Outlander Recap: “Wentworth Prison”

Last night’s episode of Outlander was THE most difficult one of the entire season; much like that entire storyline in the book by Diana Gabaldon is THE most difficult to read through. Any fan who has read the book knows just how horrible Black Jack Randall treats (or more specifically mistreats) Jamie Fraser. To see it played out on screen was just as gut-wrenching.

The episode opens with executions taking place at Wentworth Prison where Jamie was taken after being caught when he ventured out of hiding, seeking out Claire and Murtagh. Jamie and Taran MacQuarrie (as well as a group of other prisoners) are forced to stand watch as one man after another is taken up on the executioner’s block and, for lack of better terminology, strung up.

When it comes time for Jamie’s turn, just as the rope is placed and tightened around his neck, in rides Black Jack Randall, stopping the execution from happening. This will undoubtedly be the one and only time that any of us will be happy to see Randall make an appearance. Jamie is then taking to the bowels (literally) of the prison to await what fate has next in store for him.

Meanwhile, Claire pays a visit to the prison’s warden, hoping to get access to Jamie. She is pretending to be an acquaintance of the Fraser family (keeping it completely secret that she is actually married to him, of course) and she is there to supposedly allow Jamie to write his final words to his family. While the warden is very taken by her and the Christian duty that she is performing for the Fraser family, he would not allow her to see him. Instead he provided her with his belongings, sending her on her way.

Let’s give Claire credit where credit is due; she held herself together (for the most part) especially before the warden; but once outside the walls of the prison, her grief and worry got the better of her. Thankfully Murtagh was there to help, even carry, her away from that horrible place.

The situation for Jamie was much, much worse. He tried valiantly, albeit uselessly, to break the chains attached to his feet before Randall made his appearance. This entire scene was hard enough to watch let alone write about, but we all know what happened. Randall reaffirmed his desire for Jamie, Jamie stood firm that he would not give in and even fought back before being brutalized by the sadistic Redcoat soldier.

Claire then made another valiant attempt to get Jamie out, this time using the warden’s time away from his office, as a means to an end. She and Murtagh ransacked the warden’s office looking not only for a map of the prison but also keys to the cells and doors. Despite being caught by one of the warden’s men, who Murtagh quickly took care of by knocking him out, Claire ventured into the prison, moving from one cell area to another, learning from one of the prisoners where Jamie might be located. She eventually finds him, bloodied and battered; but before she can break the chains, Randall appears again!

This time around Jamie gives in to Randall’s demands because of the harm Randall means to do to Claire. Jamie always said that he could handle his own pain, but he could never handle any harm coming to Claire. He tells Randall to let Claire go, allow her to leave the prison, and he would do anything Randall wanted. Claire, of course, was beside herself as Randall nailed Jamie’s already damaged left hand to a table and forced the Scotsmen to kiss him.

Randall did allow Claire to leave, leading her away from Jamie’s cell and pushing her out a hatch in the floor. She ended up in the trash, but this wasn’t just trash from the prison, this was where all the dead bodies are tossed away. There she found Taran’s dead body and countless others before crawling out from under the prison and eventually being found by Angus.

In the end, the MacKenzie men and Claire attempted to appeal to Sir Marcus MacRannoch, a loyal friend of the clan, for his help in rescuing Jamie; but he fears that there is nothing more he, or anyone else, can do. But when Murtagh sees the cattle outside MacRannoch’s home, he tells Claire that he has a way for them to save Jamie.

What did you think of last night’s episode of Outlander? Was it as harsh as you had anticipated (whether you’ve read the books or not)? Was your skin crawling the entire time with the scenes between Jamie and Randall? Please share your thoughts below.

Next week there will be a marathon of past episodes of Outlander followed next week, Saturday, May 30, with the much anticipated season finale of the show at 9/8c on Starz.