As the episode begins, we see Claire
running urgently and it seems as if she is making her escape and is about to be
shot by a sentry, but after a nervous minute for viewers it turns out she is
playing with some castle children – clearly getting the lay of the land and
discarding her fichu to mark her escape route.
Falling down, she gets an unpleasant view of what Rupert is not wearing under his kilt, and manages
a put down with typical aplomb and sarcasm. Her two unofficial guards whine about her
prolonged playtime with the children because they don’t want to miss any of the
festivities (Angus and Rupert resemble Shakespearean buffoons in this episode) and
Claire pretends to give in, so they can all return to the castle where everyone
is arriving and gearing up for the Clan Gathering.
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| Diana Gabaldon as Lady Iona MacTavish |
Claire stops in the stables,
ostensibly to pick out a horse to use at the Hunt the next day which she’ll be
attending in her healer role, but really to earmark one for her planned escape
that night. Oh so casually, she asks
where Jamie is because there’s nothing like a flirtation when one is planning
to steal a horse, and old Alec, always a downer, warns her to leave Jamie alone
because of the Gathering. “I didn’t
think I was a bother,” she mutters with annoyance. Alex tells her she can use a horse called
Brimstone, promising its personality belies the name. We can only hope.
Returning to her medical scullery in the Castle basement,
Claire is startled by nosy Geillis, uninvited and as curious as when we last
saw her quizzing Claire about her upbringing.
She notices Claire’s stash of food and jumps to the conclusion that
Claire is pregnant. Startled and
indignant, Claire tells Geillis she has never been unfaithful to her husband.
“It’s not unfaithful if he’s dead,”
responds Geillis, pragmatic but sensing something off.
“He’s not alive,” Claire says bleakly.
“So he’s dead, then,” replies Geillis.
If Claire weren’t so desperate for a bestie, she’d realize Geillis is worse
than no friend at all! Claire admits
that her husband is dead, and Geillis asks some impertinent questions about
whether Claire is barren. Then she moves
on to another topic, noticing that Claire has gathered a large quantity of
valerian, which can be used as a sleeping potion. Geillis tells Claire that when she arrived
in town, she had nothing but her wits to survive. She found an affluent husband and doesn’t
mind that he’s not much too look at because she can do as she pleases (famous
last words).
“Sometimes you find yourself on a path
you never expected. It doesn’t mean it
can’t lead you to a bonnie place,” she tells Claire. Geillis’ semi-accurate guessing is making
Claire nervous so Claire says she’ll see Geillis at the Gathering. Geillis warns Claire that being a woman
alone in the Highlands is dangerous.
However, the Highlands are very
welcoming to Diana Gabaldon, who snagged herself a speaking role in this
episode as an elegantly dressed guest at the Gathering (although Mrs. Fitz
comments that it’s the same dress Lady Iona wore at the last Gathering – burn!). Then Mrs. Fitz finds Claire looking for a
knife in the kitchen and dragged her away to be dressed up. The purpose of the Gathering is not just fun
but for pledging an oath of allegiance to Colum, Laird of the MacKenzie. Murtagh translates the symbolic language for
Claire while Colum presides, newly shaven and likely wearing the garments he
terrorized the tailor about in the previous episode. Dougal is the first to pledge his loyalty
(the women are ignored but get to clap at dramatic moments) and sips from the
special chalice. Claire takes the
opportunity to withdraw, pretending she wants to prepare for the next day’s
Hunt, but Rupert follows her, begging her to stay so he doesn’t have to miss
the fun. Acting as if she’s given in,
she smiles and offers him a swig of port from her handy-dandy Valerian-dosed
flask (spitting her mouthful discreetly on the floor). “It’s a sedative,” she says. “Is that Spanish?’ Soon Rupert (unless it is Angus) has passed
out, which was her goal.
When Claire gets back to her surgery,
who is waiting for her this time but that annoying, big-eyed Laoghaire and she
wants Claire to provide a love potion to secure Jamie’s affections! This is not in the book and I don't approve for several reasons I don't have time to go into now. Claire gives the girl some horse dung (ugh) to
sprinkle outside Jamie’s door (but doesn’t he sleep in the stable?). “Good luck,” says Claire with seeming sincerity
but it’s not as if she gave Laoghaire a potion that would actually work . . . so
Jamie is safe.
