‘Outlander’ season 2, episode 5 review: When ghosts must stay alive
There have been some episodes of “Outlander” so far through season 2 that have carried with them elements of politics or great sequences of mystery. In Saturday’s episode entitled “Untimely Resurrection,” we ultimately had neither of these things.
Instead, this episode was fairly simple in its approach, especially once we got past the point that Jamie Fraser and the Comte St. Germain completed their arrangement to “work together,” which is just another way for the former to try to derail the Jacobite Rebellion. This episode is notable for the first appearance in the flesh from Black Jack Randall this season, who arrived in Versailles coincidentally at the same time that Claire and Jamie were at court. His presence sent clear shockwaves down the spines of both characters, and yet simultaneously they were able to keep themselves largely together in the moment.
The primary issue arrived once the king went away, and Jamie opted to challenge Jack to a duel, which he in turn accepted. Claire understands his thirst for vengeance, given the torment that Randall put up him in Wentworth Prison at the end of season 1; yet, at the same time, she knows and understands history more than ever before. She is now aware that Randall is to welcome a child into the world with Mary, and that this said child ends up being a descendant of Frank’s. She wants to preserve the timeline, which is why she made the particular request for him to wait a year, which threw him into a rage in return. In his mind, he doesn’t want to wait.
Dealing with time is a tricky thing. For example, isn’t there always a chance that Claire accidentally does something that results in Mary and Jack never working things out in terms of their relationship? Certainly, and the same goes for anyone else around her. We suppose that this is merely giving the two their best chance, but this is going to have to be a difficult tightrope for her to walk for the remainder of that time.
Overall, this episode was up the utmost quality, whether it be the performances of Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan in the closing scenes to the scenes that preceded them with Charles or the Comte, who is cruel and calculating in his own way. “Outlander” is taking its time to tell the season 2 story, but so long as we have powerful moments like the ones we saw tonight, we certainly do not mind. Grade: A-.
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