Reunited, Claire and Jamie make their way to Lallybroch - Jamie's family home. Reality quickly sets in and old wounds are reopened between Jamie and his sister, Jenny.
Since the series began, Jamie's biggest dream was to return to Lallybroch and his family. He was tragically beaten and forced into a life on the run by the sadistic perversions of Captain Jack Randall. But now, Jamie has made an effort to remove the price from his head in an attempt to return to his home. Colum and Dougal were very generous in allowing him to stay at Castle Leoch. But they are not his true family. Sure, he could make a claim to their land as well. But Jamie doesn't want that. He wants to return to the place he grew up in to serve as its laird just like his father before him. That's what Jamie wants in life right now. This episode showcases him achieving that dream while making sure it's not as easy being the laird as he first envisioned it being.At the end of the previous episode, Claire made the decision to stay with Jamie. She wanted to continue being his wife even though he offered her the opportunity to travel back to her home time. She values his strength and his kind heart. She loves that he gave her that opportunity. But now, her future is with Jamie. That means traveling alongside him as he tries to make his grand return to his home. He has shared so many stories about Lallybroch with Claire. He has built up anticipation of what life there will be like. It is the place that can be their home; where they can begin and build a life as a family. That's what Jamie wants. He wants to be laird and have a strong and beautiful family. Claire now stands by his future. So now, they have to go and try to obtain it.
The Fraser family reunion isn't what Jamie was expecting. He had heard rumors about what has happened with his sister, Jenny, since the day Jack Randall took him away from her. That she had Randall's bastard child. He walks into the village as the stubborn hot-head he frequently is only for things to be much different than what he first thought. It's apparent immediately just how similar Jamie and Jenny are. They are brother and sister. They also share several personality traits - headstrong and stubborn but with a well-meaning heart. Those have been solid and lovable traits for Jamie. And yet, it's also what's keeping him from completely embracing his sister right away.
For as much as Jamie has wanted to return to Lallybroch, it also brings up a ton of horrible memories. Jamie looks at the village from a distance and remembers that day Jack Randall came and tortured him and Jenny. That was the first time he was flogged and the captain has only caused him more pain since. That was the moment his life took a turn. It's painful. But now, he's also returning a better man. His marriage to Claire is genuine and intimate. This journey is very much about him and his issues upon returning to Lallybroch. But both characters have to adjust to this new reality. It's their partnership that makes them better people. It's also the thing that forces several actions in the plot. This episode isn't as elaborate, intimate or emotional as the trial or the wedding. It takes its time setting up this new setting and how it's the life Jamie and Claire want but isn't the perfect version of it quite yet.
Jamie desperately wants to be seen as a great and fair laird just like his father. His return is a celebration for the community as they come to pay the taxes for the quarter. They are happy he is back and so is he. The land is struggling financially, but Jamie cares more about making a good first impression in the community as its laird. It's a huge risk to be in Lallybroch considering the price is still technically out for his head. Any one of these people could easily inform the red coats about his presence and they could come capture him again. Jenny tries to explain away that risk to Claire by saying the people of the community are loyal to the Frasers. If that were true though, then why has Jamie been living on the run for the past four years? Now, because he's working with the Duke of Sandringham to get the price removed, it's not as huge a problem for him and the community as it was before - thus being enough justification to return.
And yet, Jenny and her husband Ian have done a good job running this community. They have done an effective job as its leaders. Sure, the harvest hasn't been good for the past two years. But they are still the ones who understand the community and its needs at the moment. They understand the dynamics because they've been the ones forced to lead. Jamie returns and everyone is so accommodating to his needs because he is the rightful heir to the land. He has no understanding of how the community of Lallybroch has changed in the past four years or what Jenny has done with her life. For those years, Jenny was allowed to find happiness again with a husband and child. And yet, she still holds resentment towards Jamie and how uncertain his fate was at all times. There was little he could do to change that though. She was angry and focused so much of that attention on Jamie because it was the sight of him getting flogged that killed their father. That's not strong reasoning for the tension between them. But she does have a right to have those feelings - no matter how misplaced they are.
Because of a series of events that leads to Jamie being completely naked underwater in a creek hiding from the redcoats, Jenny is able to see the scars on his back and all the pain he has had to endure over the last few years. She has had pain too. She's a fighter. But it's up to their respective spouses to help them see more clearly what their family and their community needs right now. Jamie can't be the same laird as his father. He needs to be his own kind of leader. He needs to continue communicating with Claire and Jenny and not act impulsively in order to win over the public's opinion of him. That won't make him an effective leader if it puts the community into further financial risk. Him being able to trust the family he has surrounded himself with and trust that they will help him along the way will make him a better leader.
Of course, all of that operates under the assumption that he'll still be laird of Lallybroch in the future. The episode concludes on a cliffhanger - with Claire waking up in bed alone only to walk out of the room to see Jamie being held at gunpoint. It's a precarious and tense way to end the episode. It does feel a tad derivative and formulaic. The leads were able to figure out how to grow comfortable with their new positions in Lallybroch only for things to spiral out in the end to entice the viewers with some excitement to tune in next week.
Some more thoughts:
- "Lallybroch" was written by Anne Kenney and directed by Mike Barker.
- So, Jack Randall couldn't get it up when he tried to rape Jenny and later propositioned Jamie in exchange for not flogging him a second time. Very interesting tidbit that adds some more shading to that character.
- Both Jamie and Jenny appear to be quick studies when it comes to sex. She was a virgin when Jack Randall tried to rape her and she still knew to laugh in his face when he couldn't perform.
- This week in Claire explaining something about the future to Jamie - airplanes. Also, she has seen an elephant.
- The enhancing and dimming of colors in the flashbacks didn't really feel all that necessary.
- Claire really just wanted to save that boy from an abusive father. And now, that may bring more trouble than she could have imagined.
- Jamie, don't you know it's rude to ask a woman her age?
