Outlander Becomes a Sea Soap Opera and that’s Not a Bad Thing

With the continual swaying of the Artemis, this episode of Outlander finally picks up the pace. Even while waiting for literal wind, the show gains momentum on the sail to Jamaica.

This episode is divided into two acts — two mini dramas on water. The first takes place on the Artemis, which Jamie and Claire are travelling on to Jamaica. This adventure on the ship presents lots of 18th century sea travel possibilities in only a little more than half the episode — a stowaway is revealed, a superstition causes problems, there’s a problem with the water supply, the ship is stranded, a near mutiny takes place, and someone is almost thrown overboard. There’s even a “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” albatross.

They’ve hardly been on the ocean before Fergus reveals that he’s brought along Marsali (Laoghaire’s daughter) and that they are “hand fasted” — a kind of common law marriage to us 21st century viewers. Jamie is livid and tries to turn the boat around (yea, Jamie briefly becomes a sitcom dad). But it can’t be done. Instead, Jamie decides instead of having a lovely honeymoon with his returned bride, there will be a boy’s room and a girl’s room.

Since Jamie is incredibly seasick, he misses the dinner with the Captain. But Claire has a lively conversation with him regarding the nature and function of superstition. Claire is a scientist and a skeptic. The Captain argues the truth doesn’t matter, the superstitions only exist to control the crew. Claire wisely points out that the superstitions could equally be used to give cause to a mutiny.

It’s only a matter of time before Claire is proven right; the ship comes to an abrupt halt in the ocean. They’ve lost the wind and the sailors search for the individual who did not touch the lucky horseshoe. They naturally look to the outsiders and are willing to throw one of Jamie’s men overboard to right the superstitious wrong.

It’s the kind of dramatic scene that often sells well on Outlander. Jamie is forced to climb the cargo net and balance on a beam in order to save his man from willingly falling in the ocean. When they return to the deck, they have to face the mob, but Mr. Willoughby saves them by telling his life story. Mr. Willoughby’s story is both sad and crude. He loved women too much to pursue his profession and allow himself to be castrated. So he fled, but now can find no whore who will bed him because of his skin color. He then dramatically throws bits of parchment in the air just in time for them to catch the wind.

The second mini drama picks up with the arrival of the British Man of War — a very young man claiming to be the captain boards them and asks for assistance from the ship’s surgeon. Claire offers her help and travels to their ship to investigate the cause of their distress.

Claire finds many ill men and determines that they all have typhus. She offers to train the healthiest of the crew to care for the sick and makes suggestions for their diet. While Claire is attempting to get everything in order, the ship starts moving. The giant British Man of War is sailing away from the tiny Artemis, which holds Jamie. Is everyone getting kidnapped this season???

Rating: I feel like this episode finally got back to Outlander high-jinks and I liked it. For that I’m going to rate it better than most previous episodes with a 4 out 5 Ruth Bader Ginsbergs. Gotta love Claire’s dedication to the medical profession.

Stray Observations:

• I love how, in the mutiny scene, everyone suddenly has a straw hat.
• Jamie and Claire’s hair continue to improve. Let’s all marry Jamie since he thinks grey hair is hot.
• From a technical perspective, this episode is really beautiful. They did a great job animating the sea particularly if you’ve seen any making of material with the green screen. You can read more about how those scenes were shot here.
• I think the scene with Claire and Jamie standing on the ship and looking at the moon is beautiful. Part of what made this episode better than most of the season is we didn’t have to listen to Claire and Jamie’s jealousy and insecurity. It’s as though this adventure allows them to get a fresh start. At first I was sad that they were leaving beautiful Scotland behind, but getting away from their past and looking to the future appears to be good for them. And I’m excited about that!
• Why aren’t they freaking out about Ian? They seem super chill about his kidnapping.
• Where is Murtagh? Why hasn’t Claire asked where Murtagh is? Am I the only one who’s worried about that surly, romantic, dancing, thespian, Scottish warrior?

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