You would think that 1980 would be safer than 1778, but that’s not the casein Outlander season 7, episode 13. Brianna needs to make some choices to keep her family safe.
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS for Outlander season 7, episode 13.
The episode tells the story across three timelines. However, there are a couple of characters missing—one completely and one only appearing in a small way. This isn’t too surprising considering the previous episode saw nothing with Brianna and Roger’s storylines. There are only so many minutes in an episode and a lot going on across the time periods.
Brianna and Mandy hunt down Jemmy in Outlander season 7, episode 13
Brianna decides to keep Rob locked up in the Lallybroch priest hole. She wants answers from him, but he’s not exactly going to give them. Instead, he makes it clear that if Bree kills him then she’ll never find her son again. Well, it’s time to get the police involved, only Rob has cut the phone line and that means Bree has to take Mandy to the police station to file a report.
It’s on the drive that Mandy shares that she can feel Jemmy. The two play a game of hot and cold, and we learn a little more about the connection between Jemmy and Mandy within in game. You see, we end up seeing where Jemmy is as well. He’s in the dam, and that means he finds those ley lines inside.
Mandy loses the connection to Jemmy when he’s in the ley lines, and I think this hints that the reason Mandy couldn’t feel Jemmy in Outlander season 7A was because Rob took Jemmy to the stones. We know that happened because of where the scarf is. Mandy and Jem lose their connection to each other when the time travel magic is involved.
In some good news, Jemmy remembers the story Bree told when she got trapped in the dam. This gives Jem the way out, and he’s on the road as Brianna turns up toward it in the hot and cold game. Bree nearly runs Jemmy over in the dark, but it’s a happy reunion in the end.
If only getting the police involved was positive. Someone has helped Rob escape. There’s no sign of forced entry and the priest hole door was locked. That means someone helped Rob escape, but the police refuse to believe Brianna about any of it. They insinuate that she is having an affair with Rob and it’s all gone wrong. Ah, the joys of victim blaming and sexism.
Brianna realizes that she needs to get the children somewhere safe. There is only one person to call for this: Fiona. Of course, Fiona and Ernie are more than willing to help protect Jemmy and Mandy. Bree has to go back to Lallybroch to wait for the locksmith, sure that Rob has a key to the house. Bree will also have to figure out what to do now considering Roger won’t come back without Jemmy—and he probably won’t figure out that Jemmy isn’t in the past.
Roger finds his father in Outlander
If you thought the title “Hello, Goodbye” was going to link to Roger’s storyline, you’d be right. Sure enough, Roger and Buck find Jerry MacKenzie.
There is a small change to the book in this storyline, but I’m here for it. It simplifies the rules of time travel a bit, and it makes some of the storyline a little more believable. As Buck points out that the hills haven’t changed a bit, Roger realizes that they are close to where the dam will be built in around 250 years’ time. Roger remembers that Bree said there was something that felt like the stones, so what if there was once a stone circle there and it was removed?
Roger and Buck head over to where the dam will eventually sit, finding a stone circle there. Roger also finds items stashed away that link to Jerry MacKenzie. It’s clear that this is where Jerry came through the stones, and now they are one step closer to finding him.
When they find a boy with Jerry’s flying cap, they catch up to him and question him. I adore the way Buck makes sure he gets some answers. He is a man of his time, and in this instance, it works. Buck doesn’t know Jerry, but he knows that the man will be his kin. That’s enough for him to want to help.
There’s also the fact that Buck shares that he doesn’t know his biological parents. This is another change to the books, and a good one for simplifying a few things. In the books, Buck learns that Dougal and Geillis are his parents. Buck also has a strong attraction to Geillis. In the show, we’ve seen none of that. Buck is focused on finding Jemmy with Roger—and now Jerry. I’ve really enjoyed the change to this character as Buck becomes someone we can root for and care about.
Roger decides not to tell Buck anything about his biological parents. This isn’t the time for it, even though part of me would love to see Buck’s reaction to finding out the woman who killed five husbands is his mom.
