No Jamie or Claire this week, instead the focus is on the trials and tribulations of Brianna (Sophie Skelton) and Roger (Richard Rankin), with the added bonus of a surprise return by one of Outlander’s stalwarts in the form of Brianna’s 20^th century father, Frank Randall (Tobias Menzies).

Thus this week’s show begins with Brianna, truly down the rabbit hole, in 18^th century Scotland, trudging through the Highlands with a rather sketchy map of Scotland to hand, somehow able to find her bearings (her navigational skills must be second to none), on her way from Craigh Na Dun in the north to Ayr, armed only with one jelly and jam sandwich. One thing is for sure: her map can’t possibly be to scale.

This being Outlander, mishaps abound for our doughty heroine. Firstly, she falls and hurts her ankle and then when she finally faints in agony en route who should find her but none other than Laoghaire (Nell Hudson). That does seem a bit of a stretch, not only that Brianna has managed to walk that far in the first place through the Highlands, unmolested, injured and with the barest of navigational tools, but that of all the people who should come across her in Scotland, it should be her mother’s sworn enemy.

This particular twist in the tale is a step away from the book in whose version Brianna is welcomed directly into the bosom of the bustling Fraser family. This is obviously a far more dramatic version of events. I have to admit when I first saw Laoghaire bring Brianna a tray of food in bed I did have flashbacks to Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, wondering if Laoghaire already knew by this point whose child Brianna was and what the hell Brianna might be eating.

Fortunately for Brianna, we first see a much softer side of Laoghaire, although it soon becomes clear she is still obsessed with Jamie. Her account of their idyllic marriage before Claire’s return shows just how delusional she is about her and Jamie’s relationship, considering that even before Claire came back, Jamie had fled Laoghaire’s bed and her home and moved to Edinburgh where he’d taken a room in a brothel. I’m no expert when it comes to marriage but I suspect that’s never a good sign.

When the penny finally drops as to whose offspring Brianna is, Laoghaire takes the news with surprisingly good grace. No, of course she doesn’t. First she tries the more subtle approach by suggesting to Brianna that her father never wanted her. It’s an incredibly hurtful thing to suggest to Brianna, bearing in mind that Jamie ardently wanted children and one of his biggest regrets is that circumstance made it impossible for him to bring up either of his children. Then Laoghaire sticks the knife further in by floating the possibility that Jamie might reject her for a second time.

True to her parentage, Brianna is still determined to find them and so it doesn’t take long for Laoghaire to lose the plot entirely, and for Brianna to realise that it was Laoghaire who tried to have her mother killed; whereupon she says the worst thing she could to say to Laoghaire: the truth, by informing her that Jamie never loved her. Laoghaire, in turn, accuses Brianna of being a witch (yes, that old chestnut), threatens to have her arrested for witchcraft and locks her in the bedroom.

And in yet another twist from the book, thanks to some judicious flashbacks, we find out that Frank got his hands on the obituary about Claire and Jamie dying in the fire and thus knew that his wife went back in time to Jamie, making his decision to finally want to divorce Claire all the more understandable.

Menzies’ return as Frank was unexpected to say the least, considering his character had been killed off last season but it’s always good to see this fine actor at work. His brief cameos reminding us of what a keenly intelligent actor he is.

The scenes with Menzies also serve to flesh out his relationship with Brianna and make you realise how close the two of them were and how much Frank loved Brianna despite her being the child of the very man who always stood between him and his beloved wife.  Confronted with the obituary, Frank can no longer fool himself as to where Claire’s affections have always lain. The fact he can’t tell Brianna the truth (and let’s face it, how would you explain that one to your daughter?) means, for once, there’s a spoke in the wheels in his close relationship with his daughter, and Brianna, in true Fraser fashion, has her hackles raised.

