Sickness spreads across the Ridge in Outlander Season 6, Episode 6
As sickness spreads around the Ridge, everyone has something else to deal with in Outlander Season 6, Episode 6. Here’s a look at everything that happened.
It doesn’t take too long to get to the sickness spreading around the Ridge. After church, Roger mentions that the MacNeills never miss a Sunday. Where could they be? That’s for Claire, Bree, Malva, and Lizzie to find out.
They get to the MacNeill house to find everyone sick. It’s clear that this is extremely serious. Everyone is sick with the “bloody flux,” as Mr. MacNeill calls it. Sadly, the children and Mrs. MacNeill die, and it’s heartbreaking for everyone.
Claire finds out what the problem is. It’s dysentery, and penicillin won’t help. They need to get to the bottom of the problem, and Claire notes that it’s usually a contaminated water source. Jamie will head out there and tell everyone to boil water while Claire treats those who come in with it.
Claire falls ill in Outlander Season 6, Episode 6
We pick up not too long later to see that there have been a few funerals as of late. Claire still can’t figure out what’s causing the problem. To make matters worse, Claire collapses. She’s running a fever and Jamie and Bree immediately believe she’s come down with dysentery.
Of course, everyone is worried. Malva remains with the Frasers to help care for Claire, but Allan eventually turns up to take her home. Malva refuses to go. There’s nothing Allan can say against it so he (and even Jamie) refuse to argue with her. Jamie doesn’t have a fight left in him, terrified that he’s going to lose his wife.
We see a time-lapse to show just how serious this situation is. Claire is fighting hard, but it’s not looking great.
Claire suffers from fever dreams and hallucinations throughout the episode. At one point, she can see Jamie standing at the window drinking and Malva coming up behind him. What is she really seeing? Is Malva making the moves on Jamie?
Malva makes her move
While helping to treat Claire, Malva also helps to comfort Jamie. As Malva shares that some people believe Claire’s a witch, she then shares that she wants to learn as much as she can from Claire and become just like her. This should be a hint of what she’s really doing. She wants to replace Claire entirely.
We don’t get to see much of this from Jamie’s or Malva’s point of view. That’s important to sow the seeds of doubt later on.
Claire’s hair is cut short in Outlander Season 6, Episode 6
Eventually, Claire makes it through the sickness. Roger is by her side when that happens, and it’s then that we find out what had to happen to Claire. Her hair was cut short to help her deal with the fever. Malva and Mrs. Bug cut it. It’s not as short as it is mentioned in the books, but Claire is still upset. Roger also notes that he and Jamie weren’t around at the time, and they wouldn’t have let Malva and Mrs. Bug act if they were.
Jamie has already seen her with short hair. He cried about it, although it’s not clear if he cried over the short hair or just the fact that he was so scared of losing Claire. Can we say the latter? The good news is Brianna is there (and now sharing the news of her pregnancy) to fix up the hairdo. Jamie does question whether Claire will now consider wearing a cap, but Claire isn’t even thinking about that.
Jamie did find out what had caused the problem. A dead elk upstream from the MacNeills was the thing that contaminated the water. Getting rid of that helped to deal with the situation. Sadly, there were a few more deaths and there are a few others suffering, but most are on the mend. Tom Christie has also suffered from it and is still running a fever.
Claire thinks back to after they lost Faith and shared that she saw herons and blue during her fever. However, this time, she saw a snake and blood. Does that mean anything? There is a lot of reminiscing in this episode, including a reminder of the time Jamie slept outside Claire’s room when they were collecting the rents.
Claire wants Tom’s fecal matter
When Claire does venture out, she does decide to wear a cap. She heads out to see Tom Christie, who is faring a better, but he is shocked about her hair.
While there, Claire notes that she didn’t have dysentery. She wants to know what Tom suffered from, and he confirms that he didn’t have that. He had a headache and fever. It was the exact same as Claire, including the extremely unpleasant dreams.
Tom doesn’t seem to care about the illness he had, but Claire notes that most disease passes from person to person. She hasn’t seen Tom in a while, so she wants a sample to test it. Tom is not happy about being asked for her to test his fecal matter. He does walk her home, though, although she has to wear her hat before they leave.
When Claire gets back, Jamie has the chance to share that he’s not leaving for some time. The Sons of Liberty continue to keep him in the loop about the situation.
