Outlander season 7, episode 10 was not a great episode for Claire in terms of the news she received. However, she had some big moments up to that point.
Acting-wise, the ending to Outlander season 7, episode 10 was outstanding. Caitriona Balfe slayed the scenes as she learned about Jamie Fraser being missing and presumed dead at sea. She didn’t want to believe what had happened, but eventually, she had no choice.
Overall, the show has handled this well. It would have been much better had we not known that Jamie would make it back thanks to the promotional material leading up to the episodes, but the writing and directing in this episode was on point for the story.
I won’t include Claire learning about Jamie or what came after that in this post. While they are excellent moments for Balfe, there are bigger Claire moments to focus on for this episode that show just how far she as a character has come.
Having Denny work with her on Henry Grey
When Claire arrived at Chestnut Street, Lord John Grey caught her up on everything that had happened. She learned that Denny Hunter was in town, and that he had performed a surgery to get one of the musket balls out of Henry’s abdomen. Claire went to see Denny for the next part of the surgery.
Denny shared his lack of hope in getting the second ball. When Claire told him about performing surgery, he was shocked, but he wasn’t disgusted or dismissive of the idea. Naturally, he had questions about Henry going into shock. One thing I love about Denny is that he wants to learn from Claire, and Claire is more than willing to teach him.
I would love to see more of Claire and Denny working together. They make such a great team, and I adored that Claire just explained it all to Denny at a surgeon level. She didn’t baby him, and she didn’t talk down to him. She taught him, and it’s a huge part of her showing that she respects Denny as a doctor and maybe even as an apprentice.
Telling Mercy about Walter Woodcock
When Claire found out that Mercy Woodcock was the owner of Chestnut Street, she had a feeling that this was Walter’s wife. She didn’t want to pry, though. It was only when Mercy shared that her husband was somewhere out there that Claire shared what she knew.
Denny could only give Mercy part of the story. Claire was able to offer Mercy some closure. Mercy and Walter separated after fighting, and it is something that lived on Mercy’s mind after that. Claire was compassionate and caring. She didn’t have any judgement for this woman, knowing what being married can be like. Not everyone gets to part on positive terms.
Part of it helped that she knew Walter. She knew what Walter was thinking when he died because she was there. I love that the show corrected the books on this, giving Claire a chance to share those last words.
Becoming a spy for the Rebels
After being so compassionate, it was great to see Mercy turn to Claire in a time of need. Mercy realized that Claire was also a Rebel, so she could trust her with some information. Mercy was a spy, and she was on the verge of being caught. Claire knew the risks of getting the letter out, but she also knew that it was important to carry out this work. George Washington needs to win.
It’s not often that I’m on the side of Claire putting her life on the line. However, this isn’t the first time that Claire has been involved in spy work. Usually, she’s done it with Jamie working with her, but he’s not around at the moment to help.
Claire wasn’t all that convincing when it came to getting through the barricade. I do think she should have had a story fully concocted in her head first. However, she took up the risk and she almost successfully pulled it off. Had it not been for Captain Richardson—and we all know that he’s up to something anyway—I think she would have gotten away with it!
Outlander airs on Fridays on STARZ.
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