Outlander Episode 5 Recap – Rent

Previously on Outlander… Claire is still trying to get back to the stones. But Dougal has other plans.

Cue to the opening titles that still make me tear up. Pass me a tissue, will ya?

Claire recites some poetry, looking over a gorgeous Scottish loch, and wearing the most amazing coat ever from the Autumn-Winter 1743 Collection. She bonds over poetry with Ned Gowan. NED GOWAN you guys!!! OMG!!! Why am I so excited??? It’s just the lawyer!!! LOL! I love this character and he is exactly how I imagined him to be! I love him! Ok, fangirl moment over. Moving on. While they talk poetry, the Highlanders are kicking each other’s ass. Because boys will be boys, even in the 17th century.

While on the road, Jamie sings. WTH? But I forget all about it when Ned Gowan starts talking about lace curtains on the windows and brass plaques on the door. Squee!!! By the way, I love the scenery.

So, we stop for a wee bite and the men start telling some very rude jokes. Claire sits alone. But Angus brings her some food. Aaaawwww… See? This is why I love Angus. Claire is all pissed cuz they are speaking in Gaelic and excluding her. Now Jamie brings her some bread. Sorry Jamie, the cute moment was for Angus this time.

The party arrives at a small village where Dougal and Ned collect the rent. Claire is bored out of her mind. So she wanders off and hears some singing. It’s the women from the village who are waulking wool. They use hot piss to set the dye. That’s why you should always read the label on your clothes to see where they come from.

When they finish, they go have a drink (and I really hope they washed their hands first) and Claire takes the opportunity to not so subtly ask where she can find Craigh Na Dun. But it’s at a distance of three days as the crow flies. Huh… No idea how far that is. Where’s Google Maps when you need it? Claire is asked to pee in order to use it for the dye, when in comes Angus looking for her. When he takes her back to the wagon, Claire makes a ruckus about a goat and the discussion catches the attention of the people around them. Oh, and who might you be, hottie with the cute English accent? Come help Claire? Yeah, well… the MacKenzies won’t let ya. Sorry about that. Oh, you are a Red Coat? Interesting…

At night, we all get together at the pub for a wee dram. When they are all warm and cozy, Dougal – the man of the hour – starts giving a speech in Gaelic. Claire has no clue what the heck he is saying. Really Claire, you should have gotten a dictionary by now. Oh, never mind about that. Dougal rips Jamie’s shirt off revealing his scared back. Jamie looks pissed. But people start giving Dougal money. Huh? What’s that all about? Jamie is still shirtless, so we don’t really mind about the money. One thing we learned from this scene? Claire throws like a girl.

On the road, Claire confronts Ned about their “criminal activities”. She never did learn to keep her mouth shut. Weeks go by, village after village, Dougal still exposing Jamie’s back. All I care about is the landscape. When’s the next plane to Scotland? All’s quite when Ooh-Ooh. A cottage’s burning. It’s the Watch. Jamie hides. Dougal collects his share. Shady business that.

When they stop for lunch, again they go with the lewd jokes. Claire looks constipated. But Angus brings her food again. Seriously, don’t you just love him? Instead of thanking him, she goes on about how they are all thieves. Angus threatens her with a knife. But Jamie comes to the rescue. Not only that, but when Claire’s goes of to sulk, he puts her in her place. He’s right, mind you, but we don’t like Jamie not being on Claire’s side.

Another village, another rent. This time, it ain’t that good. But Jamie is in the background playing with his dirk (DIRK, I said) and he is totally forgiven. At night, off we go to the bar, off goes Jamie’s shirt and here comes the money. But wait! Claire does pick a name out of the Gaelic: Stuart. Oh… so they ain’t doing “criminal activities” after all… just rebellious. Dougal is a Jacobite. Go Google it. No need. We have a flashback (or is it a flashforward?), where Frank the historian explains everything for us.

At night, while Claire voices over, she overhears Jamie and Dougal fighting. She then goes to comfort Jamie (as we all would do). But there’s no showing off with the sword and dirk. WTH???

