Outlander Recap: “Eye of the Storm” [Season Finale]

The season finale of Outlander aired last night, bringing the story of Jamie Fraser and Claire Randall Fraser full circle. From Jamie surrounded by blood and death on the Moors of Culloden to Claire’s slow-moving deep sea “death” – it has been an incredible season.

There was a lot of action in last night’s episode from Jamie getting out of Captain Leonard’s “clutches” thanks to Governor Grey – thank God for that long-ago meeting while Jamie was taking a piss, huh? – to Claire’s encounter with Geillis at Rose Hall, to saving Ian from Geillis’s delusions of grandeur, to Jamie and Claire’s sexy on-board seduction to their washing up on the shores of the Colonies, it was quite an episode.

The official description for the episode, entitled “Eye of the Storm” follows:

“Claire plays a game of cat and mouse with an old adversary as she searches for young Ian; the Frasers race through the jungles of Jamaica to prevent the unthinkable.”

Searching for Ian

As promised, Claire set out to track down young Ian at Rose Hall, the plantation owned by Geillis Duncan now Mrs. Abernathy, after Jamie was unfortunately caught by Captain Leonard, the determined young man who was thrust into a position of power on The Porpoise.

Claire made it quietly into the slave quarters of Rose Hall, whispering for Ian only to find the dead bodies of two young men before being caught by one of Geillis’ slaves. She was forcibly taken to Geillis, who grilled Claire on why she was there: not only at Rose Hall but also in that time period. Geillis couldn’t believe that Claire would willingly leave Jamie nor would she believe that Claire went back to her own time. But once Geillis learned about Brianna – who could be the representation of the 200 year old baby on the day of its birth [from Margaret’s strange prediction] – Geillis’s focus immediately changed.

Rescuing Jamie

It’s no great surprise that Fergus was able to get a message to Lord John Grey – now Governor of Jamaica – once he discovered the note left behind by Claire before she set off to search for young Ian. It was fitting to see the Redcoats stop Captain Leonard, taking him and Jamie to John’s office; and it was even more fitting to see John put Leonard in his place, gaining Jamie’s freedom once again. Thank God for their meeting all those years ago when then young John Grey attempted to kill Jamie as he was taking a piss, huh?

Jamie and Claire Reunited

It took Jamie no time at all to reunite with Claire at Rose Hall; and they set out to rescue young Ian – as Claire saw him being carried away by one of Geillis’s slaves just before Jamie burst into the room for which Claire was locked inside. They raced into the forest beyond Rose Hall, encountering escaped slaves conducting a drum dance that reminded Claire of the Druid dance that she and then husband Frank witnessed before her unexpected first travel through the stones at Craigh Na Dun.

Strange To Meet You Here

As the drum dance continued to build in its intensity, Jamie and Claire were caught by some of the escaped slaves and then surprisingly discovered that Mr. Willoughby and Margaret were there. This unlikely couple wished to escape together and the escaped slaves were going to help them; that is until Margaret’s rather abusive brother Archibald showed up to put a kibosh on their run-away plans.

A number of strange things happened very quickly from here on out:

• Margaret spoke to Jamie and Claire in one of her trances – speaking of the rabbit Jamie saw as he lay in an orchard filled with blood (after the Battle of Culloden) and Claire watching that bird on the window ledge (at her home in Boston) but hearing Jamie rather than the bird – and then she seemed to channel a message from Jamie and Claire’s daughter Brianna [creepy, no?!] – before warning the couple about Abandawe again;

• Archibald arrived to threaten Margaret again, and Mr. Willoughby inadvertently killed him during their scuffle with the escaped slaves taking his body away to help Margaret, who helped them [much different from the way the story played out in the third book]; and,

• Claire and Jamie racing to the Abandawe cave to stop Geillis from sacrificing young Ian and using the portal [there are stones near Rose Hall just like Craigh Na Dun- GASP!] to jump through time to hunt down Brianna to enact that unbelievable prophecy for which Geillis has been obsessed. As Jamie attempts to fight off Geillis’s slave Hercules, Claire attempts to stop Geillis; and ends up nearly slicing Geillis’s head completely off – bringing us full circle with the skeleton that Joe Abernathy was researching shortly before Claire made her latest trip back through the stones.

Sailing Away to Scotland

Safely back on The Artemis, knowing that young Ian is safe in their custody and Fergus and Marsali are back with them too, Jamie and Claire were finally able to share a beautiful sweet seduction in the captain’s quarters before waking to a horrific storm that would drastically change all of their lives forever.

Welcome to the New World

At the peak of the storm, Claire and Jamie were the last remaining people on the deck of The Artemis as a huge wave crashed down, breaking off the mast of the ship, sending Claire into the murky depths of the sea. In true Highlander style, Jamie dove into the ocean to save his wife, cutting her loose from the ropes of the mast and pulling her above the waves – albeit unconscious.

As the image of them floating in the ocean blurred further and further into the eye of the hurricane, it appeared that the episode was going to end there with Jamie’s and Claire’s lives in jeopardy; but instead a young girl races along a beach, finding Jamie’s body washed up on the shore. He quickly found the body of Claire washed up nearby; he was visibly worried she would be dead, but instead she coughs up a good portion of water and eventually croaks to him “where are we?”

They learn from the parents of the young girl who found Jamie that The Artemis ran aground four miles down the beach with survivors being tended to by local inhabitants. The big reveal was that they weren’t on an island but were on Lake Pearl in the Colony of Georgia. They were in America! With that viewers saw a sweeping landscape of the shore of Georgia, which will play heavily in the next chapter of Jamie and Claire’s life together in the New World.

What did you think of the season finale? What do you hope to see next season? Please share your thoughts in our comments section below.

Outlander was renewed for a fourth season, which is actually being filmed right now. An official airdate has yet to be announced by Starz.

Here is the teaser trailer for Season 4 that aired at the end of the season finale: