Episode 709: "Unfinished Business" (SPOILERS!)

Here are my reactions to Episode 709 of the OUTLANDER TV series, titled "Unfinished Business".

*** SPOILER WARNING!! ***

There are SPOILERS below! If you don't want to know yet, stop reading now.

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The episode opens in the Scottish Highlands, where Jamie, Claire, and Young Ian have brought Brigadier General Simon Fraser's body home for burial. I liked the views of the green Scottish landscape, but I did not care for Jamie's voiceover at all. I thought it was overly melodramatic, to put it mildly.

The opening title card shows a gravestone at Lallybroch, which we see much later in the episode.

The next scene comes straight from WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART'S BLOOD, chapter 27. We see Roger and Buck waking at Craigh na Dun after coming through the stones. Roger is disoriented, but aside from a splitting headache, unhurt. Buck, on the other hand, seems to have something wrong with his heart, but he recovers after a few minutes. They decide to split up to look for Jem, with Roger heading toward Lallybroch and Buck going to Inverness.

Next, we see a brief shot of Bree as we left her at the end of Episode 708, at these same standing stones in 1980. She's crying for Roger and Jem, but she pulls herself together and drives Mandy home to Lallybroch, exactly as described in the book.

She’d watched them--she couldn’t help watching them--as they climbed toward the top of the hill, toward the invisible stones, until they disappeared, out of her sight. Perhaps it was imagination; perhaps she really could hear the stones up there: a weird buzzing song that lived in her bones, a memory that would live there forever. Trembling and tear-blinded, she drove home. Carefully, carefully. Because now she was all that Mandy had.

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 90, "Armed With Diamonds and With Steel". Copyright © 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

The transitions between time periods in this episode are very clever and well done, including this one, as we shift from Bree arriving at Lallybroch in 1980 to Jamie, Claire, and Young Ian arriving at Lallybroch in 1778.

Here we get our first glimpse of Kristin Atherton as Jenny. I thought she was fantastic in this episode, and I can't wait to see more of her! I'm glad that they changed Jenny's reaction on seeing Young Ian. I've never really understood her reaction in the book, where she burst out laughing so hard that she had to sit down. I wanted to see a heartfelt mother-son embrace, and we got just that.

Jenny is joined by Ian's brothers, Young Jamie and Michael. Michael was a redhead in the book, so I was a little disappointed that they changed that for the show, but it's a minor point and I don't really mind.

"Where's Da?" Young Ian asks, and the mood changes instantly, from joy at this homecoming to the heartbreaking realization that the elder Ian is deathly ill.

We've seen these symptoms before, when Alex Randall was dying of consumption in Season 2. And indeed, Claire diagnoses it without difficulty, a disease we call tuberculosis in our own time. Without antibiotics, there's nothing she can do for him.

Later, alone with Claire in the laird's bedchamber, Jamie is deeply shaken by the realization that his closest friend is dying.

He’d managed from sheer exhaustion to put aside the matter of Ian’s illness, but it was there with the waking, heavy as a stone in his chest.

Claire shifted in her sleep, turning half onto her back, and desire for her welled up in him like water. He hesitated, aching for Ian, guilty for what Ian had already lost and he still had, reluctant to wake her.

“I feel maybe like you did,” he whispered to her, too low to wake her. “When ye came through the stones. Like the world is still there--but it’s no the world ye had.”

He’d swear she hadn’t wakened, but a hand came out from the sheets, groping, and he took it. She sighed, long and sleep-laden, and pulled him down beside her. Took him in her arms and cradled him, warm on her soft breasts.

“You’re the world I have,” she murmured, and then her breathing changed, and she took him down with her into safety.

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 76, "By the Wind Grieved". Copyright © 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Claire tries to cheer him up. "The first time we ever said 'I love you' was in this room." I was a little startled by this, but she's right, in the show, at least. The scene she's referring to was near the end of Episode 112, "Lallybroch".

The next day, we see Young Ian's nieces and nephews crowded around him, very curious, asking questions about the Mohawk, pointing at his tattoos. Jenny shoos them away. Over dinner, the subject of the war in America comes up, and Michael Murray says, "I couldna imagine unrest like that in France." You can practically see Claire thinking that it's not all that long until 1789 and the start of the French Revolution. But she says nothing.

