Written by Diana Gabaldon, Ronald D. Moore, and Toni Graphia
Directed by Douglas Mackinnon

La Dame Blanche is a pivotal episode that also demonstrates how well Jamie and Claire have immersed themselves in French society. Where in earlier episodes it seemed like they were a bit on the outside looking in, here they move freely among the nobility in Paris and at Versailles.

The episode opens at Versailles with Jamie (Sam Heughan) playing chess with M. Duverney (Marc Duret) who asks if Jamie and Claire (Caitriona Balfe) have discussed names for the baby. They are interrupted by the Comte St. Germain (Stanley Weber) who tells Jamie he is going to lose the game. Duverney comments that Jamie is distracted, so Claire begins perusing the books in the library while Duverney and Jamie talk about the Jacobites in France. Suddenly, Claire begins feeling violently ill.

When Claire starts feeling better, she thinks she was dosed with bitter cascara. It would seem the Comte St. Germain is the likely suspect. They can’t do anything about it because Jamie can’t take the chance of being distanced from Prince Charles (Andrew Gower) and King Louis (Lionel Lingelser). Jamie comes up with the idea of hosting a dinner party and having Prince Charles show M. Duverney just how incompetent he is. Claire decides she must confess the secret that Jack Randall (Tobias Menzies) is alive to Jamie.

Jamie’s reaction isn’t what Claire was expecting. He’s happy to hear it. He says he can look forward to the day he can confront Jack Randall and exact retribution.

Claire visits M. Raymond’s apothecary shop and asks who might have dosed her with the bitter cascara. His servant informs them that they are being watched, and M. Raymond (Dominique Pinon) takes her to his secret room in the shop. Raymond tells her that he is fascinated with things not of this time. Does he know that Claire is from the future? He shows Claire how to use sheep knuckles to tell the future. He tells her that she will see Frank again. He also gives her a stone that will change color in the presence of poison to keep her safe.

Claire then visits Louise (Claire Sermonne) who confesses that she is also with child. However, it’s not her husband’s and she asks Claire for help. Claire advises her to sleep with her husband so he thinks the child is his.

Jamie comes home very arduous from a night out with Prince Charles. Claire spots a bite mark on him and demands to know what is going on. The two fight as Jamie tries to explain but only makes matters worse. He tries to describe how he felt after what happened at Wentworth Prison as if his soul was exposed to the world. He goes elsewhere in the house to sleep, but Claire goes to him and the two are intimate for the first time in months.

While in the afterglow, Jamie hears someone on the roof. He opens the window and Prince Charles tumbles in. Jamie nearly kills him with a knife. He tells them that he had to flee his lover’s house when her husband arrived home early and escaped across the roofs to Jamie’s house. Claire deduces that his lover is Louise and the baby she is carrying is his. They decide to use this information to further their cause of stopping Charles’ return to England.

The day of the dinner party arrives. Claire is at the hospital with Mary Hawkins (Rosie Day) when Murtagh (Duncan Lacroix) and Fergus (Romann Berrux) arrive to escort them home. They have to wait as Claire is busy tending to someone. It’s dark by the time they leave. Murtagh is escorting them home as Mary begins to tell Claire about the man she has found herself in love with. It is not the man she is betrothed to, but Alex Randall (Laurence Dobiesz). They are set upon by ruffians who attack Murtagh first, then rape Mary. When they begin to attack Claire, they call her La Dame Blanche and run away.

The guests begin to arrive and Claire is not there yet. Jamie greets the Duke of Sandringham (Simon Callow) who arrives with Jack Randall’s brother, Alex, who is his secretary. Jamie gets to introduce the Duke to Prince Charles when he arrives. Silas Hawkins, Mary’s father, is also there as well as the Comte St. Germain, invited by the Duke.

Jamie excuses himself after hearing that Claire has finally returned. Alex follows him and spots Mary being carried by Murtagh. Claire says to put her in the guest room, then she gets ready for the party. Claire thinks the authorities should be involved, but Jamie tells her that it will leave Mary disgraced, especially since her father and her fiancee are also there. The Comte St. Germain seems surprised to see Claire at the dinner party. Was he behind the attack?

When Jamie congratulates Louise and her husband on the impending heir, Prince Charles is stunned. At the same time, Mary Hawkins awakens upstairs. She is frightened and doesn’t remember all of what happened. Alex tries to get her to be quiet, but she begins to scream and attracts the attention of the guests, who think Alex is attacking her. A fight ensues. The Comte has the police summoned, then escorts Prince Charles out.

La Dame Blanche changes the atmosphere in Paris for Jamie and Claire. There has always been a sense of intrigue, but now it’s one of danger. Although they have always been seriously trying to stop the Jacobite uprising, there was a feeling of enjoyment in their lives. They live in luxury thanks to Jamie’s cousin Jared. Claire has found fulfillment volunteering at the charity hospital, and they are looking forward to the arrival of their child. Claire is poisoned and then attacked in this episode. Is it retribution by the Comte St. Germain? Or is someone else trying to stop what they are doing?

Jamie finding out Jack Randall is still alive is also pivotal. It changes his perspective on life. When he believed Jack Randall was dead, he felt as if there was no sense of closure to what he had experienced under Randall’s control. Now he looks forward to killing him as closure. Before he felt emasculated, now he feels empowered.

The rape of Mary Hawkins is a serious crime. In this day and age, though, women were blamed if they were raped. Somehow they must have done something to deserve it. Although she didn’t want to marry him, the fact that her fiancee rejects her over not being a virgin any longer, even if it wasn’t her choice, is why women failed to report rape for so long. The disgrace was hers to bear, not her rapists’.

The actor who portrays Alex is a great piece of casting. Laurence Dobiesz has enough similarities to Tobias Menzies that they could be brothers. It’s especially notable in the scenes where Alex is at Mary’s bedside. The structure of his face is quite similar to Menzies’, especially when we’ve seen him in the more kindly role of Frank.

All of the actors are very convincing here. From Prince Charles and his resignation that his lover can’t be his anymore to the Comte St. Germain as a steely possible enemy who doesn’t give anything away, everyone immerses the viewer in 18th-century French society. Simon Callow portrays the Duke of Sandringham almost as bumbling, but he’s quite the conniver which gives him much depth and a sinister air. The supporting cast for this show is fantastic.

We will learn more about why the attackers called Claire “La Dame Blanche” (“The White Witch”) in the next episode. It’s a key, though, as to how people interpret this woman out of time. She knows more than she should, and at times, it’s something no one else in this time period has ever seen or heard before. To them, it’s magic.

This is a fairly faithful adaptation of events in the book and is quite well done. This series seems to get better and better, but it’s also the material it’s being drawn from. The story is moving towards a number of pivotal events that will change everything in Paris and send Jamie and Claire back to Scotland.

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