The 20 best moments from all 12 episodes of Outlander Season 5
What were the best moments from the whole of Outlander Season 5?
I’ll admit that this certainly wasn’t easy to break down. There were some standout moments for the entire cast.
This list is not made up of just Claire and Jamie moments. Nor is it just made up of Roger and Brianna moments. There were other character moments that stood out considerably throughout the season.
The moments can be small or big. They can have multiple scenes that build up to this one particular moment or be a quiet moment between a couple that stands out for all the right reasons.
I’ve tried not to put the same moments as on the individual character list. While they are great moments, they were about that particular character. These 20 moments are about the show overall. This post, for me, is about how the moments work for the entire season or special elements to the season that stand out in ways that other seasons haven’t been able to offer.
However, there will be some crossover moments. After all, the individual character moments aren’t always just about one character. There’s something else in the scene that stands out.
Here are my favorite 20 moments from all 12 episodes of Outlander Season 5.
20. Richard Brown declaring the blood feud
Episode: Season 5, Episode 12
At the end of the finale, Jamie took Lionel Brown’s body back to Brownsville. It was a moment of honor for Jamie, but there was something else about this scene that stood out.
Richard Brown was calm and respectful. He understood why Jamie did what he did. Killing Lionel was a dangerous move, but it was something that Jamie had to do for the honor of his wife. Richard would have done the same.
That doesn’t mean Richard is just going to accept it. As Jamie leaves, Richard makes it clear that he will do what it takes to get his own revenge. Jamie’s family isn’t safe.
This moment gives us something to be concerned about during Outlander Season 6. With the loss of Bonnet as a villain, we need someone else. Richard Brown becomes that.
19. Ulysses explaining his freedom
Episode: Season 5, Episode 11
The penultimate episode had a lot happen. One of those was figuring out what Ulysses would do next.
In the episode before that, he’d killed a man to save his mistress. However, this wasn’t an instant death sentence, but it would likely mean death for him. You see, Ulysses is a free man.
Ulysses explains to Claire and Jamie that Jocasta had signed his papers to make him a free man. He chose to remain with her, and we knew it was all about love.
This was a side to Ulysses that we’d only had the odd glimpse off. It was never clear if Jocasta returned the feelings for him on the show. It’s something definitely to enjoy the books for, though!
I’m just glad it was included. It may have been brief, but it was enough for Outlander Season 5.
18. The women taking down the bison
Episode: Season 5, Episode 9
When Jamie was bitten by the snake, it was up to the women mostly to run the show. And they managed it extremely well.
When a bison (buffalo, depending on what you want to call it) attacked, Lizzie screamed and alerted the others. She stood in the way of Jemmy while Brianna got the attention of the animal. As Brianna risked her life, Claire shot the bison.
Each woman played a role. Without all three of them, things could have turned out horribly wrong.
And of course, at the end, you had to love Jamie dragging himself out onto the porch. Regardless of what was going on with him, he tried to protect the women.
17. Young Ian’s return
Episode Season 5, Episode 8
I wasn’t expecting Young Ian’s return so early on in Outlander Season 5. And it’s partially because of that that this moment stands out.
However, the way his return was written in is something that stands out. It was just at the right time for everyone, even though we could immediately tell that Young Ian wasn’t the same carefree young man that he was at the end of Outlander Season 4.
As Jamie got ready to take on a hog to protect Claire and Jemmy, an arrow landed in the hog. Young Ian stood above them, with Rollo bounding up by his side. It was just right.
16. The surprise of Graham McTavish
Episode: Season 5, Episode 7
I know there are some people worried about what this means for the future of the series, but can we just appreciate the fact that Graham McTavish’s return was kept so quiet?
The show has had problems with spoilers in the past, and Matt B. Roberts and Terry Dresbach have both been disappointed by it. Finding out McTavish was back on the set would have certainly raised some questions.
Of course, it could have meant a flashback with Dougal. I don’t think anyone would have guessed him stepping into the role of Buck MacKenzie. There was just something extra special about him doing that.
15. Brianna and Roger finding home
Episode: Season 5, Episode 12
There were many standout moments throughout the Outlander Season 5 finale for me. One of those was when Brianna and Roger ended up back in the same spot. Jemmy had been waving to Young Ian.
