‘Outlander’ recap: Brianna and Roger return to the stones

You know a drama series is really on fire when not one, not two, but three storylines produce awe-inspiring and gasp-inducing reactions. This is the Outlander we’ve all come to know and love.

Even though she’s disgusted by Allan’s confession, Claire (Caitriona Balfe) stops him from shooting himself, only to watch his eyes turn vacant as he falls to the ground with an arrow in his back. Claire may feel bad about Allan’s father’s sacrifice to keep her alive, but Young Ian (John Bell) doesn’t. The duo trek deep into the forest to bury the man under a fallen tree. 

The scene switches to Brianna (Sophie Skelton) giving birth to a beautiful daughter named Amanda. Sure, “Mandy” doesn’t feel very colonial, but I’ll allow it since Claire and Jamie (Sam Heughan) are so in love with this tiny bundle of joy. Is Jamie teaching the week-old baby about horses the cutest thing you’ve ever seen? Probably. It certainly comes close to Claire telling Mandy that she can be a surgeon when she grows up, because women surgeons rock.

They are so good that they can detect heart issues simply by noticing blue tints around a baby’s fingertips. Bree catches her mother inspecting Mandy, and she knows something is horrifically wrong. It’s true. A blood vessel in Mandy’s heart didn’t close, which is causing all sorts of problems. And it will only get worse. 

Through tears, Bree calmly asks her mother if Mandy will die. Claire is almost positive. Bri then asks if Claire can fix Mandy’s heart. Claire sadly shakes her head no, but seeps hope into the dire situation by saying, “I know someone who can.”

You just have to take a trip through the stones to get there. Hello, second unforeseen storyline!

It’s settled. The Mackenzies are going back as a family. They just need four gemstones. They have one and must procure the others by any means necessary in Wilmington. 

Upon their arrival, Bree spies Lord John (David Berry) and his son William (Charles Vandervaart). Yes, William is just as good-looking as Lord John, who is sweating bullets, wondering if Bree is going to spill the beans about Jamie being William’s birth father. She does not. But she encourages Lord John to tell William the truth, especially since he’s marching to war. It won’t make William love him any less. 

Later, Jamie visits Lord John just to check up on William. The young man is hell-bent on fighting, and Jamie laughs at his stubbornness. Lord John asks Jamie if he’s willing to renounce his association with the Sons of Liberty and begs him to fight for the red coats, claiming, “Can anyone oppose the crown and win?”

Knowing independence is inevitable, Jamie gently tells Lord John they should sever all connections between them. But even in silence, Jamie will remain his most humble friend. Gah! Both men tear up, and I, for some reason, have a lump in my throat. Having heard Jamie say he was in town to buy Bree a gemstone, Lord John gives him one he’s been carrying around for the last 20 years. He presses the jewel in his friend’s hand and says goodbye. 

Thank goodness for Lord John, because with his gift the Mackenzies have their fourth gemstone. Tomorrow, they will travel to Boston. Right now, Jamie wants to take a walk with Bree. As they walk through a swarm of rather large fireflies, Bree shares a story about the magic of Disneyland and the wonder that is Mickey Mouse. Although Jamie is convinced all children should be afraid of a giant rat walking around, the gist of Bree’s narrative is simple. Wherever family is located is the happiest place on earth. 

The time alone gives Jamie all sorts of feels. As a result, he hands a small garnet to Claire and tells her that he’s been saving this one gemstone in case he dies and Claire wants to go back. But now that the Mackenzies are all going through the stones, he’s giving her the opportunity to go with them. 

In a fit of anger, Claire throws the garnet out the window, promising never to leave Jamie again. How sweet! Also, did you have to throw the one thing away that can get you to another timeline? Seriously. I’m all for grand gestures, but I feel the same sentiment could have been projected by simply handing the jewel back to Jamie. 

The next day, we find the Mackenzies and the Frasers standing around four ominous stones in a field. Claire and Bree refuse to say goodbye, hoping this isn’t forever. Roger (Richard Rankin) and Jamie have a moment that revolves around honor. Little Jemmy makes everyone cry, and I lose it when Jamie and Bree promise that nothing is lost. It’s only about to change. 

Roger shoves a stone in Jemmy’s pocket while Bree tucks one under Mandy’s blankets. They hold hands and are sucked into the rocks. On the other side, I thought Roger was dead, but he lifted his head just as I started to panic. Did they make it? What year are they in? 

Jemmy runs around with his toy airplane zooming in and out of the rocks, and I become very distraught again, assuming he will get sucked back into a stone. However, from the model of the airplane that flies overhead, we know they have to be somewhere near the decade they were shooting for. Here’s hoping they can find some clothes, money, and the doctor Claire knows!

Claire and Jamie return to Fraser’s Ridge, which is both a relief and a misery. Their people are gone! Jamie allows Claire to weep in his arms, and then we see life on the Ridge settling down a bit. Jamie runs his horses. Young Ian plays with his wolf-dog. Lizzie has her baby. Everyone seems content for the time being.

This means drama must be lurking around the corner — and it is, in the form of the third, unforeseen action sequence. Claire comes home to find her door ajar. She stealthily enters and finds Wendigo Donner (Brennan Martin) striking Bri’s homemade matches. Claire is irate that this man is at her house. 

At first, Donner is passive. All he wants is information. He escaped his captives and tried to go through the stones. He drank a bottle of whiskey, stepped through with his gemstone, and ended up exactly where he started without the amethyst in his hand. What went wrong? 

Claire barks at him that he shouldn’t have been drunk when passing through. You need a clear mind and a specific date or place to steer yourself. Donner seems good with that answer, but things get heated when he demands she gives him a gemstone. 

Again, perhaps we shouldn’t have thrown the garnet out the window, Claire.

Claire claims she doesn’t have one, which she doesn’t, but Donner doesn’t believe her. He calls for his cronies to come and tear the house apart. Jamie is carried in, a bit bloody, trying to rationalize with the man currently smashing everything in Claire’s office.

One of the men breaks open her cabinet full of ether, and it spills to the ground. The burglars whine about being unable to see anything in the darkened room. Donner thinks he’s helping his fellow villains by striking a match to light a candle. 

That’s the moment when the entire house explodes. Knowing we are on the second episode of this season gives me great confidence that Jamie and Claire will make it through the blast. I can’t say the same for Donner and his gang of misfits. Or anyone else on Fraser’s Ridge. 

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