Outlander Season 1 Episodes Ranked!

Sarah Bredeman

There’s only one word for Outlander Season 1: AMAZING. But all Outlander episodes were not created equally. Have you ever thought about which episodes are your favorite? How about your least favorite? Well, we decided to rank the entire season- all 16 episodes- and share our ranking with you. Take a peek at our Outlander Season 1 Episodes ranked from best to worst, and let us know if you agree with the standings!

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Of course, that sort of makes it sound like we didn’t like some of the episodes. I wouldn’t go as far to say I disliked any of them. Some kept my attention more than others, and I expect nothing less. Especially for a show entrenched in historical facts, it can be hard to keep everyone entertained during every second of every episode. What Ronald Moore, Starz, and the cast managed to do- bring the cherished characters of a wildly popular book series to life- is nothing short of a miracle. It could have gone badly, to be honest, and I won’t pretend like I wasn’t a little bit nervous.

That’s So Raven- Disney Channel

All’s well, though, and so now, of course, we need to over-analyze everything! So, let’s take a peek at Season 1 ranked!

Next: #16 The Way Out

Outlander- Starz

#16: Episode 3, “The Way Out”

Season 1, Air Date: August 23, 2014

“The Way Out” was interesting. The episode wasn’t overly exciting, but did a good job of setting the scene and putting Claire- a fish out of water- smack in the middle of it. Here’s what happened: Claire plotted her escape and healed a boy everyone was *sure* was possessed by the devil. In fact, he had been poisoned and Claire provided the antidote. That pissed on the priest, who is SO not Christ-like, goes all medieval and what not. Oh and Claire makes friends with Geillis, who is probably a witch.

The reason this is our least favorite episode is just because it was mostly set-up. A lot went on, but in the bit picture, it meant very little. There was some set-up for the upcoming Burning at the Stake story line, but it was minimal, and in the grand scheme of things, forgettable.

Next: #15 The Gathering

Outlander- Starz

#15: Episode 4 “The Gathering”

Season 1, Air Date: August 30, 2014

“The Gathering” was cool, and it gave Claire an window in which she attempted to escape. She was unsuccessful, obviously, and that lended itself to a nice/ cute interaction with Jamie. But what really happened? There was some tension between Colum, Dougal, and Jamie who really really really didn’t want to pledge an oath to his uncle. It’s all politics, really, but the gist is that Jamie wanted to live and was staring down the barrel of the gun that is Dougal MacKenzie if he pledged. Long story.

The story line with Dougal was interesting. The boar hunt went bad when a young man was speared by the pig and died on the hunt. Claire helped the man pass in peace, and Dougal admired how well she did in the face of tragedy and gore. Of course, he has no way of knowing Claire’s past, err, future, but it softened him to her (even though he still thinks she’s a spy.). Once again, this episode was revving the engine of the Outlander hot rod. It was cool, but we’ll take it or leave it.

Next: #14 Rent

Outlander- Starz

#14: Episode 5 “Rent”

Season 1, Air Date: September 6, 2014

There were quite a few nuances in “Rent.” It spanned quite a bit of time, too, skipping ahead several days at a time sometimes. In this episode, Claire has been tasked with travelling with the Rent Collection Crew, tending to sick or wounded tenants as Dougal and Ned collect their coin. Claire feels like she’s being excluded because other than being the only woman in the group, everyone is speaking Gaelic around her, so she can’t understand anything they say.

That all changes, though, after Claire gets to know the group a little better. Angus even starts a fight with a group of guys in a tavern after they insult her. She becomes like one of the guys after all. Dougal isn’t so sure about her, still, though. She’s noticed they are collecting more than just rent money. At first Claire thinks Dougal is pocketing cash, but then realizes they are fundraising, as it were, for the Jacobite rising. Which, of course, Claire knows will end badly.

This episode was good. It sets up the Jacobite Rising story well, but it was a bit dull.

