Outlander: Unfinished Business

Yes, the wait was way too long. But this episode was awesome.

"Unfinished Business" was a perfect title for everything that happened. My heart sank when Young Jamie said, "Thank the Lord you’ve both come in time." Ian Senior was a shadow of his former self, and I cried through a lot of this episode. It was something of a relief that he was still alive at the end, and determined to walk to the gate and wave goodbye.

Ian and Ian

Young Ian grew up big time while he was away from home. He adopted another culture, married and divorced, lost a child and gained one. He doesn't look or act like Jenny and Ian Senior's son anymore, and I really loved that Ian Senior saw that clearly and told Ian to go and live his life.

At least Ian Senior knows that he has a grandson in the Americas, Ian James a.k.a. Swiftest of Lizards, named after him. That’s pretty amazing. And Ian Senior is right that if Young Ian has found the right woman, he shouldn’t let her get away. She might end up married to some guy named William Ransom who looks a lot like his Uncle Jamie.

Recasting Jenny

It was wonderful to have all of the original actors back to reprise their roles. Of course, there was one major exception. Fans have been hearing for awhile that Laura Donnelly has refused to return to the series, which is why Jenny was written out completely in season four’s "Down the Rabbit Hole." There was no way to write her out here without a major alteration in the series. Kristin Atherton did a fine job with Laura Donnelly’s voice and physical mannerisms, but if there was one flaw in this episode it was that it just didn’t feel like the Jenny we knew. Not Kristin Atherton’s fault.

How must all this appear to Jenny? That Claire is a magical faerie woman but can spare none of her magic for Ian Senior? Her pain – even screaming to the heavens with grief – it got to me. In the book series, Jenny begging Claire to use her magic to save Ian's life was a scene that made me cry. And it made me cry here, too.

One thing I loved was Claire choosing the French Revolution as a good reason to finally out herself as a time traveler. The wide-eyed, appalled looks on Jenny, Ian Senior and Michael's faces as Claire described the Terror were priceless. I don't think Michael will stay in France past 1788, even if he really doesn't believe it. (This week’s most obvious symbolism was probably the apples that Claire keeps prescribing to keep the family healthy. There were bowls of them on the dining table in that scene – the knowledge of good and evil.)

You can imagine fans screaming "Noooooo! Not Laoghaire! But you know, I thought it was appropriate in an episode about unfinished business, and I actually kind of like Laoghaire more since I love Marsali so much now. It was totally believable that Jamie would show up to mend fences only to have Laoghaire nearly kill him with a pitchfork. (I loved how that scene of the two of them arguing had the pitchfork in frame the entire time; I was sure she would try to kill him with it, and voila.)

But hey. Happily ever after for Laoghaire and her boyfriend as well as the life in the church that Joanie desperately wanted instead of marriage to a lout of her mother’s choosing works for me. I'm only sad we didn’t get to see Bill Paterson’s Ned Gowan one more time. Just the thought of it makes me smile. And it's not surprising that the way to deal with Laoghaire is to take blame for everything and throw money at her while keeping a good distance from anything that can be used as a weapon. I guess that would work with almost everyone, come to think of it.

Roger and Buck... and Geillis

Understandably, with all that occurred in 1778, the Roger/Buck section of the story took something of a back seat. Although I love how they faked us out with the door knock. I honestly thought for a moment that Jamie would open the door to Roger. And wouldn’t that have been a shock?

The real shock was someone else also opening a door to Roger and Buck in the final scene of the episode. Let me once again remind everyone that Geillis is Buck’s real mother. I bet meeting his mom wasn't on his Bingo card. And Roger already met Geillis the day she went back through the stones in my still favorite episode of Outlander, "Dragonfly in Amber," set in 1968.

What Time Is it?

After Brian Fraser welcomed Roger in to Lallybroch, Roger's own home, Roger learned that Jamie Fraser was in France at University, making it 1739 or 1740. Are Rob Cameron and Jemmy in the wrong time, too? Why there? And who is the "faerie man" wandering the moors in a short coat, long breeches, and boots no one has ever seen before? No mention of Jemmy, so it doesn’t seem likely that it's the despicable Rob Cameron.

The contract Jamie signed with Laoghaire here was dated March 4, 1778. The letter from Lord John in Philadelphia was dated February 1778. Lord John is of course right that Claire is probably the only one who can save his nephew, Henry. Claire has to go. Jamie has to stay.

There's a "Chronology of the Outlander Series" on Diana Gabaldon's site that is a general sort of thing. There's also a year-by-year detailed bit in one of the supplementary books somewhere, I don’t know where. For what it's worth, Jamie Fraser was born May 1, 1721, and Claire was born October 20, 1918. In this episode, Jamie will be 57 in two months time, and Claire is sixty-two.

Books Versus Series

Yes, this was pretty much all right from the books, with one exception: Claire didn’t go back to save Lord John's nephew; it was another character. The Henry plotline happened, but not here. Let me put it in white-out, highlight to read: It was Marsali’s youngest son Henri-Christien, who was unable to sleep lying down without nearly dying; someone had to watch over him every night.

The book gave us a long and disgusting shipboard thread about Claire and Jamie dealing with General Simon Fraser's rotting body. I'm glad they skipped that one.

There are a lot of Outlander novelas and short stories. One of them was about Michael Murray and Joanie MacKenzie in France called "The Space Between."

Bits:

The theme song is still the one by the late Sinéad O'Connor.

The post-credit scene was Jemmy touching the gravestone that Jenny and Ian Senior created for Young Ian's lost daughter Iseabail, with "beloved daughter" in Mohawk. That was a lovely bit of acceptance for a granddaughter they most likely couldn't envision.

There were only a brief couple of scenes with Bree and Mandy at Craigh na Dun and driving away in their little red car.

Jamie and Claire got a couple of lovely nostalgic scenes in their old bedroom.

The 1739/1740 scenes featured a youthened Kristin Atherton as teenage Jenny. I'm glad they didn’t give us two new Jennys in the same episode.

Henry, William's cousin and Lord John's nephew, was briefly in the season seven episode "A Most Uncomfortable Woman." Lord John and Henry are staying with a woman named Woodcock in Philadelphia. Any relation to Claire’s patient Walter Woodcock in "Where the Waters Meet?"

Quotes:

Buck: “What happens if you die out of your time? D’ye disappear as if ye never were?”
Good question.

Roger: “If Buck dies, would I exist? Would Jemmy exist?”
Again, good question.

Jamie: “I feel like you told me you felt when you came through the stones – as if your world was still there, but it’s not the world ye had.”
I liked that comparison a lot. Lallybroch is Jamie's home, his world, all he knew, but it's irrevocably different now.

Ian Senior: “A dog does not a wife guarantee.”
I think it helps, though.

Jamie: “Claire, I need to go and see Laoghaire. Will you kill me if I do?”
That whole discussion was adorable. Claire was practically smirking.

Claire: “Some things can’t be mended. Still, it’s good that you tried.”

Jamie: “Claire, have ye ever been in any doubt that I need ye?”
Claire: “No. To the best of my knowledge, you have needed me urgently from the moment you saw me.”
Yes, he had a dislocated shoulder at the time.

Please tell me I’ll never have to type the name Laoghaire again. Four out of four pitchforks,

Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

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