Claire meets Father Bain, instantly making her an enemy of him, in Outlander Season 1, Episode 3. Here are my five thoughts throughout The Way Out.
Demons possessions, exorcisms, and zealous priests. Outlander started to feel a little like an episode of Supernatural or Buffy the Vampire Slayer at certain points of watching, but it was an important episode for Claire to learn more about life in the time period.
“The Way Out” helps to build the bond between Claire and Jamie more, at a time before Claire was even ready for it. We also get to see a blossoming friendship between Claire and Geillis, as Geillis makes it clear to the audience that she knows Claire is a time traveler.
Most importantly, Claire makes an enemy. Father Bain is certainly that the boys who visited the Black Kirk have come back possessed by demons. With just a look, Claire figures out poisoning, but just what has been the cause?
August 23 was the anniversary of the first time Outlander Season 1, Episode 3 aired on Starz. I took the chance to rewatch the episode again. Like with previous episodes, I’m going to share my top thoughts I’ve had during the episode. These are sometimes good and sometimes bad–or just general musings knowing what is coming next that I didn’t realize or notice the first time around.
Here are my top five thoughts while watching “The Way Out.”
5. Geillis knows Claire is a time traveler
In the second episode, it wasn’t clear if Geillis knew Claire was a time traveler or not. Outlander Season 1, Episode 3, it’s extremely clear that Geillis knows that Claire is definitely from the future. There are a few hints along the way where Geillis pushes for Claire to share more. One of those is a mention of not being able to explain something in normal ways.
Each time I watch this episode, I’m still confused by why Geillis doesn’t just come out with her suspicions. She knew that Claire would keep her secret guarded. How would she know she could trust Claire?
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In the novels, this is a little easier to explain. Geillis doesn’t know exactly when Claire has come from or why she’s come through. However, this storyline isn’t fully played out in the series. Geillis goes from playing coy to just outright stating she’s from 1968 (with still some hints and secrecy) when they’re at the witch trials.
Telling Claire outright much sooner would have been far more beneficial for both. Geillis could have learned everything about Claire, while Claire could have understood more about the stones and time travel.
This is where the problems with transforming the books to the show come into play, though. We get a bigger explanation for the hints instead of outright statements in the books.
4. Claire isn’t making life easier for herself
Claire is aghast at the punishments and beliefs in the 18th century. When the young Tanner boy is threatened with the loss of a hand, she immediately questions whether a lesser punishment can be gained. She’s also angry at the treatment from Father Bain, ridiculing beliefs in demons and possession.
Geillis shows very little care for what goes on in the world. This is understandable since she came here for a reason: to stop the Jacobite loss at Culloden. Claire doesn’t have that and she’s putting her 20th-century beliefs and thoughts into the life of an 18th-century woman.
You would have thought knowing a little about history would stop her doing this. She’s one person and one person does not change the whole world. She could if she could gain support from those that matter, but right now she’s continually alienating herself.
Considering she wants to get back to the stones, really she should have kept her head down and just got on with her life. She’d realized proving herself useful and not a spy was important. Going against everything the superstitious people believed wasn’t going to give her that chance.
This isn’t going to be the last time I think this of Claire while rewatching. She got even worse for it in the third season!
3. Laoghaire is completely infatuated
There’s a lot of hate for Laoghaire MacKenzie. I get it, I do. I just can’t hate her and it’s in this episode that I’m constantly reminded why I can’t hate her. This is a young girl in the 18th century. She has no choice but to find a man to marry and she wants to make sure she marries a good man she’s attracted to.
That’s not easy! So it’s not surprising she sets her eyes on Jamie.
What’s clear in this episode is that she’s completely infatuated with Jamie. This is more than just a teenage crush. She remembers him from his first time at the castle about six or seven years ago.
As Jamie puts it, she would have only been seven or eight. That’s young to gain this memory and still have this fascination over the man.
What didn’t help this was Jamie stepping up to take her punishment in the previous episode. While it was gentlemanly, it gave Laoghaire an idea that he was interested. She suddenly had a man to grab and, hopefully, marry in her eyes.
Everything I see Laoghaire do is the product of her being a teenager in the time period. And it all comes back to the moment in the hall.
2. Claire and Jamie should have caused rumors
There are various moments that Claire and Jamie head off for private time alone a lot. We get to see what they’re really up to — Claire wants to learn more about the Black Kirk, Jamie wants to get Claire back to her surgery when she’s drunk. They are innocent reasons, but they wouldn’t seem like that from the outside.
Surprisingly, there are absolutely no rumors about the two of them. There should be in this time period. Okay, with Jamie mentioning the dressing irritating him, it would be easy to understand why they’d go off alone. But what about the next evening when they enter the hall entertainment late?
What about when they were up at the kirk? Surely someone would have seen them head that way. These are small villages and people talk.
This is especially the case with Claire already being the center of gossip. And by the end of the episode, gossip was even rifer. The Sassenach spy was one of the most talked about things in the village, so why not the Sassenach spy with this Mr. McTavish?
Murtagh had even warned Claire of the danger of rumors spreading. In that time period, the rumors could lead to forced marriages to protect dignity and reputation. If he was so worried about rumors starting about Jamie and Laoghaire, surely he would have been cautious about rumors starting about Jamie and Claire? Shouldn’t there have been that warning?
1. The music remains my favorite part
Quite honestly, one of my favorite parts of the whole TV show is the music. Whether it’s the opening credits or the instrumental soundtrack in the scenes, there’s something to draw me in and I will happily listen to the soundtrack while working.
However, in Outlander Season 1, Episode 3, there’s the entertainment in the hall. This music is some of the most beautiful and meaningful.
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As Claire says, we don’t understand it but it is beautiful. There’s a sense of emotion and storytelling without understanding the spoken word, putting pictures in the mind from the fluidity of the piece.
I did find it odd that Jamie suddenly starts translating for Claire in the last song of the episode. It’s convenient that it’s one about the stones, giving Claire the push she needs to continue searching for a way back to Frank. However, he’s never shown any inclination of translating before and she never asked.
What thoughts do you have during Outlander Season 1, Episode 3? Which moments of “The Way Out” stand out for you? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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