Outlander: The Search (1x14)

Okay. I feel like this episode is the weird one-shot insertion fanfiction that a really good crack-fic writer decides to include in a longer series. It was... weird. Let's just start with what happened, shall we?

Claire sets off from Lallybroch to find Jamie, and Jenny comes with her. The two of them track the soldiers. They find them just as a courier rides off to deliver a letter. Jenny and Claire stop the man, and Jenny tortures him for information. Claire reads the letter he was meant to deliver, which announces that Jamie has escaped. Claire rips up the letter, so that the people at Wentworth never know about it, and can't go looking for him. Jenny says they need to kill the messenger, but Claire is hesitant. Murtagh shows up and kills him. Jenny goes back home to be with her infant daughter, while Claire and Murtagh continue on their quest to find Jamie.

Murtagh has the idea that they should make themselves noticed in the area, and that Jamie will find them. They attract attention by Claire reading fortunes and healing people, while Murtagh embarrasses himself with over-the-top dances. Later, Claire dresses as a man and puts on a performance. She is soon known as "The Sassenach," making big waves in the touring entertainment industry. They run into a problem when a gypsy troupe starts performing the same song. Claire asks the troupe not to steal their act, but they don't listen. Eventually, after a long time on the road with Claire performing her song, the leader of the troupe tells Claire that a message was passed to the singing lass who has been performing Claire's song. Clearly, it was meant for Claire. The message tells Claire and Murtagh where to meet.
 

They go there, expecting to find Jamie, but it's Dougal instead. He has news - Jamie has been captured and brought to Wentworth Prison. He has been sentenced and is set to hang. Claire and Murtagh want to rush off to rescue him, but Dougal declares that it's already too late. He says that Claire should marry him for protection. Claire and Dougal strike a deal - Claire will ask Dougal's men, the other MacKenzies, to help her rescue Jamie from Wentworth. If she fails, or if Jamie is already dead, she'll marry Dougal.

Claire convinces the MacKenzies to help her, and away they go!

So... I'm just going to say it. I thought the touring Sassenach show was really stupid. In a different context, the sight of Claire Fraser dressing in drag and singing a song would be really funny and cute. It could have worked in a different spot in the show, or maybe even with a slightly different justification. Like what if it was because they desperately needed money, and they somehow knew there was a market for that? But as an attention-getting ploy, it's really freakin' silly. Jamie would ostensibly be looking for Claire just as frantically as she would be looking for him. I think the first plan, wherein Claire gets a reputation as a healer and a psychic, would work just as well for that purpose. And even if you wanted to do the whole Claire-as-a-performer thing, I think they did a bit too much of it in this episode. The entire thing about the gypsy troupe stealing her act was just ridiculous, and we spent way too long on montages of Claire doing her little performance. Ultimately, they took themselves too seriously for such a silly idea. There might have been a way to make this work, but they didn't find it.

Also, Dougal's whole thing about marrying Claire - it's been a long time since I've read the book, but I'm pretty sure that's not in there. I don't get why he's so obsessed with her. It's weird and off-putting. Maybe we'll get more information about this? It seems like they're waiting to unleash the full force of Dougal in the next season. I'm not sure why we're spending time on him at this point.

But hey. There were also excellent things about this very, very strange episode. I've looked at some other people's reviews, and it seems like for the most part, people really liked it. I can see why, even if I have trouble with large chunks of the story here.

The stuff at the beginning, with Jenny and Claire, is awesome. I love the idea of Jenny threatening Jamie and Ian to teach her how to track when they were kids. Jenny is able to find the soldiers, and she and Claire are total bad asses when it comes to getting the information they want out of the poor Red Coat messenger. We see an intensity to Jenny that's a little extreme - she burns the man's feet, and is all set to kill him when Murtagh comes along and does it for her. The interesting thing is that Claire says she would have killed the man herself, if Murtagh hadn't come along. Love makes you do things you never would have thought yourself capable of.

I like that Jenny's bad ass identity is strongly tied to her motherhood. She tracks like a boss, and then takes a break to deal with her breasts, which are overflowing with milk. She talks to Claire about the love she feels for her children, even as she matter-of-factly talks about killing a man. It's such complicated way of looking at her character.

Jenny and Claire's friendship grows stronger and stronger - last week, we saw Claire give Jenny a kiss on the cheek, which surprised Jenny. This week, as Jenny says goodbye and heads back to Lallybroch, Jenny reciprocates the affectionate touch. These two will have their ups and downs (spoiler, I guess) as the story continues, but I love the strong foundation here.

Murtagh and Claire also got some time to develop their bond, even if they did so through a rather silly story. The best moment was when Murtagh told Claire that he was the one to give the tusk bracelet to Ellen MacKenzie all those years ago. Ellen married Brian Fraser instead of Murtagh, but Ellen always kept that token of Murtagh's affection. Claire shows Murtagh that she has the bracelet. It was an interesting way to bring them closer together. Of course, another bond they share is their love for Jamie.

I loved the final scene of the episode, as Claire tries to convince the MacKenzie men to help her track down Jamie at Wentworth. At first, they're all reluctant. But when one young man, Willie, steps up and offers to help, the others all fall into line. Claire is using her authority as Jamie's wife here - she's in charge of this operation, just as she's in charge of Murtagh because she's the Lady of Lallybroch. Go Claire!

I think that's where I'll stop. I admire the bravery of keeping Jamie out of the story for a whole episode. It really enforces the fact that this is Claire's story. Just as she is missing him, so are we. I also continue to be impressed by the acting, and by the atmosphere, and I'll admit that Caitriona Balfe looked freakin' hot dressed as a man. But even given all of those positive aspects, I just can't quite jump on board for the singing-Sassenach-tour of 1743.

7/10