Morning. Men are packing. Claire looks sad and preoccupied. Great scene from Caitriona. Her voice over ponders about the fact that these proud men are on the loosing side of history.

The Road goes ever on and on. Down from the door where it began… Oh, sorry. Wrong book. But we are still on the road. When they see a ghastly sight. Men, crucified as traitors. This scene is very sad. And Graham McTavish’s performance is perfect.

At night, the pub again. This time, Dougal’s speech is much more heart felt. And the music just makes you cry. The crucified men have given Dougal a much better example of the English’s cruelty than young Jamie’s back.

Claire’s in her room, trying (but failing) to sleep, when she hears noises outside her door. Scared, she grabs a candlestick and goes to the door to kick the hell out of whoever it is. Now comes one of my favorite scenes from the book. Just wait for it. So Claire opens the door, steps outside the room and trips on something laying on the floor. Just like in the stables. Huh. Young Jamie is there. “What were you doing, sneaking outside my door?” she asks. “I wasn’t sneaking, I was sleeping!” Huh? she goes. Apparently, the pub downstairs is full of drunken men who might venture upstairs to look for fun. And Jamie thought to come to her door to protect her. Cue the “aaaaaawwwwww’s” from all of us. She tells him to at least sleep inside the room. And look of total shock on his face is priceless. Amazing performance by Sam Heughan. He totally captured the spirit of this scene. It was like the book had come to life. And then their hands touch and all the sighing in the world isn’t enough.

In the morning, Claire comes downstairs to have breakfast and Jamie runs away with the excuse he needs to feed the horses. Claire sits with Ned and tells him she now knows what they are doing and tries very hard to convince them that they don’t stand a chance of winning. She is trying to protect them. Meanwhile, the men in the room start making some comments and laughing and looking at her. She is oblivious. Well they are speaking in the Gaelic, so the doesn’t understand a word. But the MacKenzie men take offense and fight them. Chaos ensues. Ned and Claire hide behind a column. Interesting fact: the first to attack is Angus.

After the fight, when Claire is mending their cuts and bruises and reprimanding them for fighting, Murtagh tells her she was the reason they fought those men, because they were calling her a whore. They were defending her honor. She is a guest of the MacKenzie. They can insult her, but God help any other man that does. OMG!!! I love them! Aren’t they the best?! And… it was Angus who first jumped in her defense. They like her!!! I had this big stupid grin in my face. And Claire looks so sorry!!!

While preparing the horse to leave in the morning, Rupert is telling a lewd story and Claire makes a joke. I love how Jamie pops up behind the horse as soon as Claire is telling the joke. He looks like he wants to laugh, but pops in just in case he has to defend her. The air is so tense you can cut it with a knife. Until Rupert laughs and everyone else does. Including Claire’s horse. The fun and jokes atmosphere is stopped short once Jamie mentions they’l be crossing Culloden Moor and Claire remembers going there with Frank.

But she ain’t sad about Frank. She is sad because that’s the battlefield where the last fight between the English and the Scots will take place, three years from now. That’s the place where thousands of Highlanders will loose their lives. Where the clan system will come to an end. The flashback/flashforward takes us to Culloden and we see the stones that mark where each clan stood. We see the monument remembering those who fought and fell. Having been there myself, on a misty, rainy day, I can assure you it’s a very sad sight. I swear I was crying during this scene. Not only because of what I know happens further down in the books, but also because of what really happened there.

Now Angus helps Claire untie something from the wagon and we can¿t help but love him. Seriously. Claire says she is going to the river to wash and, for once, Dougal tells Angus and Rupert to let her go alone. WOW! But at the river, Dougal himself comes to confront Claire about who she is and why she is trying to convince the men against the rebellion. Tense scene this one. And it only gets worst when the cute English dude who offered Claire help back in the first village comes back, wearing his full red Coat uniform and accompanied by several other soldiers. Yikes. He asks Claire if she is here by her own choice. Well… where to begin? But when Claire is about to answer, the episode ends.

OMG! An honest to God cliffhanger!!! I still know what’s going to happen, but this cliffhanger gave me all the chills.