Outlander: Providence (4x12)

I loved this episode so much. It actually didn't even occur to me that Jamie and Claire were barely in it. I was so invested in the other stories that I didn't even mind.

Cons:

There is this one thing that I used to bring up back in the first season, but that I haven't really mentioned more recently, and that's pacing. I feel that the show sometimes doesn't give a good sense of how much time is passing. How long have Claire and Jamie been at Fraser's Ridge? Marsali's pregnancy happened so quickly that the first time we saw Germain, I was surprised because I thought maybe Marsali was still just barely pregnant and not showing yet. And Brianna is clearly well along in her pregnancy now, but we don't see any little snippets of time passing at River Run. What do Bree and Lord John do all day? This isn't like a huge problem that ruins the show or anything, but it is something that I occasionally notice, especially when we cut back to characters and clearly months have passed, and we don't really get a mention of what those months were like.

Pros:

Let's start with Roger. I've been perfectly happy with Roger as a character thus far, but nothing has really elevated my appreciation beyond just the basics. This week changed that. Richard Rankin was astounding in this episode. He really gave these scenes everything he had, and it shows. The speech he made about putting himself first, and then the moment when he realizes he can't do that... chills. All of the other characters were also expertly rendered, and I felt so much of their emotions and their tragedy.

I've been really uncomfortable with the portrayal of the native characters on the show thus far, and I also acknowledge that I'm not an expert in these things, but I actually really enjoyed the Mohawk setting and the story we were told here. For one, we certainly did away with the idea of all the natives being these very stoic one-note characters. We also get to learn more about the Mohawk's customs. They aren't burning a man alive for having a baby with one of their women - in fact, they were totally welcoming and they will raise the baby as their own. Their reasons for punishing him are a lot more complex, and have to do with the man's faith. Knowing what I know of Roger's journey going forward, I'm excited to see how this impacts the poor guy.

Also, just visually... the woman climbing onto the pyre was gorgeous and heartrending and the whole scene was just extremely powerful. I think Roger has definitely made some mistakes in his life, but we can't help but feel sorry for him in such wretched circumstances. Whatever he does next week when he sees Jamie Fraser, I honestly think he deserves a free pass.

Marsali and Fergus are really the cutest couple, and Marsali is turning in to one of my favorite parts of the show, something I never would have guessed. I love the conversation that she and Fergus have about Claire and Jamie. Marsali wants to be a part of the story, just as Claire is, and refuses to sit idly by while Fergus goes in to danger. She ends up being instrumental to the plan to rescue Murtagh. I love the image of her driving the getaway car! So great!

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, I am now going to talk extensively about Lord John. My love for him can only grow. There are so many little moments to talk about, but I think my absolute favorite is towards the very end of the episode, when John and Brianna are rushing away from the prison. They get stopped in the street and asked if they're alright, and Lord John lies and says he knows nothing about the Regulators, in order to protect Fergus and Murtagh. That's cute enough - we all know Lord John has no love for Murtagh, but he will do anything to protect Jamie's family. But the really cute thing is the way he's walking with Brianna, both before and after their interaction with the Englishmen on the street. He's got his arm around her in this protective manner that just warms my heart. And Brianna gets this sly little smile on her face as they walk away. She knows that Lord John is a good man.

Another excellent moment is Fergus and Lord John running in to each other in the prison. They're both so delightfully confused. I don't think we've seen the two of them meet onscreen, but the fact that they have a casual enough relationship for John to say "Fergus?!" and for Fergus to know for sure that Lord John must be protected, is great. It speaks to a deeper relationship between the families than we necessarily get to see.

Then there's Brianna telling John "you're impossible not to like," and John putting his hand on Bree's stomach to feel the baby, and John's horror at the thought of Brianna facing Bonnet alone, his reassurances that he'll be waiting right outside, and his insistence on keeping Bree with him instead of letting her go with Murtagh. He's so protective, so kind, and such a genuinely good person. I love him a lot, if you couldn't tell.

Brianna's moment with Stephen Bonnet was chilling. I love the actor they have playing Bonnet. We don't feel any sympathy for him, of course, but the performance lends him a kind of twisted humanity. When facing death, he does have this moment where he feels connected in some way to the child Brianna is carrying. I also like that in the chaos of Murtagh's escape, we don't get to see definitively what happened to Bonnet. Did he make it out before the building exploded? Having that loose end dangling is really intriguing and frightening.

I can't believe that next week is the season finale! I feel like we just got started! I hope that we get a satisfactory wrap-up for all of these disparate plot threads, and I hope we don't have to wait too terribly long for Season Five!

9.5/10