They both said they were thinking about home. In that moment, they realized that home was no longer in the future.
This was the moment both of them realized that they’d made a life in the past. After everything that had happened (and despite it in some cases) the two realized that home was where Claire, Jamie, Marsali, Fergus, and all the others were.
14. Jamie telling Brianna about Willie
Episode: Season 5, Episode 11
It was about time! Jamie sat Brianna down and shared the portrait of young Willie.
This was an important moment. It showed how Jamie wanted to share more of his life with Brianna. He wanted to have a stronger relationship with her. However, at this point, he didn’t think he’d have the time.
So, he decided that there was an option. She could learn about Willie now and then research him when she got to her own time. It would be something.
I’m hoping for more Brianna and Jamie come Outlander Season 6 after this.
13. Paul Gorman in two distinct roles
Episode: Season 5, Episode 3
Okay, so there was more than one moment with Paul Gorman in two roles, but there’s one in Episode 3 that stands out the most.
There’s this moment when Jo and Kez Beardsley sit on a log. They’re telling Claire, Jamie, and Roger their story, about how they’re indentured, and you don’t need the different hairstyles and clothing to tell them apart.
Gorman has different looks and styles when playing the two roles. He takes on different personas and is convincing in both.
I’m looking forward to seeing more of the twins in Outlander Season 6.
12. Stephen Bonnet’s death
Episode: Season 5, Episode 10
I was definitely not expecting this to happen so early, but I’m glad that it did. From a TV show standpoint, it makes sense to move the death of Stephen Bonnet up to the end of Season 5. We can start with a new villain in Season 6.
But what is it about this that stands out? It’s the multiple sides we see of Bonnet. There is a side to him that could have been good, but the circumstances of life made him go down a dark path.
Yet, Brianna feels some sort of mercy for him. She never explains why she killed him, but I think it’s both mercy and to make sure he’s dead.
11. Roger and Young Ian’s shared pain
Episode: Season 5, Episode 8
Having two men in deep pain together in the wilderness could have gone horribly wrong. The two could have gone through with those dark thoughts and nobody would have realized for weeks or even months.
Instead, it worked out for the best. They were both able to help each other.
Young Ian’s presence was arguably part of the reason Roger was able to pull himself out of the darkness. The time away with Young Ian, who didn’t push for explanations, gave him time to work through his trauma.
Meanwhile, Roger realized what Young Ian was about to do and stopped him. Roger saved Young Ian’s life, strengthening their bond considerably.
Now is the time to focus more on this bond more.
10. Marsali taking action against Lionel Brown
Episode: Season 5, Episode 12
There were certainly some questions about why Jamie would take Lionel back to the Big House, but I’m going to overlook that. For this moment on Outlander Season 5, it doesn’t matter. In fact, having Lionel at the house was essential for this moment.
When Claire refused to break her oath, she had people there to do it for her. Young Ian, Fergus, and John Quincy Myers had already killed for her, and now it was Marsali’s turn.
As Lionel continued to taunt everyone and make it clear that women were beneath him, Marsali got the last laugh. She used the same water hemlock root to kill him.
9. Young Ian wanting to travel through the stones
Episode: Season 5, Episode 11
I loved that Young Ian got to know that time travel was real. And I love the way he originally took it. He was surprised but it all started to make sense to him. Things about Claire finally made sense.
He also saw this as a chance to make some changes. There was a little hope that he could fix things with his wife. All he had to do was go back through the stones.
We had this moment that was the complete opposite of Jamie. He never wanted to time travel when he learned about it, but Young Ian does. And like Claire going through the stones to the past the second time, Young Ian was doing it for love.
8. Roger and Brianna reconnecting after trauma
Episode: Season 5, Episode 8
Outlander Season 5, Episode 8 was not an easy episode to watch. We had to see Roger go through all this pain and trauma after being hanged.
However, the ending brought us light. At one point, that was literal. We saw that Roger’s light at the end of the tunnel was Brianna. She was the last person he saw when he thought he was going to die.
It brought us the moment at the very end of the episode. Roger returned to Brianna and immediately called out her name. He made it clear that he was back for her and Jem.
