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Jamie and Roger both went to battle in Outlander, “Send for the Devil.” And thankfully, Claire and Brianna’s husbands survived to fight another day.
Claire and Jamie are with her bees (a nice reference to the Outlander book this season is based on, Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone) since the Ridge is feeling rather empty these days. But they’ve got newcomer Buck! Dougal MacKenzie and Geillis Duncan’s son has quickly proven his loyalty to Jamie, and Jamie confirms to Claire that he’s conveniently avoided telling Buck that he and Claire are responsible for the death of both of his parents.
Mr. Whitaker — the father of the twins that Claire had saved with her white-haired, blue-aura powers — shows up at the Big House. While he had been understandably suspicious of Claire and Jamie back in episode 803, fearing getting help from a white family could compromise his family’s freedom, he’s here now to show his gratitude. He warns Jamie that Captain Cunningham is going to capture him with the help of the Ninety Six militia and present him to Redcoat officer Patrick Ferguson to be hanged. Jamie assumes Cunningham will attack him at Lodge, where weapons aren’t allowed, and says he has to make a deal with the devil to beat him.
In Savannah, Brianna worries for Roger as she paints the portrait of Amaranthus and Trevor. She distracts herself with a heart-to-heart with William about their father, whom William only interacted with during their failed attempt to save Jane. Bree reveals that, like him, she didn’t know Jamie was her father until she was 19 years old, and it caused her to massively resent her mother. He asks how she got over the betrayal. Her answer? “I got to know our father.”
Roger is preparing for battle at the Continental camp and writes Bree a letter apologizing for fighting — but how could he sit back and watch men younger than him fight a doomed battle? He thinks this is how his dad, Jerry, felt when he joined the RAF. He comforts a scared drummer boy, who is French and just so happens to say the Fraser family motto before the battle, “Je suis prêt” — I am ready.
Shortly after the battle begins, Roger finds the drummer boy Christophe injured. He carries him to the field doctor, and it’s Denzell Hunter! But these two don’t yet know their family connection and Roger goes back into the battle. Weellll, he goes back to like, watch the battle? He doesn’t actually partake in much fighting. A cannon explodes near him, and he has a flashback to himself as a child falling and being caught by his dad. It’s more of the same vision he had when he met his dad in Season 7’s “Hello, Goodbye,” which he was unsure if it was a memory or not. Is it possible that Jerry successfully traveled back to his time and saved wee Roger in a tube station during the Blitz? In this alternate reality, do Roger’s parents survive?
Claire doesn’t want Jamie to face off with Captain Cunningham, but Jamie assures her, “We have a plan.” She replies, “Plans fail. That’s why they call them plans.” Jamie (anachronistically, thanks to his time-traveling wife) quotes “the best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men” from Robert Burns’s poem, “To a Mouse.” But Jamie is convinced it’s not his time to die. He goes to the Masonic lodge, where the smarmy Cunningham calls him “worshipful master.” Meanwhile, Mrs. Cunningham arrives to hang out with Claire at the Big House to pray for their loved ones. Elspeth believes her son won’t die for five more years (as her grandson predicted), but she also believes Charlie won’t necessarily kill Jamie. But things get tense when Elspeth says Jamie has earned his execution as a pardoned traitor. C’mon, Mrs. Cunningham, I was just starting to like you!
At the Lodge, Captain Cunningham is going off about loyalty to the King of England, to which Jamie replies by quoting the Declaration of Arbroath. While everyone’s eyes are closed during the closing prayer, Jamie escapes and grabs a gun Lizzie planted for him outside. The skirmish on the Ridge has begun.
Jamie has some Ardsmuir men with him, but a number of them have switched to Cunningham’s side. Jamie orders his crew not to kill anyone, as he doesn’t plan to bring death to the Ridge. Jamie and Cunningham battle one another at the trading post, with Cunningham stabbing Jamie in the chest. Cunningham says he planned to take Jamie alive to Ferguson, but plans change. Jamie quotes Claire’s line about “that’s why they call them plans” back to him. A gunshot goes off…
But rather than Jamie, it’s Cunningham who falls. Buck has shot him from behind. So much for the Cap’s 5-year plan.
Except Cunningham isn’t dead. Buck and Jamie bring him back to the Big House for Claire to treat him. Claire thinks he may survive, but due to the bullet in his spine, she’s not certain he’ll ever walk again.
As for the other battle, the Siege of Savannah is over, and Brianna is not content to wait around to see if Roger survived. She and William plan to go to the battlefield. But before they leave, William meets Amaranthus, where she gets flirty, saying she wants to see him in the beetle waistcoat again. With the war hanging over them, he doesn’t want to leave without telling her how he feels about her. He says they should get married, and if they have a son, he’ll give him his title, as she suggested last episode. She says they don’t need to get married first to try for a child. They solidify their engagement while having sex in the gazebo. These kids are wild.
At the Continental camp, Brianna is relieved to find Roger alive, saying a prayer over the deceased. Roger introduces her to Denzell as they’ve made the connection that he’s Rachel’s brother. William also joins the party, embracing Denzell, and decides to stay at the camp while Brianna and Roger head back to Lord John’s. Denzell tells William that Rachel has had a baby, and William says he’s glad for her and Ian — and he really means it! After all, he’s in love with his cousin Benjamin’s freshly widowed wife now. What could stop him from being happy?!
Oh, maybe the fact that Ben isn’t dead. In fact, he’s a turncoat serving as General Ralph Bleeker for the Continental Army. William is initially excited to see him, but then punches him once the realization hits him. Hm, this is really going to throw a wrench in his engagement plans.
At the Big House, things seem to be settling down when another group rolls in — Benjamin Cleveland and his militia. “Send for the devil, the devil appears,” Claire says. In order to save himself from Cunningham, Jamie’s gotten into bed with the unsavory Cleveland, making the details in Frank’s book one step closer to becoming a reality.
With only five episodes left in all of Outlander, there’s going to be at least one more battle for Jamie to face (it’s always one battle after another with this guy). And next time, it’s unlikely he’ll be as confident that he’ll survive.
Caitlin Gallagher is a New Jersey-raised, NYC-based entertainment writer. When not writing about or watching TV, she can be found planning her next Halloween costume, crying over rescue animals, or praising Season 2 of The Leftovers.
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