Next: #13 The Watch

Outlander- Starz

#13: Episode 13 “The Watch”

Season 1, Air Date: May 2, 2015

“The Watch” was full of tension and action, but almost pulled you out of the larger, over-arching story line. The back half of the season relied heavily on The Watch and Jamie being captured by the red coats, but this episode was little more than a device to show how out of touch Jamie is with the life of the laird after being away from Lallybroch for so long. At every turn Jenny and Ian are standing toe-to-toe with Claire and Jamie, and it becomes a little bit much.

Like, we get it. The tension is palpable, even through the TV screen. The characters are really becoming well rounded, though, and I appreciated the interactions between Claire, Jamie, and Jenny, who is a firecracker and cast PERFECTLY. Jenny Murray from the books is made proud, that’s for sure.

Next: #12 The Reckoning

Outlander- Starz

#12: Episode 9 “The Reckoning”

Season 1, Air Date: April 4, 2015

I loved “The Reckoning” because it was from Jamie’s point of view, but everything else I hated.

I didn’t HATE the episode or the story, but this one got put towards the bottom of the list because of the whole “you owe me an apology, no I don’t, yes you do, no I don’t” thing. The fight between Claire and Jamie is necessary for so many different reasons, and was justified, but it became tedious. Claire is, derrr, from a different time with different ideas about how men and women interact. In this time, married to Jamie means she’s his property more or less, and Jamie is in that mind frame. They are able to break away from that, even if it’s sort of behind closed doors, and see each other as equals. And Claire learns that her every action has a consequence (which we see later).

Honestly, it was hard to place this episode. It could have very easily gone higher on the list, but alas, it made it here. No beef!

Next: #11 The Garrison Commander

Outlander- Starz

#11: Episode 6 “The Garrison Commander”

Season 1, Air Date: September 13, 2014

I found most of the Ft. William episodes difficult to be invested in. Of course there was a lot going on in “The Garrison Commander”, but with a lot of expository dialogue and just… sitting… in the room… doing nothing… talking… Got on my nerves a little bit. I know the story inside and out, so none of this was new to me. The whole Randall/ Duke of Sandringham thing wasn’t keeping my attention because, as a book reader, I knew it all so well. They sprinkled in some “new” stuff and some shockers- but at the expense to shock? I don’t know. I honestly can’t give you a way that this episode could have been made any better.

Also, anything with Randall is going to be higher on the list because Tobias Menzies is such an incredible actor and incredible Black Jack that I get chills just thinking about his performance. If it gives me chills or makes me cry, it gets a higher notch.

Next: #10 By The Pricking of My Thumbs

Outlander- Starz

#10: Episode 10 “By The Pricking of My Thumbs”

Season 1, Air Date: April 11, 2015

In “By The Pricking of My Thumbs” packed a whole lot into an hour. Claire gets some, uhh… special attention from Jamie, Ned and Jamie are hatching a plan to (hopefully) get the price on his head lifted, Claire confronts Laoghaire and slaps that bia across the face, Geillis confesses that she’s pregnant by Dougal MacKenzie, Claire finds a changeling child in the woods and tries to save it, Geillis probably (did) kill Dougal’s wife, Jamie gets wrapped up in a duel, Geillis’ husband Arthur dies (poisoned, no doubt), and Claire and Geillis are arrested under the suspicion of being witches. Oh, and Jamie’s not there to know what’s going on.

This episode was so packed full of action and threads of different stories, it was sometimes hard to keep up. Still good, and I loved Lotte Verbeek’s dance in the woods. That woman is a phenomenal talent.

Next: #9 Both Sides Now

Outlander- Starz

#9: Episode 8 “Both Sides Now”

Season 1, Air Date: September 27, 2014

“Both Sides Now” could have easily been #1 on this list. My favorite part was that we got a little taste of what life for Frank is like back in 1945. People who have read the books will know this, but those little bits of Frank back in 1945 were not included in the first Outlander book. However, in later books and in stories about Frank told by Claire later in the story, we learn that he truly did search for her relentlessly for a very long time. It’s interesting, as a book reader, to see little snippets of his life strewn throughout the rest of the episodes, and I quite liked it. I hope they continue to do that, because the Frank character morphs into a pretty awful guy later on, and I’d love to keep getting pieces of his journey.

