Family Quarrels
As said above, the episode focused entirely on Claire and her life in Boston in 1968. After a pretty intense summer, she and Brianna (Sophie Skelton) had in Scotland; it was time to go back to their lives in the USA.
Giving up on a search for Jamie was not an easy thing to do for Claire, that’s for sure. But soon, as hard as it was, she did manage to put her emotions aside and focus entirely on work, as seen in that surgical room, where she saved a woman’s life.
Then, with sorrow in her eyes, Claire finally told her friend Joe Abernathy (Wil Johnson) about that Scotsman she is still in love with, and he encouraged her to use a second chance at love.
On the other hand, we saw Brianna unable to focus on her studies in a light of the recent events. To recall, not only did she lost Frank (Tobias Menzies), the only father she ever had, but she also recently found out about her biological father, who is, by all accounts, lost to history. With all of that in mind, it comes as no surprise that she eventually decided to drop out from Harward — a decision that will lead to a fight with her mother.
It is in the middle of that family quarrel that Roger (Richard Rankin) arrived on their doorstep. But that didn’t stop Brianna from storming out of the house, enraged, ready to start her new life, despite her mother’s disapproval.
The return of hope
With Brianna gone, it left only Claire and Roger “enjoying” the American Christmas. But we soon realize that American Christmas was not the only thing that Roger came to Boston for. There was also a tiny detail that turned Claire’s world upside down.
As it turned out, Roger was able to locate Jamie. And he did so with the help of a poem with the “Freedom & Whiskey” phrase — something Claire often quoted to Jamie. And since the author’s name Alexander Malcolm contain two of Jamie’s middle names, there was no doubt that this 18th-century printer is, in fact, Jamie. Despite everyone’s expectations, Claire was not very thrilled since she was trying to leave it all behind. But that would soon change.
Bones
Just a day after the shocking reveal, Claire was back at her office when Joe Abernathy came for a second opinion. He threw the skull and bones on her table, hoping that she would find the cause of death. Claire deduced that the bones are that of a white lady murder victim in the Caribbean.
And given the fact that nothing is a coincidence in “Outlander,” we are pretty sure that this reveal will be of some importance in the future.
A long-awaited reunion
In the last few minutes of the episode, we saw Claire going straight to 18th-century Edinburgh. Then, after asking a random boy for directions, she was in front of Jamie’s print shop. And not before long, she found herself looking at Jamie and his ponytail. It was then when Claire decided to speak up. Once Jamie realized what just happened, he passes out, and the episode ends.
Unfortunately, “Outlander” Season 3 Episode 6, called “A. Malcolm” won’t air until October 22, so we are going to have to wait two more weeks to find out how Claire and Jamie will react to each other.
An unpleasant encounter
Next, at a reception celebrating a fellowship established in Frank’s name, Claire had a rather unpleasant encounter with the woman that Frank was supposed to marry. The woman verbally attacked Claire saying how selfish she was for not letting Frank go even though she didn’t love him.
But it was this conflict that eventually led Claire to that life-changing conversation with Brianna. She told her about that woman she was fighting with, and most importantly about Roger’s latest reveal. And in what was without a doubt the turning point of this episode, Brianna encouraged her mother to go back in time to find Jamie. But it was only after watching the Apollo 8 mission and drawing the parallel between this mission and her journey, that she realized that she must go back in time.