There is a special moment after this. We get Claire’s voiceover return. It’s the first time this season, and possibly the first time since Outlander Season 4.
A shocking turn of events in Outlander Season 6, Episode 6
Months after the sickness, the Christies turn up and Tom is not happy at all. Malva is pregnant, and she refuses to share who the father is until she’s in Jamie’s presence. Malva says that Jamie is the father.
It’s shocking news to everyone, including Jamie. Malva tells them that it was during the sickness, and she wants Jamie to tell them the truth. She goes on to share all times that they were together, and the first was that night that Claire remembers when she was suffering from the fever. One thing Malva does note is that it wasn’t rape and she would never claim that.
Claire is so angry at hearing everything that she slaps Malva across the face. With that Claire leaves, but we know that Mrs. Bug has overheard everything.
Malva seems to have damning evidence. She knows all about Jamie’s scars, including one on his leg. Tom knows that Jamie wouldn’t cast his wife aside so he wants a contract for maintenance for the baby.
With all that said and done, Jamie needs to talk to Claire. He continues to deny the allegations, but Claire shares what she saw while she was feverish. Claire struggles to deal with the news, making it clear that she can’t bear to think that Jamie would have an affair. That would mean their life together is a lie.
Jamie does have an affair to admit to, though. It was when he slept with Mary MacNab while Claire was gone through time. Claire has no idea who the woman is at first until Jamie shares that she was Rabbie MacNab’s mother. He goes through the details of it, and while Claire may be struggling with the potential infidelity, it’s clear that she doesn’t blame him for being with Mary while she was away.
Claire does believe Jamie that he didn’t sleep with Malva. Not only does Jamie love Claire, but Claire also knows that he would never turn his back on a child of his own blood. We know this just with Willie.
After this, Claire decides to extend an olive branch to Malva. The young girl continues to say Jamie is the father, but Claire makes it very clear she doesn’t believe her. Just as it looks like Malva might tell the truth, Allan comes out and Malva is back to her lies and scheming. Claire makes it very clear that Malva needs to stay away from her family.
Rumors spread about Jamie
Rumors spread across the Ridge about Jamie in Outlander Season 6, Episode 6. That leads to anger from Brianna, and she even starts to doubt whether Jamie did it or not. After all, she was sure at one point that Frank was an honorable man.
Bree brings up a memory of the woman Sandy at the event for Frank after his death. Claire eventually admitted to Bree that Frank and Sandy loved each other. It rocked Bree, and she admits that she thought Frank was a good man and wouldn’t have had an affair.
Of course, not everyone is going to say much about the rumors out of fear of retaliation. Obediah Henderson has no fear to say something. Young Ian defends his uncle, and makes it clear that everyone will need to deal with him if anything is said.
That’s when Young Ian turns to Claire with a problem. Malva’s child could be his, and this isn’t to protect Jamie. Ian admits that he slept with Malva once, and he fears that he scourned her and now she’s attacking Jamie to get back to him. Ian offers to marry her and raise the baby, but Claire makes it clear that Roger also saw her with Obediah Henderson.
The damage is done, though. It doesn’t really matter what the truth is. The Ridge has decided the truth based on rumors, and nobody wants to be healed by Claire now. The rumor had even spread to the Sons of Liberty so Jamie isn’t elected as a delegate for the revolution.
Things go from bad to worse in Outlander Season 6, Episode 6
If only the rumors were the worst of it. There is more bad to come.
It all starts with Claire using the ether again when she hears Lionel Brown’s voice in her surgery. She allows herself to succumb to the sleep, but it isn’t restful. She has visions of Malva coming to her and taunting her. There’s a part of Claire that maybe does wonder if Jamie turned to Malva. While there, Claire threatens to kill Malva.
When Claire wakes up, she heads out to the gardens. She finds Malva’s body, and we know Malva was heading to see Claire before Claire used the ether. Malva is already dead, her throat cut. Claire performs a c-section in the hope of at least saving the baby, but it’s too late.
We end Outlander Season 6, Episode 6 on that somber note, but it’s clear there’s only more bad to come for the Frasers.
What did you think of Outlander Season 6, Episode 6? Were you surprised by the turn of events? Share your thoughts in the comments below.