‘Outlander’ season 2, episode 8 review: Turning tides, Lord Lovat, and Laoghaire’s return
Tonight on “Outlander” season 2, we had certainly what was a change of pace for the series, a change in setting, and a change of perspective for some of our heroes. After spending weeks trying to stop the Jacobite Rebellion my undermining Prince Charles in France, Claire and Jamie Fraser, now in Scotland, have realized the full extent of the man’s determination. It seems ultimately that no matter what they decide to do, nothing is keeping him from continuing along his efforts.
Therefore, there is something of a “if you can’t beat him, join him” philosophy that comes out of the two deciding to truly aid his cause, and as a result of that the pain focus of the hour quickly became uniting some of the clans, in particular Lord Lovat and Colum MacKenzie, returning to the show for the first time in a while. This episode was largely political, with Jamie using everything from his knowledge to also claims of Claire’s “magic” to persuade others to follow his lead. The end result of his actions was Lovat sending an army to aid him in his cause, as well as keeping Lallybroch safe for the time being. There were a few scenes of particular enjoyment in here, mostly because there’s always something great that comes from watching Jamie and Claire get something over on other people.
Now that we’ve said that, what do we make of Laoghaire getting one over potentially on the two of them? Maybe to a certain extent Claire doesn’t trust her still (and understandably so, given what happened in the past), but her presence in this episode was a reminder of some of what was left behind. She claimed that she was different and out for forgiveness, but what neither Jamie nor Claire heard from her at the end of the hour was her proclamation that she was still hoping someday to have his “love.” Clearly, there is an element of her story that is not changing just yet.
From the return of Jenny and Ian to simply seeing some of the old highlands again, “Outlander” had a nostalgic feel to it in some ways tonight. We’re still not going to say that this was the most eventful episode of the season, such much of it had to do with merely making arrangements for things to come. Nonetheless, the acting was strong, the set designs beautiful, and the story constructed in such a way that matters will explode before long. Whether or not our heroes can ultimately turn the tide against history, though, is something that remains to be seen. Grade: B+.
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