Outlander recap: An old face returns in the Frasers’ lives

Claire learns who the real savages are

As I suspected with the title, this was an episode to focus on who the real savages are. While it’s a term that was given by the white colonists for the Native Americans, it’s clear that the white colonists are deadly and unmoving.

After delivering the new baby in a German family on the Ridge, Claire has to handle tensions between the German settler and the Native Americans, who are simply stopping to water their horses. One of the Cherokees blesses the water, but the German settler is superstitious and believes the water has been cursed.

That belief continues when new mother and baby succumb to measles and die. Claire works out that the Germans have brought the disease with them as the parents had already suffered and recovered. The mother and baby were just so weak from the birth that their immune systems couldn’t fight the disease.

Of course, the superstitious settler couldn’t listen to reason. He’d already killed the “witch” he believed to be the cause of the curse, handing Claire the scalp of Adawehi. Just earlier in the episode, we’d seen Claire and Adawehi learning from each other, with Adawehi telling Claire that Brianna “is here.”

Claire is naturally angry and upset. Of course, this leads to an act of revenge. The Cherokees head to the Germans’ house and set it on fire. By the time the patriarch of the family returns, his wife has been killed by a fiery arrow to the back. Once he sees everything his savagery has done, the Cherokees kill him with arrows.

Claire is left placing the scalp of her friend in a box and burns it on a fire. Jamie returns the next day and all she wants is for him to hold her.

Fortunately, the episode can end on a good note for Claire. While she’s out feeding the animals (including the pig that is just going to be a Christmas pork chop), she hears whistling. It’s not just any whistling. Someone is whistling the “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.”

There’s only one person in this time who would know that. Claire turns around, knowing that it’s Murtagh behind her. That reunion isn’t quite as good as Jamie’s but it’s a perfect way to end an otherwise devastating episode for Claire.

What did you think of Murtagh’s return? Are you excited to see Brianna in the past? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Outlander continues Sundays at 8/7c on STARZ.