Outlander Season 3, Episode 3 recap: All Debts Paid

Jamie meets someone from his past, while Claire learns Frank has moved on in Outlander Season 3, Episode 3.

“All Debts Paid” is one of my favorite episodes of Outlander Season 3. It brings out the pain and desperation for Jamie effortlessly but in a heartbreaking way. Meanwhile, we see Claire’s life unfold and say an emotional goodbye to an important character (and brilliant actor). And while all this happened, we finally learned the fate of Murtagh.

As with previous Outlander Season 3 recaps, you can read the day-after recap here. This is another one of those that I wrote elsewhere before coming over to build on Claire and Jamie. Now it’s time to look the episode again and delve further into storylines.

Jamie meets a face from the past

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For Jamie, it’s all about his time in Ardmuir Prison. After being captured–well, more like after strategically turning himself in–he was sent to serve out his days in prison. This is a part of Outlander Season 3 that Diana Gabaldon has said she would have loved seeing of this storyline and I agree. It was a beautiful part of the storyline, as we saw this friendship between Jamie and Lord John Grey develop.

There are some deleted scenes from this part of the story, but I like them as deleted footage. They didn’t quite fit into the adaptation. What I would have loved to have seen more is of Jamie and John’s friendship, of Jamie spending time with Murtagh in prison, and seeing more of the life inside during this time.

Anyway, back to the recap. A new governor is brought to the prison, who happens to immediately recognize the only prisoner in chains (and the only officer), Red Jamie. Of course, Lord John Grey met Jamie when he was a boy and now he has a debt to pay, even though his brother technically paid that debt.

As the office, Jamie speaks for the prisoners. He’s the one that everyone looks to for guidance and support, which is why he’s the one who has dinner with the governor now and then. Now it’s dinner with Lord John Grey. This develops into a friendship. They play chess together and they talk about the prison life and about their pasts. Things get a little too much for Jamie when Lord John puts his hand on Jamie’s leg, but their friendship still stands.

It’s not surprising that Jamie is the one who John turns to when there’s a man who speaks a mixture of Gaelic, French, and English. Jamie’s needed to translate and it turns out that he’s talking about the treasure on Silkie’s Island and mentions a White Witch. Of course, Jamie instantly believes that this man is talking about Claire, and why wouldn’t he? He has a final bit of hope, but it’s all crushed when (after a quick escape) he realizes that Claire isn’t on the island.

Rather than run away, Jamie turns himself back into Lord John. Clearly, the trust has been broken, but Lord John lets Jamie off lightly considering what Jamie did. John is so kind to Jamie that he even helps to get medical help for Murtagh, who has been suffering from some sort of chest ailment since we met him in prison. Yes, Murtagh is alive and he’s saved by the end of the episode.

Finally, it’s time for Ardsmuir Prison to shut down. Everyone will be transported to the Colonies, where they’ll serve out the rest of their prison sentence. They’ll do 14 years as indentured servants (unlike the seven years in “Voyager”). That is all except Jamie. He’s taken, by John, to England. He’ll serve out parole at Helwater as a servant, under the name of Alexander MacKenzie. It’s time for a new chapter for Red Jamie.

Claire says a final goodbye to Frank

As for Claire’s story, this is set over the rest of the 20-year separation. She and Frank are settling into their new normal. They try to act like a loving couple on the outside, but Frank has moved on and is now seeing someone else. This is an agreement both have, but it’s clear that it comes to a shock for Claire. Maybe she was shocked he’d moved on or maybe she’s shocked at how she feels about that.

We get snippets of their lives together, remaining married for the sake of Brianna and to keep up appearances. However, it all goes embarrassingly wrong at Claire’s graduation party. She’s made it through Harvard University and is celebrating with her friends–the men who once sneered at her and Joe Abernathy obviously realized they were worth their salt. There’s a time mix-up and Frank’s date shows up at the door while everyone is still there.

Claire manages to cover up her embarrassment by getting everyone out of the house, but she’s clearly not happy with the situation. When Frank does return home–and drunk–she makes her feelings clear. The two start to have an argument and Claire offers a divorce. However, Frank isn’t taking that because he wants to be in Brianna’s life.

Once Brianna turns 18, Frank finally goes back to Claire to ask for the divorce. He also wants to take Brianna to England–to live. Of course, Claire naturally fights against it. I’m surprised at how insulted Frank was at Claire wanting to keep Brianna with her. What else did he expect? We later see just how much Claire fights against that want to go back in time and it takes Brianna giving her permission for her to finally do it. She wasn’t going to give up her daughter without a fight.

Some truths also come out. Claire makes it very clear that even without Brianna, she would never have forgotten Jamie. There just wasn’t enough time for that to happen and it shows the deepness of their love.

Claire is called out to the hospital for work and, of course, this is when a nightmare many spouses have happens. Frank is involved in a car crash and is killed instantly. I have to say that I’m impressed this instant crash left no cuts at all on Frank’s body, but maybe that was just to keep the focus on what Claire does next rather than looking at just how beat up he was from the accident. Claire tells Frank that she did love him.

She’s clearly sad not to have him in her life anymore and not just because he’s Brianna’s stepfather. This is a man who has been there for her. They married when she was young and he spent months searching for her. When she returned, he came back and he agreed to raise a child that wasn’t his own. While he’s certainly had his faults, he did make some selfless decisions to make sure Claire and Brianna were both protected. And she did love him with what she thought was all her heart at one point in time. Those memories of happier times don’t just go away.

Next: Outlander Season 3, Episode 2 recap

In the end, we said goodbye to Frank (and Tobias Menzies) but hello to a new journey. Now it was time for Claire to find her way back to Jamie in Outlander Season 3.

What did you think of Outlander Season 3, Episode 3? Which part of the story in the episode was your favorite? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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