Why, OUTLANDER TPTB? Why would you choose to torture us like that?
Even though I knew it was coming, and I’d figured they would save the actual reunion for another episode, it still hurt when Jamie fainted and then my screen faded to black. Because, who are we even kidding? This is the moment we have all been waiting for.
I’ll be honest and say that, when we got the screeners for this season, I skipped to “Fire and Whisky” and “A. Malcolm” like an overly excited child, who couldn’t wait until the end of the book. OUTLANDER has had a fantastic season so far, with absolutely amazing episodes, but last night’s episode and next week’s are my absolute favorites — for obvious reasons. You guys have no idea what’s in store for you next week. Trust me. It’s that good.
That said, let’s dive right in, shall we?
Even though it hurts to see Claire and Jamie apart by two hundred years, I was quite enjoying the new dynamic. And while I absolutely love Claire to pieces, and it has been incredible to see how she has fared without Jamie — having to navigate a loveless marriage just for the sake of her child — I’ll be the first to admit that I enjoyed Jamie’s journey a lot more. However, “Fire and Whisky” changed that for me. And maybe that was because I knew it was setting up their reunion, but I really, really enjoyed this episode, even though we only saw Jamie at the end.
Caitriona Balfe, Sophie Skelton and Richard Rankin are the entire reason why the episode was so successful. Their chemistry as a group and with each other is absolutely fantastic, and just like in the season 2 finale, it made it that much sweeter.
When Roger shows up out of the blue in Boston, Claire and Bree are not in a good place. Brianna has been having a hard time dealing with everything she discovered in Scotland, and thus, her grades have been dropping and she is nearly failing all of her classes at Harvard. The moment Roger knocks on their door, she had just told Claire that she was going to drop out of college and wanted to get her own place — something Claire obviously didn’t take very well.
But it was Roger’s arrival that put everything in perspective for both of them. The Scot seems like a good guy to talk to, because both Brianna and Claire feel better after chatting with him. When he tells Claire about what really took him to Boston, and that he has found Jamie for her, it is so clear in her eyes how torn apart she is. This is all she has ever wanted, a chance to see Jamie again, but how could she ever leave her daughter behind — especially after everything that’s happened? It doesn’t seem fair.
And that’s not even the only thing holding her back. It’s been twenty years since she last saw him — what if he was no longer interested? What if he’d gotten married again, had a family of his own? What would she do then?
It takes a long talk to her friend Joe Abernathy, and another long talk with Bree — after she comes clean about what Roger found out — to convince her that she needs to take this chance. Both of her conversations with Bree are so unbearably poignant, and beautiful and bittersweet and they both tugged on my heartstrings, making me tear up many times. Caitriona Balfe and Sophie Skelton are absolutely perfect playing mother and daughter, and every interaction they had in “Fire And Whisky” — maybe even more so than all the other episodes Skelton has been a part of — has firmly cemented that the young British actress was the absolute perfect casting choice for Brianna.
When it finally came the time to say goodbye, my heart was in pieces, but also so, so incredibly happy. It hurt to see Claire going through yet another painful goodbye — and we all know that leaving her child behind was no easy decision to make — but she was also on her way to Jamie. Finally.
Once she sees the print shop sign, I’ll admit my heart was beating a mile a minute, and I can only imagine how Claire was feeling. When she hears Jamie’s voice for the first time in twenty years, I was already a puddle on the floor, because this reunion will be the end of us all.
And on a final note — yes, Jamie does faint very gracefully for a man of his size.
Hang in there, OUTLANDER fans! Next week is so worth the wait, I promise!
OUTLANDER returns with an all new episode next Sunday, October 15, at 8/7C on Starz.