The scene that follows, with the two Ians, is mostly taken from the book, and I thought it was really well done.

[Young Ian] told him, without thinking about it, for thinking would have frozen the words in his throat, about Emily. About Iseabaìl. And about the Swiftest of Lizards.

“I--havena told anyone else about that,” he said, suddenly shy. “About the wee lad, I mean.”

His father breathed deep, looking happy. Then coughed, whipped out a handkerchief, and coughed some more, but eventually stopped. Ian tried not to look at the handkerchief, in case it should be stained with blood. “Ye should--” the elder Ian croaked, then cleared his throat and spat into the handkerchief with a muffled grunt. “Ye should tell your mother,” he said, his voice clear again. “She’d be happy to ken ye’ve got a son, no matter the circumstances.”

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 77, "Memorarae". Copyright © 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

In case you missed it, Ian's encounter with the boy he calls "Ian James" was in Episode 705, "Singapore".

Young Ian tells his father about Rachel Hunter. I thought it was a bit odd that although Ian lists many of her good qualities, he never mentions the fact that she is a Quaker who abhors violence, which is one of the things Book Ian worries about the most, given that he is a violent man.

He adds that he left Rollo with her. "A dog does not a wife guarantee," his father replies. I thought that was a very clunky bit of dialogue, especially when contrasted with his line a bit later, "A man needs a wife, and a good one is the greatest gift God has for a man," which comes straight from ECHO chapter 77.

Ian's father urges him to go back to Rachel, but Young Ian is clearly conflicted; you can see that in his eyes. He wants to go, but he wants even more urgently to stay. (More on this later.)

The next scene, in which Jamie tells Claire that he needs to go and see Laoghaire, is mostly based on ECHO chapter 78, "Old Debts". I think Claire's line about "if you want to know who she's sleeping with" may be confusing to show-only viewers, because what she's referring to is an incident in THE FIERY CROSS that they omitted from the show, in which Jenny writes to Jamie about the time she overheard Laoghaire having sex with an unknown man:

I stood still, of course, thinking what was best to do. I could hear that it was Laoghaire shedding her shanks, but I had no hint who her partner might be. My ankle was blown up like a bladder, so I could not walk much farther, and so I was obliged to stand about in the wet, listening to all this inhonesté.

I should have known, had she been courted by a man of the district, and I had heard nothing of her paying heed to any—though several have tried; she has Balriggan, after all, and lives like a laird on the money you pay her.

I was filled with outrage at the hearing, but somewhat more filled with amazement to discover the cause. That being a sense of fury on your behalf--irrational as such fury might be, in the circumstances. Still, having discovered such an emotion springing full-blown in my breast. I was reluctantly compelled to the realization that my feelings for you must not in fact have perished altogether.

(From THE FIERY CROSS by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 99, "Brother". Copyright © 2001 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

I love the way Claire says, "Well, do send her my very best regards, won't you?" That line made me laugh out loud, just as it always does in the book.

When Jamie arrives at Balriggan, he starts off by trying to make small talk, but in a way that comes across (to me, and to Laoghaire!) as bafflingly condescending.

"Marsali is well. She and Fergus, thrivin'. He's a printer now. They have four beautiful bairns, two lads and two lassies. Your grandchildren, Laoghaire. All healthy and full of spirit."

Um, does Jamie think Marsali hasn't written a single letter to her mother in the twelve years they've been living in America?? Why would he think it necessary to tell Laoghaire about the existence of her own grandchildren? That just makes no sense to me. As Laoghaire says, "And ye've come all this way, just to tell me things I've already read about?" She's right. It comes across as what we'd call "mansplaining" today. Not the best way to start off a difficult conversation!

Before we get to that, though, we're back with Roger, making his way toward Lallybroch. I'm not a big fan of voiceovers in this show, but I liked the use of it here, to show us what Roger is thinking.

Back at Balriggan: The rest of this scene between Jamie and Laoghaire is really well done, taken almost word for word from ECHO chapter 78, "Old Debts". It's one of those scenes that I refer to as "filming the book", and I loved it! It's good to see Nell Hudson again, and I'm glad the TV-only viewers got to see another side of Laoghaire's personality.

Meanwhile, foggy as his head felt, matters on the ground in front of him were becoming clearer by the moment. A good mistress might try to comfort a wounded servant, but he’d yet to hear a woman call a servant mo chridhe. Let alone kiss him passionately on the mouth, getting her own face smeared with blood and snot in the process.