7. Ulysses risking his life to save Jocasta
Episode: Season 5, Episode 10
While Jamie and the others looked for Brianna, Jocasta called Forbes to help give away some of her inheritance. Of course, it was all part of a bigger plan. They’d all realized at this point that Forbes had been planning on helping Bonnet steal from Jocasta.
At first it was a game, but it ended up being a dangerous decision. Forbes attempted to kill Jocasta.
Ulysses stepped in and saved his mistresses. At this point, we thought he was still a slave, so he was literally putting his life on the line by attacking a white man. Even without being a slave, as a Black man, he was putting his life on the line, but he was more than willing to for Jocasta.
6. Lizzie and Brianna’s goodbye
Episode: Season 5, Episode 11
There were certainly some emotional goodbyes. My favorite was the one between Lizzie and Brianna.
After everything that they had been through together, Lizzie just couldn’t understand why she wasn’t going to Boston with Bree. And that was understandable considering nobody knew that Bree and Roger were heading to Boston 200 years in the future!
We got this emotional goodbye. Lizzie was so loyal to her mistress that she just couldn’t see a life without Bree. At least it isn’t permanent. We get to see Lizzie and Bree back together in Outlander Season 6.
5. Claire fighting to survive
Episode: Season 5, Episode 12
There was a huge risk that the Outlander Season 5 finale could have been too traumatic to watch. The EPs and writers found a way to deal with that.
Instead of seeing everything happen to Claire, we got flashes of her dissociative state. This was a chance to see Claire fight to survive.
There were some excellent Easter eggs throughout the fantasy world. However, what stood out for me was that knowledge that Jamie was coming for her. She never doubted, but she needed to hold on.
4. Murtagh’s ultimate sacrifice
Episode: Season 5, Episode 7
While I understand why Diana Gabaldon killed Murtagh off at Culloden, I was really appreciative that he was saved and used the way he was for Outlander Season 5. I had the chance to connect to the Regulators’ struggles in a way that I never could in the books.
I also got to see Murtagh’s death to really feel like I could mourn him, something that I couldn’t do in the books.
We got this moment of seeing him sacrifice himself for Jamie. He pushed a man away so Jamie couldn’t be shot, but he must have seen one of Jamie’s men coming up considering the layout of the woods. Even if he didn’t see the boy, Murtagh knew the risks.
He was always looking out for Jamie. Murtagh would never break that oath he made, and he paid the ultimate price for it.
3. Brianna and Roger’s wedding
Episode: Season 5, Episode 1
I may be cheating here. There are lots of moments from the wedding episode that stand out. Everything just works together so beautifully together. I loved Brianna and Claire’s moment together, the way the premiere starts with Roger and Jamie, and the moment Jamie and Brianna get.
However, it’s the wedding itself that stands out. We get this moment of Jamie and Claire thinking back to their own wedding, looking back at something that was iconic for the show.
Plus, it a reaffirmation of their vows. Their love has only grown stronger over the last 20+ years.
2. The silent movie flashbacks
Episode: Season 5, Episode 8
Trying to show depression and PTSD isn’t always easy on the screen. Outlander Season 5 offered us a method that blended Roger’s love of silent movies and the memories of his trauma.
The memories would come through as a silent movie. It was a huge risk, but for me it paid off. There was a risk with the “overuse” of the flashbacks, but this gave us an insight into Roger’s trauma; a true look at his PTSD. If it was annoying for us, imagine what it would be like for him!
These flashbacks didn’t always happen in order. And gradually, there was color and sound. As Roger worked through his pain, he was able to add the sound and color and finally see Brianna at the end of it all.
1. Jamie and Claire lying in bed together
Episode: Season 5, Episode 12
Finally, it really is all about Claire and Jamie. This is one of my all-time favorite Claire and Jamie moments, so of course, it was always going to end up on my list of 20 favorite Outlander Season 5 moments.
After everything that happened to Claire, Jamie just held her naked in the bed. It’s not clear if Claire told him everything, but I don’t think that matters. He was just there for her, ready to listen should she choose to share.
There was only one word Claire could use when Jamie asked how she felt: “Safe.” After everything, it was only Jamie who would help her work through it all and come out the other side.
What were your favorite moments from Outlander Season 5? Share them in the comments below.