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Outlander Recap: Catch and Release

Season 7 Episode 6 Editor’s Rating4 stars ****

Photo: Robert Wilson/B) 2022 Starz Entertainment, LLC Our Claire Bear is busy, isn’t she? In one episode, Claire watches two people die in front of her; escapes the British Army; gets captured by the British Army; begs her husband’s illegitimate son for her life; escapes the British Army again; has to listen to her husband give a weird speech about how women aren’t made for war because they are precious and special, which isn’t as romantic as the show thinks it is; and she has to accept the fact that she is not going to be in Scotland for a good long while. Of course this woman is tossing back shots of brandy all day! Who wouldn’t be?

Poor Claire! It’s not long after Jamie leads a group from Fort Ticonderoga to safety downriver that the two split up. Jamie and Ian head off in the woods to deal with some redcoats — Jamie does not hesitate to fling those knives, baby — while Claire keeps the rest of the crew safe as they wait for the go-ahead to find their way back to the Continental Army. Unfortunately, Claire can’t do her job because Mrs. Raven, whom we met in the Ticonderoga medical tent completely losing her mind after her family was killed, runs off. She’s scared and spiraling, and when Claire comes upon her hiding in the woods, Mrs. Raven proceeds to shoot herself in the head right in front of Claire. It’s harrowing and Claire has zero time to process it because she is immediately captured by some British officers who heard the noise.

Now, Claire doesn’t make any comment about how, after everything, she is somehow back at Fort Ticonderoga, now under British Army control, but you know she’s thinking it. How exhausting. On a positive note, she does find the kindly Walter, the patient she had to leave behind during the evacuation, among the prisoners she’s being held with. On a negative note, that man has a pulmonary embolism and is definitely going to die. Again: How exhausting for Claire! (And not great for Walter.)

Claire, of course, isn’t just going to sit around and watch her fellow rebel prisoners die or be mistreated. She demands supplies and food from a nearby officer … who just happens to be William. Yes, William has linked up with the British Army at Ticonderoga (he even meets Simon Fraser). Captain Richardson isn’t pleased to learn he failed to deliver the messages he was tasked with, and William is dismayed to learn that the men those messages were meant for are spies for the British Army with important information that has now been lost. William, a real brownnoser, if you ask me, vows to make it up to the crown. How serious is he, though, since he goes directly from that conversation to helping Claire with her requests? He recognizes her immediately and, knowing that she at one time saved his father’s life, seems more than willing to help. Having a fellow officer deliver the supplies along with a bottle of booze because it seems like Claire needs it and describing her as “the curly wig giving orders like a sergeant major” is actually very endearing, and you just know this boy is going to break our hearts when he finally encounters Jamie on the battlefield. Agh! Also, when he most definitely finds out that Jamie is his biological father. Can you imagine? It’ll surely be brutal, just how Outlander likes it.

So the supplies are nice, but Walter still dies and then everything devolves into chaos when Ian arrives at the fort as part of his and Jamie’s two-man rescue team. Ian pretends to be there on behalf of the Mohawk, who are British allies, but his plan is foiled the moment William spots him. William — believing Ian’s Mohawk cover — feels indebted to Ian for saving his life. He owes him one — one life, specifically. It takes the kid a second or two, but eventually he puts it together that Ian is Claire’s nephew and he is obviously there to break her out. William’s pissed about Ian’s lie and probably annoyed that everyone around him seems to be a rebel, but owing so much to both of them, he can’t help but agree to let them go. Thankfully, Jamie is outside shooting fire arrows into the fort because the man CANNOT sit still while his wife is in trouble, and the ensuing mayhem gives William the perfect opportunity to let Ian and Claire go (hopefully) without anyone noticing. William is a man of honor, sure, but he also makes it crystal clear that he and Ian are even now and the next time they run into each other, he won’t be so kind. I mean, we’ll see how that really pans out for ol’ William, but sure.

