OUTLANDER Recap: “America the Beautiful” (Season Premiere)

As any viewer of Outlander knows by now, Jamie and Claire Fraser, along with their family and friends, survived the wreck of the Artemis when the broken up ship hit the sands of Georgia in the final episode of the third season.

Related: Outlander Recap: “Eye of the Storm” (Season Finale)

The season premiere of the fourth season opened with an unexpected visit to North America in 2000 B.C. where natives were creating a version of the standing stones – much like those in Scotland, which sent then Claire Randall back in time – and where the natives performed a dance not that dissimilar to those of the “Druids” in 1948, as witnessed by Claire and her husband Frank.

As Claire, once again, performed the voiceover that would explain the direction with which this episode would take, the focus was directed towards circles – the circles the native dancers were making around the stones – much like that of the planets or the hands of a clock or even a wedding band; the latter of which would come back to even greater meaning at the end of the episode.

Before I digress into that shocking ending, let’s take a look at the official description for the season premiere, entitled “America the Beautiful”:

“Claire and Jamie cross paths with Stephen Bonnet, a pirate and smuggler who enlists their help; Claire illuminates Jamie on some of America’s history, leading him to wonder if it’s possible for them to lay down roots.”

From the circle of the standing stones and the native dancers, viewers were transported to North Carolina – 4 months after the Artemis survivors were washed ashore – where a hanging was soon to take place. The victim this time around was not Jamie Fraser, but rather his Ardsmuir Prison comrade Gavin Hayes, who slept with a woman only to learn that she was actually married to a very angry man – a man who came at Hayes with a pitchfork – only to lose his life because of taking a pitchfork to Hayes. The death was not deliberate – more self-defense – but regardless of Jamie’s efforts, he was unable to convince the local magistrate of Hayes’s innocence.

Not to gloss over the very sad end to one of Jamie’s long-time friends, but after the sentence was completed, Jamie’s other Ardsmuir comrade Lesley reacted to his friend’s death briefing allowing two other men sentenced to death to attempt an escape while the third and final man also facing the hangman’s noose to actually get away.

Needless to say, Jamie and company needed to put their friend Hayes to rest in a place of peace – not in the woods, as Hayes would not have liked that resting spot – and they set out to bury him on consecrated ground – whether the local priest liked it or not. The only problem was that when it came time to bury Hayes, a body arose from the wagon providing transport of Hayes’s body. And who was that person? Stephen Bonnet, the sentenced man who got away. [If only Jamie, Claire and company knew then what was to come from this vile man, though.] As it turned out, they provided aid to and an escape to Bonnet, getting him away from the city and the British soldiers who were looking everywhere for the wanted man. [Groan!]

Elsewhere in the story, Jamie and Claire were attempting to find a way to get their family the money needed to travel back to Scotland. The only way to do that was to sell a ruby salvaged from the wreck of the Artemis to a wealthy Baron at a fancy dinner party for which they had secured an invite. As luck would have it, the Baron “jumped” at the chance to buy the ruby.

As it looked like they could easily get everyone home – several times over, which simply meant they had plenty of money now – it was a matter of did they really want to return to Scotland or not. Jamie and Claire eventually announced to Fergus, his wife Marsali, Young Ian and Lesley that they had decided to remain in the Colonies while Young Ian would be sent home to his parents. Fergus and Marsali decided they would stay in Wilmington – as they were going to become first time parents – much to the happiness of everyone [I especially enjoyed the closeness that has seemed to develop between Marsali and Claire] and Lesley decided he would stay with Jamie and Claire awhile longer.

Since it was going to be several weeks before Young Ian would be sent home on the next ship heading to Scotland, they headed down river to Jamie’s Aunt Jocasta’s estate known as River Run. But just as it seemed their luck was holding, they were set upon by bandits led by none other than Stephen Bonnet. Despite coming off as a charmer, Bonnet was anything but! He not only punched Jamie in the face, but led our “King of Men” into the hands of four of his men – who proceeded to nearly beat the daylights out of him – while Young Ian was taken down by another of Bonnet’s men – and then Bonnet not only slit the throat of Lesley, leaving the man to bleed out inside the small riverboat – but also stole the remaining gemstones from Jamie and robbed Claire of her wedding ring given to her by Jamie. [Part of me had hoped Claire would bite off that bastard’s finger as he forcibly dug in her mouth – where she shoved both rings in the hopes of swallowing them – so he couldn’t get either of them.]

Also featured in this episode was the introduction of Rollo, the wolf dog which Young Ian won in a game of dice and the introduction of Governor Tryon, who informed Jamie of land grants being provided to those with sworn allegiances to the King in return for populating acres and acres of land in the Colonies. This latter storyline will play out more in the show, I’m sure – since it played an important part in the book on which this season is based – and will tie into what role Jamie and Claire will take as the country moves – albeit slowly – toward the American Revolution. And for the fans of the romance between our favorite couple, the much anticipated campsite love scene did not disappoint, especially when Jamie told Claire “when my body dies, my soul will still be yours.” [Le, swoon!]

What did you think of the season premiere? Did you like the symbolism of the circles throughout the episode? Were you happy to see our favorite family in better times albeit except for that shocking ending? Please share your comments with us below.

The next new episode of Outlander will air on Starz on Sunday, November 11 at 8/7c.

[Photo Credit: Starz]