So,.it finally here. The season finale presented a lot of story elements into the mix as well as concluding the central plot of Claire and Jamie finding Young Ian and the immediate threat of Geillis Duncan as well presenting a new and exciting territory for season 4 to begin.
Synopsis: Claire is forced to play a game of cat and mouse with an old adversary as she searches for Young Ian. The Frasers race through the jungles of Jamaica to prevent the unthinkable. (IMDB)
Writers: Matthew B. Roberts and Toni Graphia
Director: Matthew B. Roberts
Rating: TV-MA
Running Time: 57mins
While Claire, still distraught over Captain Leonard taking Jamie captive, heads off to Geillis estate (Rose Hall) to try to Young Ian (as well as some answers), Jamie gets a helping hand in the form of Lord John Grey. In a nutshell, Captain Leonard demands that Lord Grey (remember he is the new governor now of Jamaica) that Jamie is a convicted murder and ask for him to take his leave back to England, where Jamie will face a trail and judgement for his crimes. However, Grey refuses, pointing out that Captain Leonard is merely a Lieutenant (given his situation of just given the title rather than earn the rank) as well citing that he (Leonard) doesn’t have any official warrant and / or proof Jamie’s convicted crimes. Thus, Captain Leonard is forced to release Jamie from his custody. Jamie thanks Lord Grey for his help and races off to find Claire.
Meanwhile, Claire makes her way to Rose Hall, making her way down towards the slaves’ quarters in search of answers of Young Ian’s whereabouts. Unfortunately, Claire is caught and is brought before Geillis. Trying to hid her true intentions of being there, Claire tells Geillis of her whole journey up to that point, which Geillis doesn’t believe. To her, Claire seems to upset her ritual prophecy of trying to put the so-called “new king”of Scotland back on the throne and to return everything to the way it was (prior to the battle of Culloden). Thus, Geillis doesn’t believe Claire’s story of traveling back through the stones until Claire shows her some pictures of Brianna, indicating that she did indeed travel back to her own time and that she returned back into the past. Geillis, believing she’s found the key to her prophecy in the pictures of Brianna, secretly takes one of Claire’s pictures and gives a feign forgiveness to Claire, telling her that she’ll help her find Young Ian and that she can stay at Rose Hall as long as she likes. Unfortunately, Claire gets locked in one of the guest rooms as she sees through the window Young Ian being carried off the estate property. At that moment, Jamie arrives at Rose Hall and frees Claire from her room as the pair head after Geillis.
Leaving Rose Hall, Claire and Jamie head out to the wilderness and soon discover a tribe group of slaves, who are performing a similar dance that the Druids were doing in the very first episode of Outlander (of which Claire stumbled upon). The pair are soon captured the indigenous tribe, but are set free by Mr. Willoughby, who vouches for them and who has sought refuge with these people as well as Archibald and Margaret Campbell. Claire and Jamie ask Margaret of where Geillis would’ve taken Young Ian and she informs them (via her seer trance-like state) that Geillis believes that Brianna is the 200-year-old child that was spoken in the prophecy as she plans to travel to the future (using Young Ian as a sacrifice) and to kill Bri in order to bring about the “new kingâ€. While Claire and Jamie head off to Abandwe (the place that similar to the stones back in Inverness), Mr. Willoughby, who has taken a shine to Margaret, kills Archibald. Freeing her from her brother’s influence and possessive nature, Margaret and Willoughby plan to head to Martinique and live together (that’s kind of a nice thing).
Arriving at Abandwe, Claire and Jamie head into the caves to find Geillis making the final preparation for her ritual, with Young Ian acting as the blood sacrifice for her passage through a mysterious pool of water, which acts as a portal back to her own time period in the future. While Jamie faces off against her slave servant (Hercules), Claire tries to stop Geillis. The pair share a few words, but Claire manages kill Geillis before the blood ritual could be complete. With Geillis dead, Hercules is freed from her master’s whim and runs off (a free man), while Jamie frees Young Ian from bondage. Its at this moment that Claire remembers the skeleton remains of white female found in Jamaica that she and Joe were examining a few episodes back. This means that the skeleton was that of Geillis Duncan. Shaken by this revelation, Jamie comforts his wife and tells her that everything will be alright.
With Young Ian safe and everything seems to be right, Claire, Jamie and everyone else (Young Ian, Fergus, Marsali) head back on-board the Artemis as they venture back across the Atlantic Ocean back to Scotland. During this time, Claire and Jamie share a passionate relationship foreplay between the two of them, which is much needed for the couple. Alas, their blissful period of peace and quiet is cut short as the Artemis quickly comes upon a violent storm at sea, which is basically a hurricane. While most of the non-crew members stay below deck, Claire heads out onto the deck where Jamie and several crews try desperately to steer the Artemis through the maelstrom storm as hurricane force winds and monstrous waves crash upon the ship. Unfortunately, the ship’s mast breaks as Claire suddenly gets swept overboard by a huge wave and almost ends up drowning. Unconscious and sinking to the ocean’s depth (to her death), Claire is rescued by Jamie and the two hold on for dear life on a floating debris as they enter through the hurricane’s eye (hence the name of the episode being “Eye of the Storm).
The episode ends with Claire and Jamie (both who are alive and weary) washing up on beach and asking a nearby family on where they are. They tell them that they are in Georgia and that the Artemis wrecked several miles away and that the ship’s crew is being nursed by the locals. Alive, well, and with the knowledge of the crew’s safety, Claire and Jamie embrace one another and thinking of the hardships they faced and the new journey that lies ahead on in America.
All in all, this season finale episode tied up much of the bigger narrative plots that were formed, giving a satisfying ending to this season of love, loss, and the time spent apart between the Claire and Jamie. While the season 2 finale was better than this one, this episode still had a lot to offer, especially setting up the events for next season. With season 4 already confirmed by Starz for a release date in 2018, a new chapter begins for Claire and Jamie, moving the story away from Scotland and now to the Colonies of America. I can’t wait for season 4!!!
8.5 Out of 10
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