Next: #8 Sassenach

Outlander- Starz

#8: Episode 1 “Sassenach”

Season 1, Air Date: August 9, 2014

It was extremely hard for me to put “Sassenach” in the middle of the pack. One would think that, naturally, the pilot episode of a show like Outlander would make it to the top of the list.

I had “Sassenach” at the top when I first began drafting my rankings. Fans of the Outlander book series will tell you just how long they’ve waited for an adaptation… AGES. There were several “close calls” with Outlander becoming a movie (thank the good heavens that didn’t actually happen), and no one was ready to hold their breath when it was announced that Outlander was being options for a network television show. In the back of my mind I thought well, this may or may not happen. I can’t get my hopes up.

So the pilot episode was important. It set the tone and prepared us for the journey we were about to go on. It did it’s job. I have nothing bad to say about it other than there were 7 other episodes that I liked better.

Next: #7 Wentworth Prison

Outlander- Starz

#7: Episode 15 “Wentworth Prison”

Season 1, Air Date: May 16, 2015

The front half of our list is mostly comprised of Season 1 part 2 episodes (episodes 9-16) and that’s primarily because those episodes had the most emotional impact and interesting action. “Wentworth Prison” embodies both of those things entirely and tugged HARD at my heart strings.

Watching Jamie standing in line to be hanged absolutely set the scene for this somber episode. After Jamie is captured (looking for Claire, no less), he’s taken to Wentworth Prison to die, but Black Jack hears of Jamie’s whereabouts and rushes to “save” him- Jamie is the one that got away, if you will, and Black Jack would do just about anything to have him. To have one last shot to break him.

Claire tries and fails to free Jamie, and is “freed” pending Jamie’s agreement to stay at Wentworth and hand himself over to Black Jack body and soul.

This was one of the hardest episodes of television I’ve ever watched. The performances rocked my entire body and brought me to tears multiple times. It is, probably, one of the greatest episodes in TV history.

Next: #6 To Ransom A Man's Soul

Outlander- Starz

#6: Episode 16 “To Ransom A Man’s Soul”

Season 1, Air Date: May 30, 2015

The final episode of Outlander Season 1 was one of the most emotional. “To Ransom A Man’s Soul” took us on a painful journey. After Claire and Murtagh and the others rescue Jamie from Black Jack and Wenworth, he has a death wish. His body was violated by Black Jack, he feels he “let” Black Jack violate his soul, and on top of all of the sexual abuse and violence done to him, he was also branded.

Claire is able to reach him and pull him back from the brink, and Jamie cuts the brand from his ribs. They can’t stay in Scotland, though, and so they are off on another adventure. Since Jamie knows about Claire’s time travel and she’s made him privy to the future, they decide to head to France. There they can meet up with Jamie’s cousin Jared and try to change the future.

And, oh yeah, baby Fraser is on the way.

Next: #5 The Search

Outlander- Starz

#5: Episode 14 “The Search”

Season 1, Air Date: May 9, 2015

“The Search” was great because it showcased two of the strongest female characters in all of fiction working together and kicking ass while trying to find Jamie.

After Jamie goes off with McQuarrie and the watch, he’s captured and so the ladies head out to search for him. Jenny has just had a baby and Claire is a hot, nervous wreck. When they find the Redcoats who supposedly had Jamie, though, he’s not there. Claire and Jenny are just about to kill the Redcoat, after questioning him, when Murtagh comes along.

The episode spirals out of control (in a totally good way) when Murtagh and Claire hit the road in the grand search for Jamie. He’s escaped his Redcoat captors and will be travelling at night, keeping off the road. This much Murtagh knows. But how will they find him? Murtagh and Claire hatch a plan to travel the Scottish countryside as a palm-reading healer & Scottish dancer. If they drum up enough attention and get people talking, Jamie will surely hear about them and seek them out.

Claire literally does a little song and dance, and they travel all around looking for Jamie. Jamie is captured before he can reach Claire, though, and Dougal offers to take care of Claire… She refuses to give up, though, and heads to Wentworth to find Jamie. She has no idea what exactly she’ll find though. Jamie or a body?

