[This is not a spoiler-free review of the episode. If you have not seen the episode yet, read it at your own spoiler risk.]
Episode 710: “Brotherly Love”
Written by Luke Schelhaas, Directed by Stewart Svaasand
Life continues after Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan) separate. Claire and Young Ian (John Bell) arrive in British-occupied Philadelphia. Jamie is still in Lallybroch, attending to his ailing brother-in-law Ian (Steven Cree) and sister Jenny (Kristin Atherton).
This episode does not spend much time on Old Ian’s death or what happens afterward, but it nonetheless is impactful. It opens with Ian’s father, John (Adam McNamara), showing a Young Jamie and Younger Old Ian (these descriptives are getting ridiculous) how to have each other’s backs in a fight. Ian is always on his right, so as Old Ian leaves this world, he tells Jamie the same and says his beloved wife’s name as his last word. As Jamie digs Ian’s grave, he propositions that Jenny could come to America with him, but alas, Jenny would like to stay until her grandkids are a little older. All of Jamie’s scenes in Lallybroch end before the opening credits and Jamie is supposed to be on his way to America shortly after seeing Joanie in her convent.
Back in Philadelphia, Claire, fortunately, arrives to a still-alive Henry Grey (Harry Jarvis) under the care of Mercy Woodcock (Gloria Obianyo) and Lord John Grey (David Berry). It seems that Denzell Hunter (Joey Phillips) was able to remove one musket ball, but one remains, which causes Henry a lot of pain. Claire is able to operate using ether and find the remaining ball in his intestine. It is the first time Dr. Hunter has seen an operation using ether; he is endearingly curious and gobsmacked at the same time.
If you can remember, Claire met Mercy’s husband earlier in the season, and she successfully operated on him, but he died of complications. Claire is able to pass along his final words and thoughts to Mercy and confirm to her that he did pass away. Mercy also speaks with Claire about being a Rebel in Philadelphia. It has not gone unnoticed to Claire that the British do not treat women as suspect. Thinking she is in the clear and smart enough not to get caught, Claire signs up to be a messenger.
William (Charles Vandervaart) seems to still have a thing for Rachel Hunter (Izzy Meilke-Small) and continues to pay her attention and escort her around. Rachel still has Ian’s dog, Rollo. When Rollo unexpectedly runs off, Rachel knows Ian has returned but cannot locate Ian or Rollo. While Ian and Rachel continue to look for each other, Rachel heads back to their inn’s stables. There, she meets up with vengeful Arch Bug (Hugh Ross), who is there to make good on his promise to Ian finally. While threatening Rachel, Ian shows up and gets into a fight with Arch, resulting in an ax to his arm. William shows up and saves the day, shooting Arch and taking to hand covering up what has just happened. In the aftermath, Ian and Rachel say that they love each other, something that has not yet gotten back to William.
In another time and place, Roger (Richard Rankin) and Buck (Diarmaid Murtagh) continue their visit to Geillis Duncan’s (Lotte Verbeek) house. While Buck receives a healing tea, word that Roger is missing his son gets around town. None other than Dougal MacKenzie (Graham McTavish) shows up with news of an odd man and an interesting charm that resulted from a game’s wager. Dougal’s arrival is also the first time Geillis and Dougal meet. This whole situation is a bit too much for Roger to process—he has three different relatives of different time periods in the room with him. What the charm, in fact, is sends Roger reeling. It is ID tags for his father, who disappeared in the war. Welp, it seems 1739 is the place to be if you are a MacKenzie.
The episode ends with Claire finding out that the ship Jamie booked to cross the Atlantic was lost at sea with no survivors. Claire thinks Jamie is dead. To add to the gloom and doom of the episode, Lord John Grey finds out that Claire will be arrested for being a spy. Being ever so loyal to Jamie, Lord John proposes marriage to Claire to help save her and protect her due to his station.
This episode, once again, packed a lot of content into an hour and managed to open and close as well as continue on five different storylines. Some storylines needed more time to feel dramatic and less rushed, especially Arch Bug’s final plan and death. Unfortunately, with so much going on and little time in an episode to devote to each, some storylines will feel stunted or less important.
Roger and Buck’s travels and encounters remain entertaining despite a desperation to find Jemmy as its purpose. Perhaps just devoting an entire episode to what is happening with them, rather than splitting it up into many episodes, might have appealed more to the audience, but it does provide some comedic relief.
My one big issue with this episode is the devotion of time to Claire thinking Jamie has died. While showing her mourning and shutting herself away from everyone is warranted because Claire, in every way, is mourning her soulmate, the montage of the two characters at different points of the show was for one reason only—to elicit an emotional response from the viewer. Book readers know Jamie is alive, and unfortunately, in Starz’s promotion of the rest of these episodes, the viewer also knows that Jamie is not dead. Juxtapose this sequence with the one at the beginning of the episode, and we find Ian’s death much more emotional and well done than Jamie’s supposed monumental death.
THIS WEEK, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6TH, AT 8 PM ET: EPISODE 711: “A HUNDREDWEIGHT OF STONES”
Synopsis: “Claire turns to John Grey for comfort as they process difficult news. Ian and Rachel discuss their love and their future. Brianna confronts an intruder at Lallybroch.”
