Written by Diana Gabaldon, Ronald D. Moore, and Anne Kenney
Directed by Mike Barker

Following the events of the witch trial, Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitriona Balfe) aren’t safe at Castle Leoch. Although Jamie is still a wanted man, he believes they will be safe at his ancestral home, Lallybroch, and the two of them decide to make the journey there. Along the way, Claire regales Jamie with tales of the future, including airplanes.

Their arrival at Lallybroch triggers unpleasant memories for Jamie. His sister, Jenny (Laura Donnelly), runs out of the house when she sees him. Jenny attempts to greet him warmly, but Jamie is angry. He accuses her of shaming the family, until his best friend Ian (Steven Cree) rounds the corner and announces that he is the father of the young boy Claire found in the yard as well as the one Jenny is carrying.

They go in the house and Ian greets Claire warmly. Jenny and Jamie are still fairly cold to each other. Jamie asks her to tell him what happened with Jack Randall (Tobias Menzies) on the day he was carted off. Claire sides with Jenny, but both Jenny and Jamie are affronted by her interference. Jamie tells her there’s a time and a place for her to speak her mind and it’s in private, away from the servants and others.

Jamie recalls the last time he saw his father, which was at the second flogging he received courtesy of Captain Randall. His father collapsed while Jamie was being flogged, and Jamie blames himself for not taking the deal to surrender himself to Randall. At supper that evening, things are a little strained. Jenny is a bit put-out by the thought of Clair usurping her as the lady of the house.

The next day is Quarter Day, where the tenants come to pay their rent. Here, both Claire and Jamie are a bit out of place. Jamie is lenient with tenants when he shouldn’t be, and Claire doesn’t completely grasp the ins and outs of managing the people in this time and place. Jenny comes to them the next morning and challenges them about what happened. In a fit of rage, Jamie leaves to fix the mill.

While he is in the water under the wheel, a patrol of Red Coats arrives. Jamie ducks out of sight and Jenny tells Claire to keep quiet so they don’t know she’s English. As the Captain of the patrol is about to go into the water to see what the problem is at the mill, the wheel starts turning. After the patrol departs, Jamie comes out of the water. He has taken off his shirt, and for the first time, Jenny sees his back. Now it is Jenny’s turn to feel guilty. She thinks that Randall was harder on Jamie because she laughed at him.

One morning, Claire awakens, and Jamie is already out of bed. She dresses to go downstairs and finds strangers in the house, holding Jamie at gunpoint.

Lallybroch is primarily a character piece. It’s establishing what has happened at Jamie’s family home while he was hiding out with the McKenzies. Life went on at home, and Jamie has no idea of the current conditions between his family and the tenants. He sees himself as still the Laird of the land but undermines the operation of the estate. Claire learns a little about how strong women cope in this time and place. Women like Jenny, Letitia, and herself direct the men from behind the scenes, not in public. It’s an adjustment for her, but she manages to make the change just within this episode. 

This episode also establishes the fear of the English in the highlands. Sure, Jamie is a wanted man, but there is also the fear of the discovery of an Englishwoman in their midst. There are lighthearted moments during the episode, but there’s a lot of fear there as well. It shows the mentality that the Scottish were living under which made it all too easy for them to pin their hopes on restoring Charles Stuart to the throne.

Even in that time and place, though, child abuse was not tolerated. Claire and Jenny bond over one of the tenant’s children who is being abused by his father. This will set other things in motion as well. I enjoyed the character of Jenny a lot. She is a true force of nature, and the real person running the estate.

This episode is a good breather that gives viewers a pause between a number of very intense episodes. It also helps develop all of the characters and setting more, and does a great job with it.

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