Outlander Season 3 Episode 6 Recap: A. Malcolm

What’s interesting about this season of Outlander is the shift in storytelling perspective. For the first five episodes of the season, we’ve been immersed in both Claire and Jamie’s perspectives throughout their sad, lonely journeys. And we continue that approach one more time this week with a look at Jamie’s side of the fateful morning of Claire’s reappearance.
As Claire entered last week, Jamie called out to her as if she were Geordie, one of his printing assistants. This week, we meet Geordie, who is, to me, the star of the episode. He fills the gaping void of surliness left by Murtaugh’s departure (stifle the sobs) and does so despite the ribbing about his goiter.
This time, when Jamie hits the floor, Claire swoops in to rouse him. After checking to make sure he hadn’t wet himself—only spilled the inkpot—Jamie shyly strips off his wet trousers and informs Claire, delicately and haltingly, that he would very much like to kiss her.
The music swells (along with our hearts), and for the first time in a long time, it seems like everything might be all right in the Outlander universe. In that chaste and tender embrace is where hero and champion Geordie finds them.
“I quit! Do as you like with your own soul, man, but if it’s come to orgies in the shop, it’s come too far,” he exclaims upon finding his pants-less boss in the workplace. “Oh, god’s tooth, it’s not even noon!” Perfection.
Getting to Know You
The wariness and the awkwardness throughout Claire and Jamie’s interactions is excruciatingly well-played in these initial moments. Jamie’s nervousness about Claire seeing him in reading glasses is as touching as Claire’s fretting about her gray hair last week.
“Time doesn’t matter, Sassenach,” Jamie says. But some things do. So, Claire introduces Jamie both to the concept of photographs and to their daughter, Brianna, now separated from both her parents by two hundred years. This is a tough moment for Jamie—and not just for the sight of his daughter in a bikini. He reveals the existence of Willie, his son, just one instance of the immense amount of baggage cluttering up this print shop at the moment.
“I knew when I decided to come back, you would’ve had a life,” Claire tells her husband, reassuringly. And what a life it’s been, for both of them. There’s so much to their stories that needs to be told, and it will take years, perhaps, to do so. But the pair gets a good start with a nice Sorkin-esque walk-and-talk in which Claire explains all that happened to Prince Charles after Culloden.
Missed Connections
The history lesson ends when they’re interrupted by an unfamiliar face. It’s grown-up Fergus! He’s overjoyed to see his surrogate mother once again, and he’s got a fresh new wooden hand, which is cool.
Amidst the reunions, there’s also new business. At a tavern, Claire meets Jamie’s “associate,” Mr. Willoughby, who’s in the middle of a dispute about whether he did or did not lick a woman’s elbow. Once that pressing matter is resolved, Claire’s left to gab with Willoughby, a Chinese immigrant with an interesting backstory sure to be explored in more depth, while Jamie descends to the cellars for a business transaction. All of this, including the fussy man he pays off, is very mysterious, but it does not sound as if Jamie’s current occupations are on the up-and-up.
This is confirmed by the fact that Jamie’s place of residence is…a brothel. Claire has a natural reaction to these digs: “Why do you have a room in a brothel? Is it because you’re such a good customer?”
Jamie stammers out a response that no, no, not at all. Madame Jeanne, the owner of these accommodations, is actually his customer, who pays him with a private room and regular meals. Being endlessly perfect, however, those are the only wares he has sampled.
A Fire Rekindled
With that explanation, we move into the meat, ahem, of this episode: the emotional and physical reckoning of Claire’s return. Throughout the episode, Jamie and Claire have become slightly more accustomed to each other, but, to this point, the distractions have been aplenty. Now, they’re alone and forced to deal with their questions and concerns and unyielding longings.
“Sassenach, why have you come back?” Jamie asks. His real question is: will you still love the me that exists now, all these years later? He makes a fine point that both of them may be more unfamiliar than when they were first married.
“Whoever you are, James Fraser, yes, I do want you,” Claire replies, rather emphatically. I AM GLAD WE’VE ALL ESTABLISHED THIS. NOW KISS PLEASE.
After a long dinner, Jamie comes to the business at hand, asking his wife, “Will you come to bed with me then?” Claire’s response is lost in the din of thousands of viewers shrieking “YES” in unison.
The build-up is dynamite and agonizing because everyone’s wearing so dang many clothes. (Cravats! Shirts! Vests! More shirts!) When we reach flesh, however, everyone’s as firm and lovely as they once were. Here, the snogging begins in earnest.
Almost. When Jamie and Claire collapse on the bed, they bash their heads and bump into one another, demonstrating the real possibility no one in this bed has had sex in years. But when they do get it together, my word. Outlander is finally and fully back in business with the greatest love-making to appear in a show that quite often features great love-making.
After a season of utter woe, the awe and wonder etched on Claire’s face at the end of this scene is something to behold. It may be the most satisfying moment in the series to date. That it’s followed by some 10 more minutes of natural, tender, playful love scenes is even more remarkable. Director Norma Bailey is back for next week’s episode, “Crème de Menthe,” too, so hopefully, we’re in for more of the same.
Uncomfortable Realities
Not everything’s paradise, though. As they rediscover each other, Claire begins to ask about Jamie’s work. It turns out he’s been arrested for sedition six times in the last two years. The court, however, has been unable to prove anything—yet—about that or his whisky-smuggling business. This bodes well, given Claire and Jamie’s track record with treasonous causes …
The next morning, Jamie leaves for yet more “business,” and Claire receives a visitor in the meantime: young Ian Murray, Jenny and Ian’s youngest son, born after Claire’s departure. He’s got tons of questions, of course, mostly centered on whether Claire had returned to the Faeries after Culloden.
It’s one final high note before the episode turns disturbingly darker. Claire returns to her room to find a creep prowling for Jamie’s ledgers. He threatens rape, a moment that contrasts starkly with the intimacy of the rest of the episode and reminds us of the ugly realities of life in this period (and others). Claire misjudges the situation and reveals she’s Jamie’s wife, not just an employee. We leave her in peril. Not everything is paradise, indeed.