There is a good question about what Roger will tell Jerry when they come across him. How much with Roger share? It’s a good question because Roger hasn’t really thought about it. Jerry was always a bit of a myth or legend to him. When Roger does come across Jerry, he has to hold back some of the emotion and the truth.
With Jerry time traveling, it’s easy for Roger to form a connection and get Jerry to trust him. They share that they’re time travelers too, but that they’re looking for another Jeremiah MacKenzie. Roger also shares a little about his future—including that Margaret Thatcher is the Prime Minister—and in the end that they will win the war. It’s a beautiful moment for father and son, even if the whole truth can’t come out. You can tell that Buck is giving Roger the space he needs throughout all this and only interjecting when absolutely necessary, which I respect him for.
In the end, Roger, Buck, and Jerry get back to the stones to get Jerry back home. Roger makes it clear that Jerry needs to keep his mind focused on Marjorie and that’s it. That’s the way back home.
With the “I love you,” there’s a bittersweet moment for Roger. He gets a flash of a memory of his dad in the London Underground during an air raid—the one that killed his mom?—but that’s it. Roger doesn’t know if that memory is old or new. What he does know is that there’s no sudden influx of memories of his dad being alive, but what does that mean? Does it mean Jerry never got back, or that something else happened?
There are a lot of questions about time travel in this moment that the show doesn’t have time to delve into. It’s great for fans to debate about.
For Roger and Buck, though, they need to get back on the mission to find Jemmy. Although, Roger does start to think that maybe Jemmy isn’t here. He admits that he started thinking of his dad as they went through the stones, and maybe he was brought here to save Jerry and not Jemmy. Will that mean Roger and Buck head back to 1980 once they get some gemstones?
Young Ian and Rachel marry in Outlander season 7, episode 13
In 1778, the episode focuses on another wedding. This time, it’s one that we definitely wanted to happen, and it’s completely different to any wedding we’ve seen come before. They do it the Quaker way, which Rachel explains involves Friends speaking when the Spirit guides them to.
After about 20 minutes of silence, Claire questions what happens if the Spirit doesn’t guide them to say anything. The whispering catches Denny’s attention and tells Jamie to share something. There are a couple of great speeches, with Denny focusing on the guilt that he’s had for having Rachel follow him. Denny shares more about his story, in how he was kicked out of Meeting because he wanted to join the Continental Army. After all, Quakers don’t believe in fighting. Rachel followed Denny, and it’s something that has weighed on him since, but now she’s found Young Ian, a man Denny respects and cherishes.
Rachel doesn’t want Denny to feel guilty. If she didn’t follow Denny then she wouldn’t have met Young Ian. And so, Young Ian and Rachel are married, and we get to see their wedding night in full. Some of it is awkward, some of it is funny, and some of it is romantic. What’s clear is that the two are meant to be.
There is a side note in this, though. I did, at one point, fear that we would get a certain death that I’m not looking forward to. At the start of the episode, Young Ian pointed out to Rollo that he’s not the young pup that he used to be. Poor Rollo is getting old, and my heart breaks at that reminder.
Jamie feels a little guilt for what he did to Lord John Grey
Denny also catches Jamie up on everything that happened with Lord John Grey. Denny had expected to see John back at Chestnut Street, but that’s not happened. It means that John hasn’t managed to get away from the Rebels. Well, potentially hasn’t, anyway.
While Jamie points out that Lord John Grey can look after himself, it’s clear that he holds some guilt for what he did. Did he go too far? Jamie still feels some anger and jealousy, though. There’s so much going on that he’s not really been able to settle all of his thoughts about it just yet.
We do get a quick glimpse of where Lord John Grey is, though. A group of Rebels come across him sleeping in the woods. John is quick—although I wouldn’t say convincing—to think of a story. It helps that the Continental Army is now in blue, which makes it clear to John that he’s with the enemy. He shares that he is a Rebel and it was the British who shackled him. After giving the fake name Bertram Armstrong, he is able to convince the officer that he is a Rebel. It’s enough to get him to some sort of safety. At least, for now.
Outlander airs Fridays on STARZ.
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