Outlander Recap: Season 7, Episode 1 “A Life Well Lost”

The premiere episode of season 7 of Outlander on Starz opened with an unsettling scene of Claire standing on the gallows, waiting to be hanged for a crime she didn’t commit while that bastard Richard Brown looked on with his smug smile intact. In the blink of an eye, we see Jamie standing alone with his thoughts being heard loud and clear that he will not let his worst fears consume him. He believed that Claire was still alive and that he would find her.

“Let’s go get my wife,” he said to his nephew Ian, after the young man told him that John Quincy and the Cherokee had gone back to the Ridge, as requested by Jamie, to make sure that all was well. And with those words we see the two men racing off over a lush landscape to rescue Claire with a new rousing version of the show’s theme song “The Skye Boat Song” – sung by Irish singer Sinead O’Connor – and a lavish new title sequence, giving viewers’ a look inside the new, much-anticipated 7th season.

Thankfully as the episode got underway, we learned that Claire was indeed still alive albeit in the jail where we last saw her in the cliffhanger ending from last season. She quickly learned from Mrs. Tolliver, the woman who deals with the women in the jail, how things are run there. She also got acquainted with her cellmate, Sadie Ferguson, who was in for forgery.

The recent unrest has many of the justices in hiding and there is a lot of concern among the townspeople with no trials happening for any of the prisoners. Claire had to remain silent to the other women in the jail despite her knowledge of history; that the current unrest will last for years and that they could languish in that jail for a very long time…unless they could be rescued.

Meanwhile, Roger and a very pregnant Briana are walking to church talking about his ministering to a few soldiers and about his past as a wee criminal during his youth. It would seem the local reverend has been concerned about Roger, especially the “more lofty intellectual parts of my studies.” Once in the British camp to speak with some prisoners there, Roger made a comment: “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” Those words fell on the ears of Wendigo Donner – a fellow traveler who ran with Lionel Brown and his men, the very men who kidnapped and assulted Claire. Donner attempted to ask Roger for help after explaining the ordeal he went through to get to that time and his desire to return to his own time.

While Jamie and Ian were still riding to rescue Claire, British soldiers came into the jail asking for the healer and promptly left with Claire in tow. They soon found Tom Christie outside the jail, but Claire was already gone. It was then that we learned that Mrs. Tolliver is the wife of the local Sheriff, who had the British officers take Claire away for “the duty of the Crown.”

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As it turned out, Claire was taken to a ship (yes, yet another ship) to tend to the Governor’s very pregnant wife who is marooned on that very ship. According to the wife, Claire had become the talk of the town, supposedly murdering her husband’s mistress and cutting the baby from the dead girl’s womb. None of that was true, of course, but apparent the Governor doesn’t listen to idle gossip or else, according to his wife, Claire would never have been removed from the jail to tend to her.

Then the story went back to Roger and Brianna as they argued over what Roger planned to do for Donner, not only taking food to the man but also a means of escape. Roger told Brianna how his experience when he came back through the stones wasn’t much different from that of Donner.

Back on the ship, Claire overheard the Governor talking to one of the officers about the fighting at the local fort and then Major MacDonald arrived aboard – MacDonald was Jamie’s liaison for the brief time Jamie was Indian Agent on the Ridge. MacDonald wasted no time in alerting the Governor to who Claire was, the crime that had been lodged against her and his unveiled attempt to sully Jamie’s integrity.

Also, Claire had asked the Governor to allow her to return to Wilmington for supplies in order to tend to his very pregnant wife, but he refused. Instead he told her to write out the items she needed and they would be procured for her. That list was written out, and the note delivered to Tom Christie, who – thankfully – went directly to Jamie because he was included on that list. Claire had written “vir meus” on that list, but rather than the words representing medicine that she required, the words were Latin for “my husband.”

Back on the ship, Claire went topside to ask for blankets for the Governor’s wife, and then out of the deep fog, Jamie appeared on a small skiff. The utter relief on both of their faces was palpable and while their reunion onboard the ship was brief – that damn British officer told them “this is not permitted.”

Jamie then went to the Governor asking for Claire to be released, but instead – after a bit of stern words exchanged between the two men – the Governor gave Jamie an ultimatum: he needed to return to the backcountry, gather 200 men and return to Major MacDonald to fight for the crown. While Jamie agreed to this, it was clear that he had no intention of doing that.

Then back on dry land, Roger and Brianna continued their discussion about Roger helping Donner, but not in the way she originally thought. Roger decided he will pray for the young man, but won’t help him escape.

Back in Wilmington, Jamie shared with Ian the “deal” struck with the Governor with Jamie telling Ian to return to the Ridge, as he was going to get his wife off that ship one way or another. It was then that they were surprised, once again, by Tom Christie, who – with whiskey in hand – told Jamie that he had wrestled with his demons, telling Jamie that he was “the answer to my prayer.”

Tom told Jamie that he wanted to go to the ship to save Claire, putting his life in place of hers. It was during this scene that the two men – adversaries if you will – reconciled their differences, their misgivings of each other because of the same woman.

Once aboard the ship, Tom admitted to Claire that he killed his own daugther, Malva, and despite the fact that Claire didn’t believe him, he told her the truth about Malva; that she was actually his brother Edgar’s daughter. He claimed that his wife was an enchantress and that she was eventually hanged for the murder of Edgar. Tom further confessed to Claire that Malva had planned to kill both him and Claire; she had made a broth to poison them both. He said that Malva lusted after wealth and possession and she had wanted Jamie. Claire continued to disbelieve him and it was then that he admitted to Claire that he loved her. It was quite an about-face for a man who had acted like such an asshole to all of them since arriving at the Ridge. He then handed a written confession to Claire, which she began to tear apart only to have Tom tell her that he left a copy with the newspaper in Wilmington. This confession would assure Claire’s freedom. Before leaving the room and walking away with one of the British officers to face his fate, Tom told Claire to go to her husband.

Soon enough, Jamie saw Claire on that same small skiff returning to him on the shore of Wilmington; and that night in bed, Claire asked if Jamie had forced Tom to confess. Neither of them believed Tom’s confession, but obviously both were relieved that their current trial was at an end.

As Claire quickly fell asleep, Jamie rose from the bed to pay a visit to someone he had recognized earlier in the episode; or more to the point, recognized a certain man’s horse. As Richard Brown walked into a room above the tavern, he discovered someone in his room that he did not expect to see: Jamie. As fans should remember it was Brown and his men who planned on having Jamie sent back to Scotland on a ship in last season’s finale. That, of course, didn’t happen. Brown offered Jamie a drink, but Jamie made it clear that he would have a celebratory drink “after.”

Not surprisingly Brown told Jamie that if he harmed one hair on his head that his people would end the lives of everyone in Jamie’s family. Sternly and calmly Jamie told Brown that wouldn’t happen since Ian and his Cherokee companions had been dispatched to take care of Brown’s people.

Rising from that dark corner, anger burning in Jamie’s eyes and pronounced fear in Brown’s eyes, Jamie told the bastard that “any goodness that prevails in me is because of my wife, and you tried to take her from me.” Just before the screen went black, Jamie lunged at Brown and viewers were left knowing without any doubt that Brown lost his life in those remaining seconds.

The next new episode of Outlander will air on Starz on Friday, June 23 at 8/7 c.