Moreover, we discover that on the night of Frank’s fatal car accident he met up with Brianna and told her about the pending divorce from Claire, asking her to go to England with him. Brianna, blindsided by the news of her parents divorcing, doesn’t take the news well nor does she agree to move to Cambridge with him. Given Frank’s death in an accident soon after, Brianna wonders if she’d only agreed to her father’s request that he might still be alive.

As I say, these scenes help to add depth to Brianna’s character and also underline the guilt and the ties of loyalty that are being pulled at in every direction in her search for Jamie and Claire, presumably reflecting the dilemma of many an adopted child, the desire to search for their biological parents yet feeling disloyal to the loving parents who brought them up.

Thanks in no small part to Menzies’ acting skills, these scenes also highlight the silent bravery of a man willing to take on and truly love a child he knows is not his. Jamie may be the dashing Highland hero but Frank is no less an honourable man.  As a fantasy male par excellence, it’s hard for any man to shine in Jamie’s shadow but Menzies imbues Frank with dignity and gravitas. As if to underline this, while at Frank’s graveside Brianna’s parting words are: “You’re my hero, daddy”.

Meanwhile Roger, ably abetted by Fiona (Iona Claire), is heading through the stones too. And a personal request here: whatever Rankin has done to piss off wardrobe can they just move on and dress him in one decent outfit before the end of the series? Just one. Admittedly his penchant for wool seems to have deserted him in this week’s episode, as has his beard, but sadly not his insistence on wearing brown. What the hell were those knickerbockers he had on? It’s quite possible they are historically accurate but the poor guy hasn’t been dressed in a becoming outfit all season. Fair play to Rankin though for allowing himself to be costumed consistently in such an unflattering manner.

Thus attired, Roger is soon at a port and asking for passage from none other than Stephen Bonnet (Ed Speleers) who he manages to persuade to take him on as crew on board the Gloriana, bound for the Carolinas, by the simple expedient of showing Bonnet he can lift up a barrel – admittedly not the most stringent of hoops to jump through.

Once on board, Roger gets to see how tough life is on ship for those bound for a new life in the Americas. Packed cheek by jowl in steerage, it doesn’t take long for disease to spread, unfortunately for the passengers on the Gloriana it’s a case of smallpox. Given there is no cure and its contagious nature, Bonnet decides there is only one way to stop the disease from spreading and throws anyone suspected of having the disease overboard. An effective if rather inhumane way of dealing with the outbreak, Roger is horrified and is spurned on to help hide a woman whose young baby has a teething rash from Bonnet’s men. Unfortunately for Roger, it doesn’t take long for Bonnet to discover what Roger is up to and Roger comes close to being thrown overboard himself.

As for Brianna, she too receives help in escaping thanks to Laoghaire’s youngest daughter, Joanie (Layla Burns), who drives Brianna to Lallybroch. Welcomed by Ian (Steven Cree) and handily provisioned by him with money and some of Claire’s old clothes, Brianna heads off to port for passage to the Americas. While about to purchase her fare, Brianna is waylaid by a desperate father who wants to avoid his indentured daughter, Lizzie (Caitlin O’Ryan), from ending up as a concubine for a would-be owner of her contract. Faced with Lizzie’s possible dire fate if she doesn’t buy her contract, Brianna decides to take Lizzie on as her servant and buys passage for them both.

Then in a rather touching final scene, just as Brianna is about to board the ship, she sees her father Frank in the crowd, seemingly giving her permission to go and look for Jamie and Claire. It’s a nice touch and gives closure to the character of Frank who seems to be finally at peace with the idea of Brianna searching for her parents.

Interestingly, it usually bothers me when Jamie fails to make an appearance in an episode: this time it didn’t, although admittedly I did lose a bit of focus watching the sailing scenes. Perhaps this is due to one of the main strengths of this particular episode in the unexpected return of Menzies whose scenes not only gave more emotional depth to one of the show’s major characters but was an acute reminder of how much a fine actor such as Menzies brought to the show and how much he is missed.

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