The Small Fries

Merry of soul she sailed on a day / Over the sea to Skye....

In episode ten of the premier season, we catch our favorite couple at Castle Leoch in the midst of – erhem, moving on.

Moving on, people!

Murtagh informs Jamie that the Duke of Sandringham (Simon Callow) has arrived near Leoch. The Duke is Jamie’s next opportunity to clear his name. However, the lovely little Sassenach throws a wrench into the plan when she tells Jamie that the Duke is a close friend and ally to Black Jack Randall. Jamie, knowing that the Duke fancies him, hopes to use this to his advantage but seeks the advice from Ned Gowan – the clan’s “lawyer." Ned drafts a formal complaint of Randall’s crimes against the Scottish people in the hopes of him being reassigned to somewhere in the West Indies, and thus helping Jamie clear his name.

Simon Callow as the Duke of Sandringham meeting Claire for the first time

While he is consulting with Ned, Claire decides she is going to confront Laoghaire about the “ill-will.” Laoghaire threatens Claire saying Jamie is and always will be hers, and one day she will have him. Claire slaps her after the lassie says how sorry she feels for Jamie having to “share his bed with a cold, English bitch. He must have to get himself swine drunk at night before he can stand to plow your fields.” I would have slapped her too! You go, Sassenach! However, Claire immediately apologizes, but the fuel has already been added to the fire.

Poor Laoghaire after Claire slaps her

Claire then sets off to find her friend Geillis Duncan (Lotte Verbeek), to confront her about selling Laoghaire the ill-will. She finds her deep in the woods performing a ceremony, similar to what she saw at Craig-na-Dune in 1945, and ultimately revealing that she is pregnant. Geillis confesses that the baby is Dougal’s, and they are in love. She was calling on Mother Nature to set Dougal free from his wife and herself free from her husband. As they walk back to Leoch, Geillis apologizes for the ill-will, claiming that she had no idea it was intended for her. Claire stops when she hears a baby crying. She begins to head up the faerie hill, against Geillis’s warnings that the baby is a changeling and it should be left alone.

Geillis Duncan portrayed by Lotte Verbeek and Claire on their way back to Leoch

When Claire reaches the baby, it has died. She cradles it in her arms until Jamie finds her and brings her back to the castle, where she learns of the document Ned drafted. He explains that with this petition, they will be able to leave Leoch and be happy at Lallybroch.

Jamie finding Claire on the faerie hill with the changeling child

Jamie leaves to meet with the Duke of Sandringham the next day, leaving Claire to tend to her old duties as the in-house doctor. She is summoned by Colum to calm Dougal, who is in a crazed and drunken state in the mess hall after learning that his wife has died unexpectedly from a fever...hmm. Claire pours a sedative in his wine, to which Angus hands to him.

Dougal in his drunken craze

Meanwhile, Jamie has met with the Duke, who has agreed to help Jamie, so long as he appears as his second in a duel against the MacDonalds – Clan MacKenzie’s rival clan. All of this has taken place behind Colum’s back, despite the fact Colum has invited the Duke to a banquet in his honor. This banquet is abruptly interrupted when Geillis’s husband suddenly dies. Claire immediately recognizes it as poison and looks immediately to Geillis, a recent widow who is not grieving. Instead, Geillis and Dougal share loving looks across the room that do not escape Colum’s ever watching eyes.

Jamie as the Duke's second in the duel against the MacDonalds

You could say after everything Colum would be a little upset, but that would be an understatement. Colum has banished Dougal to his own home until further notice and forbade him from marrying Geillis. Jamie is to escort Dougal as punishment for starting a fight with the MacDonalds that were present at the duel.

Jamie after a brawl with a few of the MacDonald boys

He was ordered to leave Claire at Leoch as assurance that Jamie will follow his orders. BAD IDEA, JAMIE! As Jamie is leaving, he warns Claire to stay away from Geillis, because she will be the next to suffer from Colum’s wrath. After a very passionate moment that makes Dougal want to gag, Claire cries after him, “Come back to me, James Fraser.”

"Come back to me, James Fraser."  "As soon as I can."

Knowing our little Sassenach, she isn’t going to stay out of trouble for long. Jamie hasn’t been gone a full day, and Claire rushes to Geillis’s side after receiving an urgent note from her; only to discover it is a trap as they are being arrested for witchcraft. We see, as Claire looks through barred windows, a very happy Laoghaire step out of her hiding place…that cold, Scottish….lassie.

Geillis Duncan just before she is arrested for witchcraft

The second half of the season has only just begun,, and it has already released two amazing episodes. Knowing what’s to come, it’s going to keep getting better. “By the Pricking of My Thumbs” has once again exceeded my expectations and displayed several changes from the book that were pulled off perfectly and worked well with the story. Geillis Duncan is being portrayed exactly how I imagined her in the book, making my argument from my previous review even stronger: this cast is spot on. I can hardly wait to see the witch trial and whether or not Jamie makes it back in time.

Je suis prest!

Outlander is on Starz, Saturday Nights at 9ET.

-- Kasey