A flashback starts the Outlander Season 6 premiere
The Christies appear at Fraser’s Ridge in the Outlander Season 6 premiere. Take a look at everything that happened in the episode.
Caution: Of course, as it’s a recap, there are major spoilers from the Outlander Season 6 premiere in this post.
After a quick recap of events from Outlander Season 5, we pick up with a flashback to Ardsmuir Prison. There are even some familiar faces who turn up among Jamie’s followers, and it’s great to see them, even though it’s bittersweet.
Morale is low, and Jamie isn’t at a point of leading the people just yet. There is another person “in charge” right now. Tom Christie is leading his faction of Protestant followers, and the Catholics are all turning to Jamie to put Tom in his place. Jamie isn’t interested in it.
Murder at Ardsmuir Prison
One of the Catholic prisoners believes that he’s Bonnie Prince Charlie, and some of the Catholics go along with the facade. It’s just something to pass the time, while also annoying Tom Christie. Tom can’t help but point out that Scotland’s fate lies in the hands of a Protestant King, starting a fight among the prisoners.
Harry Quarry, the governor at the prison, isn’t happy with the situation at all. It’s clear that Quarry isn’t all that impressed with Jamie, who he calls “Red Jamie.” It’s weird not seeing Jamie dining with the governor considering what we know about his time later on.
Quarry makes it clear that he expects civility. He wants to stop the bowing at one of the prisoners, although Jamie points out that Old Charlie isn’t of sound mind.
Jamie continues to avoid leading his men until one incident. During a fight, another prisoner (another Jamie) is killed by a rock to the back of the head. Jamie stops the fight, and Old Charlie lays a piece of tartan on young Jamie’s chest. We see Jamie taking the lashes for the tartan even though everyone knows that it wasn’t his. This is when Tom sees the scars Jamie already has on his back.
Jamie now has an idea to help bring peace. Quarry is a freemason. Jamie wants Quarry to make him one, too. This way he can encourage all others to follow. It doesn’t matter that he’s Catholic. It’s not like the Pope is in Ardsmuir with him.
And so we see Jamie becoming a freemason. Tom joins with him, and it allows for a form of peace at Ardsmuir, even if the two men still don’t get along.
Claire’s medical advances in the Outlander Season 6 premiere
In the “present day” (which is really the 18th century but everyone is staying in the past for now), we catch up with Claire. Jamie walks into her surgery to find her asleep. She looks dead, and he understandably panics.
However, it turns out that she’s knocked herself out with ether. She’s managed to recreate anesthetic, and this is a huge deal for her surgical needs. She can do more surgeries with this.
At the very end, we also find out that she’s using it for other needs. This is her way to make sure she falls asleep on a night, especially with the Browns back. We’ll get to that shortly.
Claire has an episode of dealing with some patients, and Jamie is going with her to all visits. One of those is to see Marsali, who is heavily pregnant and notes that her baby isn’t moving as much. Her feet are also very swollen. Claire is concerned.
However, Claire is more concerned that Marsali has bruises on her wrists. Marsali pushes off the concerns, but it’s clear that there’s something going on.
When it comes to the new tenants at the Ridge, Claire immediately works on helping those who are sick and injured. This allows us to meet Malva, and we immediately see how excited she is to help Claire.
Tom does go to see Claire about an injury, which is where Claire sees that his other hand is curling inward. She can help with that, but he refuses the medical treatment for now. He just wants his injured hand stitched up, which happens with Jamie present. Tom won’t flinch with Jamie around.
This is when Tom makes a comment about scars that are “honorable.” Claire is angry about that comment, and Jamie points out that Tom saw his scars while at Ardsmuir.
Roger and Brianna need to find a place in the past
Roger and Brianna are now remaining in the past. This is a concern for them, especially as they think about the war to come. But if America doesn’t become America, what happens in history?
However, for now in the Outlander Season 6 premiere, they’re the ones to welcome Tom Christie when he comes to Fraser’s Ridge looking for a place to stay. Being at Ardsmuir, Roger and Brianna can’t say no. They don’t know Jamie’s past with him.
Tom has brought other tenants. One of those is Amy McCallum and her children. We learn that she is now a widow, her husband dying on the journey over. She doesn’t know what she’s going to do now that she’s in the colonies.
Roger and Brianna want to do everything they can to help. It’s very clear that there’s going to be more to this story.
Both of them get a sense of what they can do in the past. Claire encourages Brianna to use her engineering skills, but she’s scared of using them because of how people view Claire. So, Bree makes her first “inventions.” It’s time for matches, although there is a mention of a waterwheel and even underfloor heating.
What’s going on with Fergus?
Fergus hasn’t been around Marsali and the family that much. He spends a lot of time at the still.
It turns out that he’s been drinking a lot of the whisky that they’ve been making. He comes to Jamie extremely drunk, and it’s clear that the Frasers are worried about him. Claire is annoyed that he’s leaving Marsali to look after the children and do all the housework.
There is a moment that we get an idea as to everything that’s going on in Fergus’s mind. Lizzie makes a comment to Josiah about two hands being better than one when asking where Kezziah is. Fergus comments about only having one hand. This is slowly playing on his mind.
At the end of the episode, we see Marsali and Fergus in private. Marsali calls Fergus out on his drinking, but he’s not interested in listening. Their marriage is suffering with his drinking and depression. Can anything bring him back from this brink before it’s too late?
Catching up with Young Ian
We don’t see too much of Young Ian in the Outlander Season 6 premiere. However, it’s clear that he continues to hunt, and he is following a lot of the skills he’s gained with the Mohawk.
He takes Allan Christie out hunting, which is where Allan shows off a gunpowder horn full of carvings. It’s not his, though. When a group of men show up, they pay close attention to that powderhorn.
It’s not surprising that Richard Brown and his men show up. Brown has created a Committee of Safety due to the burning of crofters in the backcountry. Richard points out that Allan stole from the family. That is the case after all, and Jamie is the one to dole out the punishment for it.
Up to this point, Jamie had turned down becoming an Indian Agent. Major MacDonald makes it clear that if Jamie doesn’t do it, he’ll ask Richard Brown. With everything that happened about the powderhorn, Jamie decides that he needs to take on the task just to prevent Richard from doing it.
What did you think of the Outlander Season 6 premiere? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Outlander airs Sundays on STARZ.