Has a man ever looked so relieved to see his wife as Jamie does when he says Sassenach upon Claire’s safe return? The answer is “no” — never in history. Look at that man’s face! Claire, on the other hand, is a complete mess, finally able to give in to the pain and fear she has been stuffing down in order to survive. Drink that stepson-approved brandy, girl. You deserve it.

Claire, Jamie, and the rest of the remaining Ticonderoga evacuees (Claire had to leave the other captured prisoners behind in her escape; add it to the list of heartbreaks she’s had to face) eventually link up with a gathering of the Continental Army. It’s here that Jamie runs into Colonel Daniel Morgan, who, impressed by Jamie’s hunting prowess, recruits our favorite Highlander to his riflemen unit. Claire isn’t thrilled by the prospect of staying, especially since Jamie’s conscription is almost up, but also she married a man of principle, so she gets it. She’s buoyed by the fact that riflemen — or, as they’re called today, snipers — are somewhat removed from the battlefield and that she recognizes both Daniel Morgan’s name and the impending battle he’ll be leading Jamie to in Saratoga. Claire doesn’t have details, but she knows that the Battle of Saratoga was a turning point in the war for the Continental Army. She’s right — and Morgan’s name sounds familiar because he is one of the reasons the Battle of Saratoga is such a success. So, basically, it could be worse. She resigns herself to more Revolutionary War and the two settle into their tent for a somewhat peaceful night. Jamie talks about how men are meant to fight wars because they’re replaceable and women are not, but the sentiment is muddled and we don’t have time for that! Finally, Jamie brings himself to ask Claire about her time with William, and she tells him how he is so much like Jamie: She saw “a fierceness of a Highlander under all those courtly manners.” It seems to bring Jamie some peace. Knowing this show, that feeling will not last long!

Meanwhile, Roger has two very interesting meetups in 1980. First, after chatting with Jemmy’s principal about Jemmy being disciplined for cursing at his teacher in Gaelic, the principal hires Roger to lead a course on Highlander culture. Oh, you know this dude cannot say “no.” The class is the stuff of Roger’s dreams: People are forced to listen to him sing, and he gets to act smarter than everyone while wearing a kilt. Our guy is in heaven! When the class is a hit and the principal asks him to come back for more, you know Roger is in. Why Roger didn’t try to find a teaching position as soon as he returned from the past, I’ll never know! Regardless, there is one particular class attendee of note: Bree’s colleague Rob Cameron. He’s there with his nephew and, by good old coincidence, winds up accidentally getting Roger’s notebook of time-travel notes (his “Hitchhiker’s Guide to Time Travel,” as he prefers to call it) when Roger’s leaflets for the class are passed out. It was a mix-up from Roger rushing to get ready for class after he and Bree had a little “Hey, I think there’s a time-travel portal in the dam” chat. Both Rob and Roger play it off like it must be notes for a novel Roger’s writing, but it feels a little too easy. And the speed and pushiness with which Rob invites himself to Roger and Bree’s for dinner is highly suspect. That man is up to something!

Roger doesn’t seem to notice or care, really (and he definitely doesn’t run it by Bree, who might have some issues breaking bread with the guy who trapped her in a tunnel just for funsies), nor will he for the present time since, uh, he has a different visitor to contend with: The nuckelavee is real! And when Roger chases down the man who has been lurking around Lallybroch and gets a look at his face, it is none other than Buck MacKenzie. You know, the guy who had Roger hanged for hugging his wife back in the 18th century. Now, if you aren’t up to date on your Outlander books, this might have been a confusing reveal. When we met Buck back in season five, he was played by Outlander favorite Graham McTavish (it was a fun little Easter egg since Buck is the son of Dougal MacKenzie and that other pesky time traveler Geillis Duncan). He has been recast here (welcome to the insanity, Diarmaid Murtagh), so the impact of the reveal might be lost on a lot of the audience. The impact of seeing the man who almost had him killed here in 1980, however, is not lost on Roger, by which I mean, of course, that Roger punches that guy right in the face. This should be fun, huh?

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