OUTLANDER Recap: “Savages”

As the new episode of Outlander opened last night, Claire was at the creek with Adawehi, putting together herbs, sharing their languages and talking about children. As we saw last week, Adawehi shared prophetic news with Claire that came into play again this week. When asked whether Claire had children, she told Adawehi she had a daughter who lived far, far away; but the healer said “she is here” – and while Claire tapped her heart in agreement – it would seem, based on Adawehi’s facial expression, that she just might have meant something much different.

Enough time had obviously transpired that the Fraser’s cabin was fully built and they were settled into their new home. Jamie and Ian were preparing for a trip to Woolam’s Creek, the Scottish settlement, while Claire was preparing to visit the Mueller family, German immigrants who lived near Fraser’s Ridge. Jamie and Ian needed to get supplies and were hoping to lure settlers to their sprawling acres of land while Claire was setting out to help bring a new baby into the world as the Mueller’s daughter was ready to give birth.

Before Jamie and Ian left, Jamie hid one of his mother’s candlesticks inside his bag and then asked Claire if Brianna had a birthmark on her neck. Claire was very surprised by that as she never mentioned it to him – it’s a “wee brown marked shaped like a diamond behind her left ear” – he saw it in a dream! – and they both stated in unison it’s always hidden “behind her hair.” Jamie shared that he kissed that birthmark in his dream. [I have to admit a little shiver ran down my spine at his sharing of that dream with Claire.]

Meanwhile back in 1971, after being told by Brianna’s roommate Gayle that Bree had left several weeks earlier, heading to Scotland to “visit her mother,” Roger knew what Bree intended to do so he was in Inverness attempting to track her down. He spoke with someone at the local taxi service to find out where Brianna was heading, and learned that she paid for a one-way ride to Craigh na Dun from – of all places – Baird’s Bed & Breakfast, which was where Claire and Frank stayed during their doomed second honeymoon back in 1948.

Upon speaking with the current owner of the B&B to ascertain if Brianna had left anything behind, at first Miss Baird said no, but seeing how much the American – who reminded the woman of Ali McGraw (who had starred in the hit film Love Story in 1970) – broke Roger’s heart, she gave him a letter that Brianna had requested not be sent to him for a year.

Back in 1768, Jamie and Ian were in Woolam’s Creek distributing flyers in the hopes of meeting with Scottish farmers who might want to move to Fraser’s Ridge; and Jamie was seeking out the local silversmith, but the man was not at home. As that storyline played out, Jamie and Ian met with numerous Scottish men – all of whom turned down his offer of 100 acres, rent free, until the land became profitable. As Jamie and Ian prepared to leave Woolam’s Creek, though, Ian discovered that the horse’s bit was broken and would need to be repaired before they could trek all the way back to Fraser’s Ridge. While Jamie set off to find the silversmith again, Ian paid a visit to the local blacksmith, who turned out to be none other than Murtagh, Jamie’s long-missing godfather, who been sent to the Colonies from Ardsmuir Prison. He was put into servitude under the Barker family in North Carolina, but eventually worked off his time and after the death of his “owner,” was given the smithy but the widow Barker.

Needless to say, it was quite the reunion when Jamie barged into the smithy to berate the blacksmith about charging Ian so much money for the repair. The look on both men’s faces was, quite frankly, priceless, and how funny was it to hear Ian ask his uncle if he “knew this old coot.” A short time later, they shared drinks at the local tavern where Jamie told Murtagh that Claire had returned to him, that their daughter was living in Boston in 1971, going to University and shared his frustrations over not finding any settlers for Fraser’s Ridge. Even Murtagh, after being asked, wouldn’t join Jamie as he had “grave work” to conduct in Woolam’s Creek.

It turned out that Murtagh was the defacto leader of the Regulators – the very people Governor Tryon had warned Jamie about, the people who were not paying their taxes properly. As part of his agreement for the land, Jamie was to quell any rebellion and now it would seem his godfather would be on the opposing side. One good circumstance that did come out of that visit – other than being reunited with Murtagh – was that Jamie left his mother’s candlestick with Murtagh in order for him to make a surprise gift for Claire.

As for Claire, she helped bring the Mueller baby into the world: a baby girl that the family decided to name Clara – after Claire herself. Claire was obviously honored by their decision, but the euphoria was short-lived as Herr Mueller charged out their cabin door because some natives were watering their horses in the nearby creek. As he held his musket against them, Claire begged both sides not to harm the other. She was able to reason with Mueller and the natives, through the young brave Tawodi from last week’s episode; but the peace was short-lived because Tawodi sprinkled a blessing across the water, but Mueller believed the native was cursing their land.

After seeing Claire tending to daily tasks around their home – feeding the animals, cooking food and even knitting (obviously Ian taught her how to “clickit”), Claire was visited by the local pastor who told her that Herr Mueller had gone insane because the Mueller’s son, their daughter – the new mother – and the baby all perished from measles, which Herr Mueller believed came from the curse, who had cursed their water. [That was probably not the case, though, as the disease more than likely came from Cross Creek where Herr Mueller had been a short time prior to the baby’s birth.]

As Claire spent what seemed like several days on edge – out of worry as to what Mueller might do – with her musket armed and loaded [and Rollo by her side], Mueller showed up to make sure Claire was unharmed. Unfortunately, while Mueller had no intentions of harming Claire – as the pastor had feared – he gave Claire something wrapped inside a handkerchief – what she believed was a doll that Mueller had given to the new baby (which could have been the cause of the measles, as far as I’m concerned). It wasn’t the doll, though, but a scalp and beading worn by Adawehi. Needless to say, Claire was devastated that Mueller had killed Adawehi – because he thought she was a witch – and bid him a final goodbye.

As Claire put the beading and the scalp inside a wooden box and burned it in their fireplace, the natives were setting upon the Mueller cabin, hitting it with flamed arrows, engulfing the entire structure in flames. One of the arrows struck Frau Mueller in the back, bringing her down in flames just a few steps beyond the porch of their cabin as Herr Mueller arrived racing on horseback. He was also taken down by two arrows by the natives. This gave the name of this episode perspective. Who were the savages: the natives or Herr Mueller?

It was a short time later that Jamie returned home to find a very shaken Claire, who was so relieved that he was back, needing him to hold and console her. While we didn’t see her tell Jamie what happened to Adawehi or them learning what happened to Herr and Frau Mueller, he clearly knew she was upset and she needed him to “just hold” her.

Later on while gathering wood for the fire, Claire heard someone whistling behind her; whistling a song that only the two of them would know [as they used an improvised version of a song in season two while attempting to find Jamie who had been hiding out from the Redcoats]. As she turned around, she found Murtagh there and he joked with her about not being a “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.” It was very nice to see them reunited, allowing Claire a moment of happiness after such a horrible experience.

Back in Inverness, however, viewers saw Brianna walking among the standing stones of Craigh na Dun as Roger read the letter she left for him at Baird’s Bed & Breakfast. Through Bree’s voiceover, Roger discovered that she learned something terrible was going to happen to her mother and Jamie and that she would never forgive herself if she didn’t try to help them. As she stood in period clothing in front of the standing stones, she touched the tallest stone and disappeared as Roger read her saying “goodbye” to him.

What did you think of the episode? How excited were you to see Murtagh and watch the reunion between him and Jamie? Do you think that Murtagh will convince some of the other Scottish settlers to take land from Jamie? Do you think that Mueller really killed Adawehi? What do you think Roger’s next move will be regarding Brianna? Please share your thoughts below.

The next new episode of Outlander will air on Starz on Sunday, December 9 at 8/7c.

[Photo Credit: Starz]

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