Written by Diana Gabaldon, Ronald D. Moore, and Toni Graphia
Directed by Mike Barker

This episode really demonstrates how the values Claire has from her 20th century life doesn’t resonate with life in mid-18th century Scotland. She has never understood that her attitude and actions are looked upon differently by people who have never seen any of the world outside of their small town, never mind an understanding of things from a 20th century perspective.

Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Geillis (Lotte Verbeek) are tossed into the Thieves’ Hole, which is more of a dungeon than what we think of as a prison or jail. They bicker a bit about what got them in there. When Claire tries to tell a guard she is married to the nephew of the Laird, he doesn’t believe her. Geillis thinks Dougal (Graham McTavish) will come for her and the baby, but Claire tells her that Dougal and Jamie (Sam Heughan) are on their way to Dougal’s home and no one is coming.

The town is preparing to burn them at the stake as they are escorted to their “trial.” Ned Gowan (Bill Paterson) shows up as the only person from Castle Leoch to defend Claire. Geillis’ housekeeper testifies against her. Ned manages to make the testimony suspect. However, the superstitions of the townsfolk work against them. Once again in the Thieves’ Hole, Claire and Geillis talk. Geillis talks about diverting her deceased spouse’s money to the Jacobite cause. It’s clear that Geillis knows there’s more to Claire than she has told anyone.

Laoghaire (Nell Hudson) testifies against Claire, although it seems that her testimony is tainted by jealousy. However, when the Rev. Bain (Tim McInnerny) comes in and testifies it is damning. He doesn’t talk against Claire, and instead seems to be on her side at first. However, when Rev. Bain declares he will leave the Parish, it turns the people against her. Ned advises Claire to turn on Geillis. They talk privately, and Geillis asks Claire for the truth about who she is. Geillis seems to know something about it. However, Claire refuses to testify against Geillis and they are both sentenced to burn.

Before Geillis is carted off, she hints to Claire that going home might be possible and says “1968.” As Claire is being flogged, Jamie arrives to save her. He is at a standoff with the crowd when Geillis confesses to witchcraft, drawing the crowd’s attention to her. She pulls down her arm and shows “the devil’s mark” which is actually a smallpox vaccination scar. She also shows that she is pregnant and claims it is the devil’s child. In the confusion, Claire and Jamie make their escape.

However, Jamie knows he has seen the same scar on Claire and asks her about it as he is trying to clean the wounds on her back near a stream. Claire explains that it is a scar from a smallpox vaccine. She then confesses the truth to Jamie in an emotional speech where she says she is from the future. Jamie says he believes her, although he doesn’t understand it. He puts two and two together that the time she ran away and was captured by the British she was trying to get back to the stones and her own time. He apologizes for beating her then. He also states it would have been easier had she been a witch.

Jamie takes her to Craigh na Dun, letting her go if she needs to. She is about to touch the stone when he snatches her back. He tells her there is nothing for her on this side of the Stone except violence and danger. However, he waits at the camp they made the night before, just to make sure she’s safe, although he won’t stay and watch her. Claire stares at the two rings on her fingers as she contemplates whether she really does want to go back.

It’s dark when we see Jamie sleeping by the fire. Claire has returned to him.

There are a lot of things to unpack with this episode. The first is why no one from Castle Leoch comes to Claire’s defense except Ned. The book makes it clear why Colum could not interfere to save Claire. Here, Ned asserts that he would not look favorably upon him being there. However, the book makes it clear that Colum did send Ned in hopes that he will get Claire free. He didn’t intend for Claire to be with Geillis. It was all Laoghaire who was behind Claire being with Geillis when the arrest came. However, by this point it’s gone too far with the people of Cranesmuir for the Laird to come and interfere.

Claire tries to defend herself, as any woman would. However, back in this time all that does is get the judges angry at her. They accuse her of disrespecting the court and embarrassing herself when all she is trying to do is present her side of the story. There’s no doubt that they will order her and Geillis to burn, and the townspeople are behind them. Things like this are their only forms of entertainment, and they are eager for it to happen. Would it have mattered had Mrs. Fitzgibbons or others whom she had helped come to testify on her behalf? No. The townspeople smelled blood and weren’t about to listen to reason.

Jamie’s arrival stops the sentence from being carried out, but they will turn on him as well. They believed him to be bewitched by her. It’s the mob mentality at its worst. They would have ripped him apart, had Geillis not done what she did. There’s no way he and Claire can ever show their faces again in Cranesmuir.

Claire finally has to make a real choice. Sure, at the beginning of her marriage it was for a purpose and her real love, Frank, was in a place she didn’t think she might ever get back to. However, as time went on, that changed as she began to fall for the man she was wed to. He has promised to protect her, and doesn’t shirk that promise, even when it’s likely the crowd here will kill him to get to her. She has been slowly falling for him for real, and the sex doesn’t hurt matters any. The two share a passion that Claire likely didn’t have with Frank, as much as she loved him. 

The book also has Claire start to disappear through the stone when Jamie snatches her back, which is what finally convinces him that her crazy story is real. Jamie does snatch her back from the stones here, but there’s no bit of disappearance that she experiences. This is why, later on, it’s so easy for him to say she has to go back. He knows what can and will happen if she goes to the stones. He’s seen it with his own eyes.

The acting is terrific. If there was a point in the series where I completely believed the two actors are actually Jamie and Claire, it’s here. It’s going to be hard to imagine them in any other roles, although I have seen Balfe in a few roles, most notably (for me) Ford v Ferrari. It’s hard to believe she had little acting experience when she took on the role of Claire Fraser; she’s a natural actress it seems. Sam Heughan was born for this role, and I can’t see anyone else ever topping his performance. Credit to director Mike Barker for bringing out some terrific performances in this episode. Even Tim McInnerny’s abbreviated performance as the priest at a crossroads is so well done it’s easy to accept him as a fallible man who doesn’t really have it in for Claire but will let the town decide her fate, even if he doubts her guilt.

I think these early seasons of Outlander were the best, and this is one of the top episodes. Everything comes together perfectly in the production, creating a story that will keep viewers riveted.

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