Outlander: I Am Not Alone (6x08)

I love Claire's short hair, it looks super cute! Just thought I'd mention before we get into all this craziness.

Cons:

I mean... I don't know. This episode was pretty great. I guess my only complaint is that it's a finale and now we're left on such a cliffhanger until season seven comes along? There's so much setup happening, and we're going to have to wait to see the payoff.

I suppose along the line of more significant complaints, I think structurally this short season had some issues with pacing. While this episode in isolation did a great job, I was perhaps missing maybe one more hour of content prior to it, to pad out some of these elements. The various subplots that had to be wrapped up and set aside, the little things here and there that weren't given a ton of room to breathe.

Pros:

I want to start with Roger and Brianna's subplot this week, because I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy it as much as I did. They have a great conversation about when and how to tell their son about time travel, given that Jemmy has never known any other world, and also of course that it must be a secret. This is a great debate and conversation that takes up a lot of space in the later books, so I liked seeing some exploration of it here.

And honestly? The sex scene in the tent between Roger and Bree was one of the best sex scenes this show has ever done! Steamy, but still fun, and normal, and silly the way sex should be sometimes. I loved that there was awkwardness over positioning, and trying to keep quiet so as not to wake their kid, and Brianna landing on top of the toy, and flipping over to be on top. It was hot but it also felt real and intimate and sweet. I don't know that I've ever felt as connected to them as a couple as I did during that scene.

I also liked the semi-confirmation that Jemmy is Roger's biological child. There's no way of knowing for sure given the limitations of the available science, but I loved the quiet joy that both Roger and Brianna felt. The way you could tell that this moment meant so much, even if it doesn't really change anything. Such a lovely moment!

Then let's go over to the main plot. Where to even start? SO intense. Such a great script and great direction, it kept the momentum and the tension ratcheting higher and higher as Claire and Jamie literally fight for their lives against an angry mob. There are too many great moments in here to list. I loved Claire shooting the guy, Jamie defending his wife, the two of them hiding under the table, their proverbial "last meal", discussing the possibility of the house going up in flames, Jamie listing his near-death experiences. All of it so good, adapted beautifully from the books but also standing alone as a testament to these wonderful performers and their chemistry.

This was a good sex scene too. Much more intense and emotionally fraught than Roger and Bree's, it still didn't go too far, tipping over to that place that some of the sex in this show goes, where it's so stylistic and steamy that it loses all reality. I like the way we see them together but then also pan away to the destruction surrounding them, reminding us of what's to come in the morning.

And Tom Christie to the rescue! This dynamic, which we'll get to see play out further at the start of season seven undoubtedly, is such a fascinating one. There's a great moment on the road when Jamie sees Tom, and seems to realize a hidden truth that Claire as yet does not. Tom Christie loves her, and while that love shames and confuses him, he still could not ever bear to let anything happen to her. When Jamie and Claire are later separated, there's the assurance of knowing that at least Claire still has Tom as a protector.

And Jamie has Ian! Ian and their Cherokee allies showing up to shoot down the villains who meant to ship Jamie back to Scotland was such a fun moment, a triumphant but still suspenseful place to end the episode. Honestly, this whole episode was great, the pacing was flowing, I was constantly on the edge of my seat about what would happen next, even more or less knowing what would happen next. That's a real gift!

I'll leave it there for now, and for the season. I've heard season seven is going to be extra beefy, sixteen episodes long, and I'm excited for lots of new material... hopefully starting as soon as next year?

9/10