Outlander Recap: “Give Me Liberty”

“Mark me.”

I never thought we would have to hear those words again in an episode of Outlander after the devastation of the Battle of Culloden, but in last Sunday’s new episode of the Starz time travel drama those words were uttered by none other than Bonnie Prince Charlie to Flora McDonald, the woman who helped him flee the Redcoats dressed in female garb as to disguise himself against being recognized in Scotland back in 1746.

That little scene helped to queue up the bulk of the remainder of the episode that focused on Claire and Jamie being in Wilmington to attend a grand event being held by none other than Flora McDonald. As it turned out, Jamie and Flora knew each other as children back in Scotland, and what was eventually revealed was that Jamie’s very own Aunt Jocasta privately funded Flora’s event in the hopes of instilling peace within the territory since the seeds of sedition and strife were being felt all throughout the Colonies.

Lord John Grey was also in attendance at the event not only because of his stature within the realm but also on a mission from the governor who asked John to make sure that Jamie was still aligned with the Crown especially given his abrupt departure as Indian agent to the Cherokee.

Sadly the revelation made by Jamie to Lord John near the end of the episode did not bode well for either man. Jamie, of course knowing the chain of events thanks to Claire and Brianna, told John that he would be meeting with the Sons of Liberty; and John worrying for the fate of his dearest friend.

Back on the Ridge, Brianna was searching for the best location to build the water wheel that she designed, and she had Malva, Marsali and Lizzie in tow. Lizzie took ill during the sojourn in the woods after they found the remains of a love charm burned into the ground that not only included seaweed but also finger bones. It was made mention that perhaps Amy McCallum, the widow among the fisher-folk who Roger had been helping build a cabin for, could potentially have made the love charm in the hopes of wrangling Roger’s heart.

In truth, it was soon discovered near the end of the episode that it was Malva who clearly made the love charm because she went to the tent of the Death Eater [who had clearly recently died] where she proceeded to cut off two more of the dead man’s fingers. [It should be noted that Roger also found Malva in a compromising position on the floor of the newly built meeting hall [sans church] with a man on top of her. Immediately the little bitch threatened Roger that she would spread a lie about him and Widow McCallum if he didn’t keep her secret from her brother and her father who were standing just outside the front door of the church, as the men were going to erect the new bell that arrived for the top of the church. Reluctantly, Roger agreed, but we can be assured that that secret will come back to haunt all of them.

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One secret that will be no more is that Brianna is pregnant with their second child. When she said, “the four of us,” to Roger, it took the man a moment to realize what he said, and then he was clearly delighted with the news. Marsali soon figured out the secret when Brianna paid a visit to her “sister.” Marsali was preparing more of their belongings for the family’s move to the Wilmington where Aunt Jocasta has bought a print shop for Fergus, allowing him to support his family and to have a (hopefully) safer place for baby Henri Christian to live.

Unfortunately, there was calamity in Wilmington not only at the start of Flora’s event – a valuable emerald necklace was stolen, but soon enough retrieved from the thief sans one of the jewels – and then later when a mob terrorized Mr. Sims, a print shop owner, who made up flyers (paid for by Aunt Jocasta) supporting peace in the area. Lord John and Jamie were able to quell the mini-rebellion, but it was clear to both men that a “change is (in) the air.”

As Jamie and Claire prepared to return to the Ridge, Claire heard a faint whistle of a song that no one from that time should know – the Colonel Bogey March (aka The Bridge on the River Kwai March). It was so fleeting that Claire brushed it off, but as the final moments of the episode revealed, it would seem the thief who stole that missing jewel from Flora McDonald’s necklace was none other than Wendigo Donner (one of the 1960’s Indians who came back through the stones, and was one of Richard Brown’s men involved in Claire kidnapping). While we didn’t see his face, we clearly saw his voluminous curly hair, and heard him whistling that tune that only someone from Claire’s time would know.

The next episode of Outlander will air tomorrow night, April 10, on Starz at 9/8c.