Outlander: “The Reckoning” — April 4, 2015
Accidental time traveler Claire Randall seems to have forgotten all about getting back to 1945 and her husband Frank, it’s not that she didn’t try, but you know how it is, after you’ve been beaten and almost raped by your husband’s 18th-century ancestor and lookalike a couple of times, the idea of seeing his face again isn’t that urgent. Now Claire has a younger, cuter husband, Jamie Fraser, who is dreamy despite his crazy hair. He is nearly perfect, except for this episode because Jamie spends a lot of time acting like a total jackass and I may have to break up with him his short marriage to Claire is already on the rocks.
Let’s go!
During a rent-collection journey with the MacKenzie clan, Jamie and Claire wed so that she would be considered a Scot and no longer an English woman, this would prevent her from being handed over to Captain Black Jack Randall — or so it would seem. When Outlander needs to fill time, some form of sexual assault comes in handy. About five minutes after she stabbed a would-be or maybe actual rapist (I’ve lost count), Jamie took Claire to a safe location while he went off to do some Scottish rebel business. After spending the first half of the season looking for the Craigh na Dun ancient stone which could possibly transport her back to 1945, Claire ended up standing right in front of it and figured she had to make good on the premise of the show and try to get back to Frank and her obsessive need to return to a world with disinfectant and a reduced amount of sex crimes.
Going off by herself puts Claire right in the path of redcoats who drag her off to Black Jack so we can once again watch Claire narrowly avoid assault. Just for shits and giggles, these scenes are getting more graphic. Of course Jamie rescues her and everything is great, except for the fact that shortly after the escape, Jamie demands to be “obeyed” and a shouting match with pushing and shoving ensues. In addition, the men of MacKenzie clan give Claire the silent treatment because if she hadn’t wandered off, they wouldn’t have had to undertake a dangerous rescue mission. To make matters worse, now Black Jack can more easily find fugitive Jamie, whom he enjoys torturing at the whipping post and arresting on dubious charges. Jamie is expected to dole out discipline. War chief Dougal MacKenzie and the rest of the travel party gleefully listen in with approval as Jamie spanks his wife with a belt. Let’s remember that these are the good guys and we’re supposed to be #TeamMackKenzie. Claire, to her credit, does manage to bruise Jamie. With that out of the way, everyone returns to Castle Leoch.
Fortunately, there’s a whole scene that doesn’t involve someone violating Claire. The castle’s laird, Colum MacKenzie, has discovered that though he was just supposed to oversee rent-collection from villagers, his brother Dougal was getting some gold on the side to fund a Jacobite army in order to fight the British. The scene plays out like this:
Colum: I’m the laird not you and you don’t get to fund armies.
Dougal: I’m a BAMF and who does everything around here including impregnate your wife so you can have an heir. Whoops, did I say that out loud?
Colum: Jamie says we should make up and see how things play out, backsies!
Jamie thinks he can soothe things over just as easily with Claire, who doesn’t feel like teaching him more 20th-century sex maneuvers. Jamie goes off to brood and is approached by the most unappealing stalker wench in history, Laoghaire MacKenzie. It goes like this:
Laoghaire: Hey, so I heard you married someone who’s beautiful, intelligent, sophisticated and talented. I am none of those things, but she’s been around the block before and I’m allegedly a virgin. Here, let me help you feel me up.
Jamie: Nope.
Jamie returns to Claire and gives a speech about how discipline training seems to be coming between them and he wants to declare his devotion. He takes his sword and does this whole oath thing pledging his fealty. Claire seems unimpressed but then he handsomes all over the place and it’s on. The newlyweds engage in some make-up sex with a side order of hate-sex. In addition to having be taught how sex works — though he’s coming along nicely — Jamie needs vocabulary lessons and asks the meaning of words his wife used during their fight. Those words were “fucking” and “sadist.” Not to go all Merriam-Webster on Jamie, but the word “fuck” had been in existence for a couple of centuries. It’s debatable exactly when it came to mean, well, what it came to mean, but still. Has it been established that Jamie can read? Let’s move on. Claire defines the words in a way that makes Jamie feel tingly, then straddles him, puts a blade to his throat and warns him that he’d better watch his step. Claire’s stock goes up when she brandishes weapons. Let’s hope she starts swinging a mace.
Claire’s curious about some creepy thing under their bed, Jamie looks alarmed and tells her that it’s a hex meant to bring about harm or even death. Jamie may not know everything, but he knows what this means: Laoghaire.
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