'Outlander' Season 3 Finale Heads to America
What a ride. Outlander's third season was a study in contrasts, serving up an eclectic mix of domestic drama, quiet intimacy, and adventure on the high seas culminating in tonight's action-packed season finale. The episode brought together the best and worst of the show, inserting a lovely, much-needed moment between Jamie and Claire in between two over-the-top storylines - the climax of last week's mystical Geillis plot and a life-altering shipwreck.
First, the bad. This week's episode continued the Geillis storyline, which reintroduced magic to a show which, despite its foundation on time travel, spent most of the last three seasons distancing itself from its more unbelievable elements. Geillis's obsession with the Scottish prophecy and Margaret's ability to tell fortunes - so much so that she can speak to Jamie and Claire as Brianna - feel incongruous with the rest of the show, and frankly, unbelievable. This episode also disappointed with its handling of race; just like last week's episode introduced a questionable storyline about slavery, this week's depicted a tribal ceremony which seemed to dip into every imaginable stereotype of the "savage." For a show that gets so much right when it comes to the female experience, Outlander has a lot of work to do when it comes to race.
Despite these failures, the episode managed to redeem itself with a much-needed sex scene between Jamie and Claire. After the trials of the last few months, the Frasers are finally able to be themselves - well, as much as they can be while on a ship within earshot of a few dozen men. It's a great scene that underscores just how important Jamie and Claire's relationship is to the show - and how it suffers when we don't get these private, intimate moments between them.
Here, nine things we learned about the Season 3 finale of Outlander, "Eye of the Storm." Plus, everything you need to know about Season 4.
1) Claire is...drowning?
The episode opens with Claire inexplicably underwater. She's drowning, but she's at peace:
“I was dead. Everything around me was a blinding white and there was a soft, rushing sound, like wings of angels. I felt peaceful. And bodiless. Free of terror. Free of rage. Filled with a quiet happiness.”
So many questions!!!
2) Claire sneaks around the grounds at Rose Hall looking for Young Ian.
Claire searches the slave quarters at Rose Hall looking for her nephew. She discovers a dog digging through a mound of dirt and finds the bodies of two young boys with their throats cut. Before she can continue her search, an enslaved man captures her.
Meanwhile, Marsali and Fergus arrive back at the inn to find a note from Claire stating Jamie's been arrested. Fergus tells Marsali to wait for him in their room, but she demands to join him. She's much more like Claire than she ever realized.
3) Lord John Grey gets Jamie released from Captain Leonard's custody.
Captain Leonard takes Jamie to the Porpoise to set sail for Edinburgh, but the men are stopped by Lord John Grey's soldiers. Back at the governor's mansion, Grey (in an amazing scene spearheaded by David Berry) gives Leonard a thorough dressing-down, poking holes in his charges against Jamie and making fun of his rank. Since Leonard doesn't have the paperwork to prove Jamie's guilt - or the jurisdiction to arrest someone on land - he's forced to let Jamie go. Jamie thanks Grey for his help: “Seems I’m indebted to you yet again for saving my life,” he says. “Seems we’re indebted to each other so many times, I’ve lost count," Grey responds.
4) Faced with the prospect of death, Claire tells Geillis everything - including her return to the 20th century and Brianna's birth. Geillis realizes Bree is the 200-year-old baby.
Back at Rose Hall, Geillis is furious Young Ian never told her about Claire - she's certain Claire knows about the prophecy and only wanted the treasure so she could bring it to fruition. Ian vows to kill Geillis, but she orders one of her men to take him away.
Another enslaved man enters with Claire, who pretends she got lost looking for the entrance to the house. Geillis plays along, and Claire tells her how she and Jamie came to arrive in Jamaica. Geillis accuses Claire of lying, certain she's trying to thwart her plans to put a new Scottish king on the throne. Claire is, of course, confused, and in effort to appease Geillis, tells her that she only just got back to the 18th century and shows her the photos of Brianna as proof. Geillis realizes Bree is the 200-year-old baby from the prophecy and steals one of the photos before apologizing to Claire for her behavior.
Claire tells Geillis she actually met Brianna once, at the university in Inverness in 1968, and they were there when Geillis went through the stones. They saw her murdered husband, too. Geillis tells Claire, "a sacrifice is required, for the cause," but Claire reminds her she never needed one. “I think it has something to do with who’s on the other side, drawing you to them,” she tells Geillis
5) In their search for Ian, Claire and Jamie stumble upon a tribal ceremony, where all hell breaks loose.
After Geillis goes to bed, Claire continues her search for Young Ian. She sees him being dragged across the lawn and rushes after him. She runs into Jamie, who reveals he was released by Grey. Jamie and Claire follow in the direction Young Ian was taken and stumble upon a tribal ceremony, which reminds Claire of the Samhain ritual she saw with Frank all those years ago.