Next: #4 Castle Leoch

Outlander- Starz

#4: Episode 2 “Castle Leoch”

Season 1, Air Date: August 16, 2015

Castle Leoch is a place from the books that everyone knows well, so this episode was highly anticipated. Since this was the second episode of the freshman season of Outlander, there were lots of exciting new things to see and people to meet. It may not have been a very interesting episode in the long run (although, I would argue that), it was fun to get to know that Castle Leoch and MacKenzie characters, see Claire and Jamie’s continued interactions, and see how the news of time traveling dawn on Claire as she tried to make sense of her new surroundings.

This is probably the biggest “introductory” episode of Outlander outside of the first episode, and for that, it makes our #4 spot.

Next: #3 Lallybroch

Outlander- Starz

#3: Episode 12 “Lallybroch”

Season 1, Air Date: April 25, 2015

“Lallybroch” was my most anticipated episode. I couldn’t wait to meet Jenny and to see Lallybroch in person. For years and years and years I imagined Jenny and painted pictures of Lallybroch in my head when I read the books. Lallybroch is probably my favorite place from the books and Jenny is easily one of the best characters in the books.

The interactions between Jenny and Jamie are heartwarming and funny, and seem so natural that it’s almost hard to believe they aren’t relatives in real life. And Lallybroch, Jamie’s childhood home and birthright, is everything I ever imagined it would be. The set and casting met at a perfectly placed intersection in this episode and set up the last 4 episodes of the season perfectly.

Next: #2 The Devil's Mark

Outlander- Starz

#2: Episode 11 “The Devil’s Mark”

Season 1, Air Date: April 18, 2015

GEILLIS IS A TIME TRAVELER!

And, not all that bad of a person, it turns out. Well, at least not for right now (don’t worry- she’s not dead. She’ll be back). After Ned does all he can for Claire and Geillis during their witchcraft trial, Geillis basically takes one for the team and allows Claire to get away. Why? Well, Geillis has seen that Claire bares the mark of the devil, which is actually a vaccination scar. Geillis has that same scar and admits to being a witch and telling the court that Claire has been bewitched.

Jamie makes a surprise appearance, as well, having come to the courtroom from escorting his uncle Dougal away from town after he knocked up Geillis and embarrassed Colum. He makes a sweeping, romantic speech about his wedding vows and keeping Claire safe, which made us all swoon at the same time.

It’s great because it’s full of action and tension and gives us a look into the time travel story, which has largely been surface-level up until this point. We had no real idea if Claire could get back or not, and now she almost definitively knows she CAN get back. She just needs to get to the stones. But does she want to anymore? ALL THE FEELS!

Next: #1 The Wedding

Outlander- Starz

#1: Episode 7 “The Wedding”

Season 1, Air Date: September 20, 2014

“The Wedding” was one of the most anticipated Outlander episodes, and for good reason. The wedding between Claire and Jamie is one of the hallmark scenes between these two characters and lives on as one of the most loved scenes from the Outlander franchise. It may seem weird that we all loved the wedding so much seeing as it’s a forced marriage between Claire (who doesn’t love Jamie yet) and Jamie (who has a price on his head and very little to his name), but it’s what comes out of the wedding, I think, that makes it so amazing.

Learning, after the fact, that Jamie has loved Claire since basically he first laid eyes on her, is endearing. Knowing that Claire eventually chooses Jamie over Frank and goes on to have a once-in-a-lifetime whirlwind love with him is exciting. The anticipation is what made it so great, and the writing in this episode brought all of that out perfectly.

The episode was written and shot in such a way that the wedding ceremony isn’t a single scene or shot, but is cut scenes mixed into the events leading up to, and directly after the wedding. It created a sense of anticipation and anxiety, which is exactly the feelings those events should have elicited.

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Sarah Bredeman

Sarah calls Kansas City home and enjoys reaping the benefits of that by eating a lot of BBQ and watching Royals baseball as often as possible. She is a recovering wannabe cool kid, comic book enthusiast, soon-to-be-mom, and general lover of literature.