After learning that Young Ian had been taken by a ship setting off to Jamaica, the Frasers gather together to save one of their own in Outlander Season 3, Episode 9.
Outlander Season 3, Episode 9 saw the Frasers set sail to Jamaica. They’d learned that Young Ian had been taken by pirates setting off to the West Indies and they weren’t going to leave anything to chance. With voyage booked, Claire and Jamie set sail with a few of Jamie’s friends from his prison days (don’t get me started on continuity problems set in “All Debts Paid”) and Fergus.
Oh, and for drama sake, Fergus isn’t alone. He’s brought his handfasted wife along; Marsali. Yes, Laoghaire’s daughter and she certainly doesn’t like Claire!
As usual, if you want to read the straight-after-watching recap, you can do at Hidden Remote. This recap takes in the ideas and thoughts developed after watching a few times.
Marsali won’t leave!
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As soon as Jamie and Claire get on the ship, we learn that Jamie has sent a letter to Jenny to explain everything that’s happened. He doesn’t want to deal with that drama–more importantly, it saves time in the episode to focus on the actual voyage. The big issue at the start is the touching of the horseshoe for luck–which Claire does to respect the superstitions (if only she could respect them later!) and we know it’s going to come up later.
Before that can happen, Claire and Jamie realize that Marsali is onboard. She and Fergus were handfasted before leaving and Marsali has written her mother a letter. Marsali isn’t going to leave, making it clear that she’ll tell everyone that she and Fergus have consummated their handfasted marriage (even though they haven’t).
Claire and Marsali aren’t happy when Jamie decides that the two will bunk together to keep Marsali and Fergus apart. This is also convenient when Jamie starts suffering from seasickness and Mr. Willoughby (who is also along for the journey) uses acupuncture to help. Jamie didn’t want to tell Claire because he might look silly but also because he wanted her to feel useful.
When the ginger tea doesn't work... #Outlander #TheDoldrums pic.twitter.com/s30CWgGVuV
— Outlander (@Outlander_STARZ) November 13, 2017
Needless to say, tensions are still high between Claire and Jamie. For those who have no sympathy for Claire, I’d like to know how you’d feel after 20 years of being apart. Sure, you wouldn’t expect everything to be the same, but Claire learned Jamie had married her archnemesis. She was hurt and struggling to deal with trust. It’s not surprising that she felt like she couldn’t remain in the 18th century.
They two do eventually manage to reconcile their differences. Claire realizes everything that she’s loved about Jamie again–seeing that that part of him is still in there somewhere. It’s just in time for the cliffhanger of the episode.
The search for the Jonah
Along the way, the weather isn’t friendly. There’s been no rain for days (maybe weeks) and they’re running out of water on the ship. Everyone is struggling and that leads to the shipmates turning against each other. Unsurprisingly, they start looking for those who didn’t touch the horseshoe–see, told you it would come up! At first, they believe it’s one of the women, but the tables turn on one of Jamie’s prison friends. They name this guy the Jonah (after Jonah and the Whale).
Claire spends a lot of time arguing with the captain about the susperstitions. She wants the captain to put a stop to it all, but that would lead to mutiny and he’s not going to do that! This is the time I started to get annoyed with Claire. She really needs to get with the times. The world and beliefs were vastly different to what she’s used to in 1968. Deal with it!
As it looks like the “Jonah” is going to go overboard, Mr. Willoughby distracts everyone. He’s noticed something and he decides to tell his heartbreaking story about how he came to a land where he’s clearly not welcome. Outlander Season 3 managed to develop Mr. Willoughby excellently from the novels–I don’t really like his character in “Voyager” because of the stereotypes used and much prefer this three-dimentional character.
After he tells the story, he releases it into the wind. Then a storm appears and suddenly the rain falls. The shipmates cheer, as they gather buckets to collect the rain water. It’s a miracle! Well, that’s what many of them view it as…
It’s not over yet!
If only the problems were over. Just as the ship heads to Jamiaca, a British ship appears and forces them to stop. As a British Naval ship, they can take anyone who is a British subject and it’s clear this ship is sailing with a skeleton crew.
Fortunately, they don’t want sailors. They want someone who can help treat the sick. Claire instantly offers her services when she learns that it’s typhoid fever based on what the ship’s young acting captain describes.
At first, the agreement is Claire will treat a few and then return to Jamie. However, the acting captain decides that Claire will remain on his boat and sail to Jamaica. Everyone can be reunited there.
Next: Outlander Season 3, Episode 8: The First Wife
What did you think of the Jonah storyline? How did you find Mr. Willoughby’s character development? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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