Love, loss, and the will to move on as the passage of time propels. Such is the main narrative found in this episode. Like its previous episode, Surrender contains the separate storytelling arc of Claire and Jamie in dual time periods.
Synopsis: Hiding in an isolated cave, Jamie leads a lonely life until Lallybroch is threatened by redcoats pursuing the elusive Jacobite traitor known as “Red Jamie.” Back in Boston, Claire and Frank struggle to coexist in a marriage haunted by the ghost of Jamie’s love.” (IMDB)
Writer: Anne Kenney
Director: Jennifer Getzinger
Rating: TV-MA
Running Time: 64mins
Jamie’s story, which is set in 1752, shows that time has passed since the Scottish clans were defeated at Culloden and that the might of British rule over the Highlands remains firm and strong. Since then, Jamie, who has lived in hiding in the forest outskirts of his home at Lallybroch, is constantly on guard with the Redcoats badgering his sister Jenny and her husband Ian over the whereabouts of Jamie (aka Red Jamie or “The Dubonnetâ€). Weary and a shell of his former self, Jamie trudges forward, longing to find solace in his new life and to be in Claire’s loving embrace once more. In this story line, we also see the return of Fergus (a character that was first introduced last season and played by young actor Romann Berrux), who has survived all these years and is now living at Lallybroch and still retains his “firebrand”attitude of rebellion against British rule. Unfortunately, this brazen attitude gets him into trouble with several British Redcoats, who he taunts, as young Fergus gets the Jamie Lannister fate from Game of Thrones by having his hand chopped off. Ouch! There was also a touching scene (shortly after getting his arm chopped off) between Jamie and Fergus, showing that Jamie still cared for the boy and sort of reinvigorated his “fireâ€, coming up with a plan to help the people living at Lallybroch.
Jamie’s story ends (in this episode) with Jamie “pretending”to be setup by his sister Jenny as he arrives in Lallybroch with the Redcoats ready and waiting, placing him under arrest and taking him away in irons. It’s unclear where Jamie’s fate (and story) will lead, but he did it out of love for his sister as she would collect the reward money (to help them) as well as relieving Jenny and Ian, who were being constantly harassed by the Redcoats on Jamie’s whereabouts. The big question now is with Jamie now in the hands of the British Redcoats, what will happen to him?
In Claire’s timeline, which is set in 1949, Claire is going through the motions of being a dutiful wife to her husband Randall and a caring mother to her newborn daughter Bree. However, Claire still longs for Jamie, even imaging him (via closing her eyes) when she makes loves to Randall, which Randall, in turn, suspects of what she’s doing; another contributing factor that will further wedge the pair apart in the coming episodes. Feeling the humdrum of her life and wanting to do more, Claire enrolls in an anatomy class, with the idea of becoming some type of doctor / surgeon. This, of course, echoes back to last season where Claire worked as a nurse during her time in Paris, France. However, the changing times clashes with Claire as her fellow classmates, including her instructor, look down at her with sneers and disgust as a woman enrolled in an anatomy class during the late 40s is unhurried of. Her fellow classmate, Joe Abernathy, a negro and another outcast in this changing society, seems to be a likely friendship, which will probably be explored in future episodes. Even the final shot of the episode as Claire thinking about Jamie, walking on the streets and hearing a street performer playing “Scotland, the Brave”on a set of Bagpipes. So, even though their hundreds of years apart from one another, the echoes of Jamie and her time in Scotland is swell around Claire.
This episode continued the trend of the dual time period narrative arc of Jamie and Claire as each one strives to continue move forward, but are still haunted by their past; longing for each other. As I said before, it will be interesting to see how this dual time period will continue until the “big reveal”of when Claire and Jamie are reunited. With many years left to tell (in both narrative stories), it’s gonna be another few episodes until we get to that point. Season 3 of Outlander continues to be a great tale to tell and I anxiously wait for the next episode to air.
8.0 Out of 10
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