**This is not a spoiler-free review of this episode. This review is also from a non-reader, and any comments revealing spoilers from the books will be deleted.**
Jamie singlehandedly saves America – sort of.
Episode 705: “Singapore”
Written by Taylor Mallory, Directed by Tracey Deer
Wait.
Wait.
WAIT.
WAS THAT ACTUALLY YOUNG IAN’S SON?
This episode was all about men being dumb and the Frasers, I.E., Jamie and Brianna, proving them wrong.
ALSO, DOCTOR Claire is back.
A lot was going on in this episode, and I have to admit that I don’t really care about the Hunters.
This means they’re super important to the plot moving forward, right?
What is with this show and morally ambiguous siblings?
Jamie (Sam Heughan), Claire (Caitriona Balfe), and Young Ian (John Bell) are all holed up at Fort Ticonderoga, and there are a lot of hungry men but no Wi-Fi or women (save Claire, OBVIOUSLY.)
Meanwhile, in the future, or past, because technically we’re in Brianna (Sophie Skelton) and Roger’s (Richard Rankin) future and NEVER MIND – BRIANNA HAS TO FACE WORKPLACE SEXISM.
I do find it sad that Brianna misses her parents so much. I think Sophie is doing a great job this season conveying that longing for what was. I, too, don’t want to know how Jamie and Claire died, so I don’t blame her for not digging deeper into that mystery.
Mandy and Jem are cute, and nothing bad can happen to them.
YOU HEAR ME, DIANA GABALDON?
As Jamie’s daughter gets hazed by her male coworkers at her new job, the hot Scot of Ticonderoga gets to work, well, actually doing work.
He realizes that the fort is vulnerable to British cannon fire. However, he tests the theory against his superior’s back, which lands him in hot water when his uppity boss is like, You actually did WORK? GET OUT.
Meanwhile, Jamie’s other offspring, William (Charles Vandervaart), continues to bore me with his Quaker side quest. It’s obvious to anyone with eyes that he’s crushing hard on Rachel (Izzy Meikle-Small), but it’s not super clear if she’s reciprocating or just super nice (man, the dating field is hard, even in the 18th century.)
Why dost thou leave me on READ?
After William is forced to kill the random man on the side of the road that sheltered them (because, spoiler alert, it turns out the random man was a murderous man), the boring trio part ways, with William batting his eyes at the emotionally unavailable Rachel (legend has it she has a roster the size of Texas. I’M KIDDING, OF COURSE, I KNOW SHE IS A QUAKER.)
Meanwhile, Young Ian may have become a father. He has a REALLY interesting run-in with his ex-wife Wakyo’teyehsnonhsa (Morgan Holmstrom), where she introduces him to her SON, THAT LOOKS LIKE YOUNG IAN.
So WAS that Young Ian’s son?? There’s no way it wasn’t, right? All I know is the look on Young Ian’s face was PRICELESS.
John Bell has done a phenomenal job portraying Young Ian’s journey over the years. While I’ve complained about the Hunters being boring, I care literally about EVERYTHING Young Ian does, so I’m really curious to see where his arc goes next.
Also, is it just me, or was Young Ian crushing on Rachel, too?
BEND THE KNEE YOU COWARDS — wait, wrong show
So I’m all for some harmless teasing at work for new co-workers, but what those men did to Brianna was terrifying. Like obviously, she got out just fine, but she could’ve died if she didn’t know her stuff. And it’s not like she had a cell phone to call Roger for help (the reception probably would’ve sucked in that cavern anyway.)
Meanwhile, poor Roger is just trying to GET SOME. And Brianna is like, “Not now, dear; I’m trying to dismantle the patriarchy.”
I like that Brianna’s work woes reflected her mother’s – weirdly, it felt like a full-circle moment. When Brianna SHUT DOWN one of the men at the pub later and told him she’d fire them if they ever pulled crap like that again, I CHEERED.
Because teasing is all fun and good, but you know, DAMN WELL, they wouldn’t have pulled that crap if it had been Roger and not Brianna. (Or maybe they were, in fact, equal-opportunity hazers; what do I know?)
Don’t worry, dear; you’re covered under Dinna Fash Insurance
My favorite part of the episode was Claire’s interactions with Water Woodcock (Tobi Bakare), who had to have his leg amputated. In the grander scheme of Outlander‘s overarching plot, I feel like the actual MAIN CHARACTER gets swallowed up sometimes in a chaos of plot points, so it was nice to see Claire doing what she does best.
PROVING SEXIST MALE DOCTORS THAT THEY’RE DUMB.
Okay, it’s a bit more understandable that an 18th-century soldier or doctor would be skeptical of Claire’s abilities as a doctor than those men who hazed Brianna. While I was bored with The Hunters for most of this episode, I appreciated how Denzell (Joy Phillips) ensured Claire could stay by his side to help prevent the patient from infection after his amputation.
The patient opens up to Claire about longing for his wife – the pain on Claire’s face, when she had to inform said patient that he’d have to stay even though the Americans were evacuating was hard to witness. If there’s ANYONE Claire loves more than Jamie, it’s her patients, and you can see how much it HURTS her to leave a patient like that.
LET HIM SEE HIS WIFE DANG IT
If Jamie’s stupid boss had just LISTENED, they wouldn’t have had to evacuate. That being said, there were a lot of plot threads in this episode, and honestly, I would’ve been happier with more doctors! Claire moments. I think the juxtaposition between Roger and Brianna reading Jamie and Claire’s letters as the events happened to Jamie and Claire in the past is interesting. I don’t care about the side characters enough to warrant the amount of screen time they got in this episode.
So will Jamie EVER be able to take Young Ian back to Lallybroch? Will William find the truth out about his parentage? WILL CLAIRE SEE ADSO AGAIN?
WAS THAT YOUNG IAN’S ACTUAL SON?
I have so many questions y’all.
UNTIL NEXT TIME?
NEXT WEEK, FRIDAY, JULY 21, AT 8 PM ET: EPISODE 706: “WHERE THE WATERS MEET”
Synopsis: “Jamie and Claire help civilians flee Ticonderoga after the fort falls into British hands. Roger discovers the identity of the mysterious ‘Nuckelavee’.”
