. “What more can I do?” he asks his friend. Well, he can sit down for one more game of chess. This is seemingly the final Jamie and Lord John scene we’ll be getting, and it is the perfect final note on one of the best relationships in the series. Don’t worry, I’ve only cried three times about it.

Outside, Claire’s getting day drunk, knowing her two husbands are making up inside and she’s done her job well. She gets to chat with William as he grapples with feeling like he is betraying one of his fathers by loving the other. Claire has to point out that, like, literally everyone on this show has two dads and was raised by a village, and to love and be loved by so many is a gift, not a burden nor a betrayal. William has two dads who love him, just as he is, and would do anything to protect him. Hopefully, now this kid can stop being a moody ass little ding-dong about it. All seems well between William and his dads as Jamie and Claire depart Savannah. Jamie even makes sure to look back at William one last time on his way out. 

The Grey men have other loose ends to tie up, though. Lord John needs to make sure that if any of Richardson’s letters do happen to get out, they have no credence. He walks into Percy’s office with the eyes of a man internally yelling, “I’m alive, bitch!” and then tells his traitorous ex that he has two options: Sign an affidavit saying you were in on Richardson’s scheme and kidnapping, and it was all meant to malign Lord John’s character, or John will kill him. Percy signs the paper, knowing it will mean life in prison, and then promptly kills himself. Kind of thoughtful that he didn’t make John get his hands dirty. Lord John deserved a good love interest in this series, and I’ll always be sad about that. 

Speaking of terrible love interests, William goes to see Amaranthus. She wonders if he can ever forgive her, if they can have a future together. He understands why she lied, but he is not in love with her. He wishes her well. Maybe he has grown up! Good for him. If this is the end of our time with the Greys, at least we leave them both in relatively good places, right? 

Back on Fraser’s Ridge, they are counting down to King’s Mountain day. Bree and Roger have a son, David, and it turns out Claire is writing her and Jamie’s love story down, and it sounds exactly like Claire’s voice-over we’ve been getting since episode one. (Hearing the phrase “People disappear all the time,” the first words of the Outlander premiere did bring me back!) Jamie, constantly looking contemplative, finally admits to Bree that Frank’s book says he won’t survive the coming battle. She pleads with him not to go, but he believes it is the only way to keep the people he loves safe. That battle is important, and he needs to make sure they win.

And suddenly, Benjamin Cleveland arrives with news: Major Ferguson is on the move. It’s time to gather the militia. It’s time to go to King’s Mountain.