Ready to make her escape, Claire heads
outside where she is immediately waylaid by some drunken Scots. This is not the first or last time in the
series Claire is nearly raped. She is
rescued by Dougal but he steals a kiss (which sounds lighthearted but isn’t)
and warns her to be careful or someone will want more. Claire first slaps him and then hits him with
a nearby chair, knocking him out cold.
Good work!
She heads for the stable, looking for
the horse, but steps on Jamie who is napping there. He guesses instantly what she is up to but
tells her she wouldn’t have got far with all the MacKenzies after her. He says he’ll bring her back to the castle,
and Claire reveals her disappointment that her plans are being thwarted, plus
tells him she can’t go back because she walloped Dougal with a chair, which
makes Jamie laugh. Then they are
discovered by some drunk clansmen who realize Jamie should be inside the Great
Hall and drag him inside to get ready. Angus (surely Rupert is passed out somewhere?) appears in time to help Jamie defend Claire’s honor and hands him a MacKenzie brooch
which Claire translates (forgetting she shouldn’t show off her education). Jamie looks at it and says it’s not his clan,
that his clan’s motto is Je suis prest (I am ready).
Claire doesn’t realize it but Jamie
has been strategically avoiding the Gathering because he does not want to pledge
his loyalty to Colum. As popular nephew
to the ill Colum, Jamie could be considered a possible heir and he knows that
Colum and Dougal want Colum’s son to succeed him. Jamie is afraid that if he doesn’t take the
Oath, his uncles will think he is disloyal but if he does, the rest of the clan
might think he is jockeying for position (think Scott Brown moving to New
Hampshire to run for office) and his uncles will have him killed. Claire
realizes it is her fault Jamie left the safety of the stables and is now forced
to make a strategic decision.
Jamie magnificently hedges his bets by
making a pledge of loyalty to his own clan, but swearing his obedience is to
his kinsmen, the MacKenzies. While
everyone in the Hall holds his or her breath, Colum decides to accept the
pledge and Jamie drinks up. And finally it's party time! Stomp your feet, clap your hands, everybody ready for a barnyard dance!
The next day is the Hunt, and although
Claire makes fun of all the men pursuing one little pig, what we see is an
impressively rendered boar and I wouldn’t go anywhere near it! Claire is not as lucky – she nearly gets
trampled by the boar but Dougal shoots it just in time. However, there is a casualty, which Claire's healing skills can't mend. She and Dougal keep Geordie company as he slowly dies. Dougal is grim at losing a friend but suddenly
all the men are playing field hockey and he grabs a stick and joins in (okay, it turns out to be an obscure Scottish game called shinty) . The tension and rivalry of the oath-giving seem to
return and Dougal goes after Jamie aggressively. As a former field hockey player myself, I was
taken aback by their rugby-like approach to the sport but the ultimate result
is that Jamie is victorious! Take that, Dougal!
Afterwards, Dougal comes to visit
Claire in her scullery (as Jamie predicted, if Dougal remembers about being hit
by the chair, he is not going to admit it).
“You’ve seen men die before, and by violence,” Dougal observes, and
Claire admits it. He thanks Claire for helping
Geordie die peacefully. Then he tells
Claire he is going to take her with him on a trip to collect the rents from
Colum’s tenants because a healer might be useful. “We leave at first light,” he says. Perched (presumably) on Brimstone, Claire
leaves Castle Leoch with Dougal, Jamie, and what look like Rupert and Murtagh
(wearing an elegant coat with furry cuffs and collar – thanks, Mrs. Fitz!), and
although she doesn’t know where they’re going she is secretly rejoicing because
she figures it must be closer to the Standing Stones than staying at the Castle
as Colum’s guest.
What’s Important About This Episode:
·
Geillis continues to be suspicious of
Claire
·
Jamie prevents Claire from escaping and
she prevents Jamie from avoiding the oath-taking to Colum
·
Jamie shows great diplomacy in his
pledge to Colum, and we learn that he is taken seriously as a young warrior by the Clan. Murtagh reminds Claire that Jamie has a price
on his head.
·
Dougal begins to take Claire more
seriously after the shared death of Geordie
·
Leaving the Castle may give Claire an
opportunity to escape
Images copyright to Starz
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