In a matter of seconds, chaos ensues: Jamie and Claire are captured by one of the tribesmen, but Yi Tien Cho convinces him to release them. He explains to Jamie and Claire that the people heard of Margaret's fortunes and asked her to join them, and he went with her because he loves her. Jamie and Claire ask Margaret about Geillis and where she could be, but Margaret falls into a trance. First, she asks Jamie about a rabbit (he saw one at Culloden that reminded him of Claire) and Claire about a bird that reminded her of Jamie. If that's not weird enough, Margaret falls into another trance, and this time, she's Brianna. She tells Jamie she's dreamt of him, then kisses Claire on the cheek, calling her "mama." Even for a show about a woman time-traveling through stones, this is too much.
Archibald Campbell arrives to get his sister, and Jamie demands he reveal where Geillis went. Campbell tells him the only thing he knows is that Geillis is working on a prophecy that heralds the rise of a Scottish king on the death of a 200-year-old baby. Claire puts all the pieces together and realizes Geillis will try to return to the 20th century to kill Brianna. Claire and Jamie leave to find Abandawe, the cave where people disappear. But that's not the end of the drama at the ceremony. Cho and Campbell fight over Margaret, and Cho kills him.
6) Claire kills Geillis to keep her from traveling to the 20th century.
Jamie and Claire find Abandawe, and Claire tells Jamie if she gets too close to the "portal," she might go through it again. Jamie tells her that if anything happens to him, she must go back and save Bree: "We lost Faith. We will not lose Brianna."
Inside, Geillis has Young Ian tied up. She intends to sacrifice him so she can travel to the 20th century. When Jamie and Claire arrive, Geillis's manservant, Hercules, points a gun at him, and he and Jamie start fighting. Claire approaches Geillis and realizes the pool in the cave is the portal. Geillis tries to convince Claire to let her do this:
“We are the chosen, you and I. We have a responsibility to change history. I gave up my child for the cause. You have a responsibility to do the same.”
Geillis runs for the water, shouting, "this is God's will!" but Claire uses a knife to cut her throat. Geillis crumples to the ground. Jamie tells Hercules he's free and cuts Ian loose. Claire moves toward the water, but Jamie pulls her back. Outside, Claire clutches the knife, shaking. She remembers the bones Joe had in his office right before she left the 20th century - they were Geillis's. Jamie holds her, then pulls Ian into the embrace.
7) Claire and Jamie finally have a moment alone on the Artemis.
The Frasers and their crew waste no time leaving Jamaica. In the captain's quarters on the Artemis, Jamie and Claire finally have time alone to reflect on their wild journey - and recover. Jamie vows to return Ian to Lallybroch immediately, and Claire notes Jamie's new white hairs. "Surprised I don’t have a full head of white hair after all I suffered these past months,” he jokes. Things get intimate (of course), with Jamie telling Claire:
“I have given much thought to what I want to do to you when we arrive on dry land. I’ve considered in great detail what I want to do should I have you naked, and willing, and with no one hearing, with enough room to serve you suitably.”
We're holding Jamie to this in Season 4.
8) A devastating storm hits the Artemis.
Because apparently, Jamie and Claire haven't been through enough this season. Claire orders their family - Fergus and Marsali, Young Ian, and one of Jamie's Scottish men - to stay belowdeck while she does her duty as doctor. On deck, the wind and water whips around, knocking a mast over, and Jamie realizes he's losing control of the ship. A huge wave hits the deck, carrying Claire overboard. We return to the scene from the very beginning of the episode, with Claire realizing she's dead.
She's not, of course. Jamie finds her underwater and cuts her from the debris dragging her down. They resurface and Jamie finds debris for them to cling to. He tells an unconscious Claire, “Dammit, Sassenach, if you die here now, I swear I’ll kill you."
9) Jamie and Claire wash ashore in Georgia.
Jamie wakes, covered in sand, on an unidentified shore. A young girl is poking him with a stick. She runs off, and Jamie sees Claire lying further along the beach. She's still not moving, and he fears she's dead - until she coughs. "I thought you were dead," he says. “I told you I’d never leave you again," she tells him.
The little girl returns with her family. The man, Joseph Oliver, tells Jamie and Claire their ship crashed four miles south - and there are survivors. The Frasers look dizzy with relief. “What island is this?” Claire asks. "You’re not on an island at all," Oliver tells her. "You’re on the mainland. In the colony of Georgia.” Claire gasps: "America!" It's the late 1760s, which means America is on the cusp of the Revolutionary War - something we'll surely see in seasons to come...
You Might Also Like
