Outlander: Blessed Are the Merciful (8x06)

Honestly, not my favorite episode this season... but still some good stuff in here.

Cons:

The big thing is like... a lot of what was going on here could have been a brief scene tacked on to another episode. Like, the confrontation between Ben and William, which was so juicy in how it was set up, was then just the two of them snapping at each other and saying "how could you". And the pretty powerful stuff with Roger and his battle experience became this tepid thing where he's recounting it all to Brianna and telling her God has a purpose for him... and that sex scene was just not enjoyable to watch, sorry. Even the stuff at the Ridge, it felt like treading water for a lot of it.

Specifically to get into that a bit more, I feel like Jamie banishing the tenants who tried to have him arrested and hanged... makes a lot of sense? Like, it doesn't even have to be something motivated by vengeance or anger, just in a practical sense why would he trust those people to live on his land. I felt like the episode wanted me to think he was being too harsh, because what about their poor wives and children? And yeah, definitely, but Jamie was not wrong to want to get rid of people who actively wish him dead lol. It felt like there could have been more balance to it all than that. I'm also noting that with Jamie and Claire stuck at the Ridge for a lot of the season, Claire becomes more of a passive character. She hangs around at home and then people show up and she has to heal them or help them give birth or whatever. She's not marching out into the world and making big decisions like she usually does, and that makes her a less interesting protagonist for our TV show here!

I also want to complain about Roger and Bree again for a second, sorry... I just think the whole thing about Roger believing his father came back and saved him, and that this is proof they're all part of God's plan is... I don't know. It's from the books, I don't love it there either. It feels kind of goofy, I suppose. Roger's faith seems like a plot contrivance. He believes in God because Gabaldon needed to give him a character journey to go on or whatever. This is just me being a hater; I still love show Roger, I just wasn't really interested in spending time with him and Brianna this week. 

Pros:

I noticed kind of a cool recurring theme throughout the plot threads here, which were moments of rebels and loyalists meeting in honest friendship, connecting over things that go beyond the actual struggle of the moment. You've got Ben who turned his coat because he honestly believes the Americans are in the right, and then William who is angry with his cousin for personal reasons.. but then later you see Denzel helping William to escape, no matter that they are on opposite sides.

You have Claire and Mrs. Cunningham saying their goodbyes at the end, both acknowledging the tie of friendship between them that must now be severed, as the older woman is going to take her son back with her to England to care for, for the rest of his days, now that he will never walk again. Claire has a unique ability to befriend people with whom she is in profound disagreement, I think.

And then, in the best plot thread of the episode with Ian and Rachel, you have the divide between Ian and Joseph Brant, and the way that Rachel is able to intercede and bring forward the meeting of Ian and Emily. Despite very strong feelings of righteous indignation and purpose on both sides, the fact that Ian and Wahionhaweh have a child together is enough to facilitate their connection.

I just... really love Rachel and Ian, in a way I was not expecting to back when this story-line first began on the show. They are so sweet, and pure, and simple and devoted, and Rachel is a very good person but not a perfect one. I love the way she admits to some of her resentment and pain to Ian, but also knows the right thing to do is to give Ian a chance to see Emily, and their child. And I straight-up cried, real freakin' tears, when Emily named Ian and Rachel's son, the same way Ian had named Emily's son. "Hunter" is the perfect name for little Oggie, and Emily had no way of knowing that was Rachel's maiden name! And that lil wolf puppy... Rollo's grandson... omg.

I saw somewhere someone say that this episode "could have been an email" and I kind of agree with that. Like, it was a fine idea for Jamie to re-establish tenant contracts with the wives of his would-be enemies, but there were just a lot of drawn out moments building to it that felt pretty un-earned. And obviously Ben and William needed to have a confrontation, but it almost could have been a thirty second exchange and we would have gotten the point. That said, it wasn't like I hated what I was seeing... just that I wasn't as gripped by it as I wish I could have been. Probably in part it's also that I'm missing my best friend John Grey... I hope he's in all four of the remaining episodes.

6.5/10