“Mmphm,” he said.

Startled, Laoghaire turned a blood-smeared, tearstained face to him. She’d never looked lovelier.

“Him?” Jamie said incredulously, nodding toward the crumpled Joey. “Why, for God’s sake?” Laoghaire glared at him slit-eyed, crouched like a cat about to spring. She considered him for a moment, then slowly straightened her back, gathering Joey’s head once more against her breast.

“Because he needs me,” she said evenly. “And you, ye bastard, never did.”

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 78, "Old Debts". Copyright © 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Here we see that Laoghaire has developed into a more well-rounded character, not a villain but a human being with needs and desires of her own. She's right, Jamie never did need her. Jamie seems totally gobsmacked by this revelation, walking away literally open-mouthed with shock.

The next scene, with Jamie and Claire in their bedchamber at Lallybroch, is (mostly) not in the book, but I think it makes a lot of sense.

"I want to tell your family the truth, about me." She's right. Given what's going to happen in France in a few short years, it's the right thing to do.

Jamie, though, is still preoccupied with what happened at Balriggan.

“Have ye ever been in the slightest doubt that I need ye?” he demanded.

It took roughly half a second of thought to answer this.

“No,” I replied promptly. “To the best of my knowledge, you needed me urgently the moment I saw you. And I haven’t had reason to think you’ve got any more self-sufficient since."

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 79, "The Cave". Copyright © 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

I love this bit, and I'm really glad they included it here!

The next scene, where the family gathers in the dining room and Claire tells them she's from the future, is taken almost word-for-word from the book. I was a little surprised that no one reacted with surprise or bafflement when she used the unfamiliar word "guillotine", but the Murrays are all clearly in shock, listening to her talk about future events with such certainty. (Think about it. How would you react, if someone you'd known for a long time suddenly announced that she was from the year 2226, and proceeded to tell you in detail about something horrible that's going to happen a decade from now?)

"It's a lot to take in," Claire says. Massive understatement!

Meanwhile, sometime in the past, Roger approaches Lallybroch. It looks very much as we knew it in the early seasons of the show. (Nice to see the sun shining there, for once!) He knocks on the front door, hoping to be greeted by Jenny and Ian and their family in 1778 -- maybe even to find Jem there with them? At the same time, the Murrays' discussion about faerie-women from the future is interrupted by someone knocking urgently on the door. Jamie gets up to answer it. Could it be Roger?

I loved the way they did this, juxtaposing the two scenes. A very clever idea!

Roger has never met any of the Murrays before, of course, so he doesn't recognize the man who opens the door until he hears, "Brian Fraser, Laird of Lallybroch." I liked the use of voiceover here to convey Roger's racing thoughts, trying to understand what's going on. Oh, God, I'm in the wrong time! What year is this?

Meanwhile, in 1778, Jamie opens the door to find Laoghaire's younger daughter, Joan, standing there. We last saw her in Season 4, befriending Bree when she stayed at Balriggan in Episode 407, "Down the Rabbit Hole". She's a grown woman now.

Brian Fraser shows Roger into the laird's study. That desk definitely looks familiar! Notice just before Roger says "He was seen", how he starts to sit casually on the edge of the desk, 20th-century style, then thinks better of it and straightens up. Moments later, the young Jenny Fraser comes in. Roger is speechless with shock. He's never met her before, of course, but presumably he's heard a lot about her. Brian catches him staring at his daughter and warns him that Jenny "has her eye on someone else" -- that would be Ian Murray the elder, of course. Brian invites Roger to stay the night at Lallybroch.

In the next scene, we're back at Lallybroch in 1778, and Jamie and Joan are out walking in the woods. Joan explains that she wants to become a nun, but the priest won't allow it if her mother is "living in sin" with Joey the hired man. The problem is that Laoghaire won't marry again because she would lose the alimony payments Jamie agreed years ago to send her.

“I’ll ... do something,” [Jamie] said, having not the slightest notion what, but how could he refuse? God would probably strike him down for interfering with Joan’s vocation, if his own sense of guilt didn’t finish him off first.

“Oh, Da! Thank you!” Joan’s face broke into a sudden, dazzling smile, and she threw herself into his arms--he barely got them up in time to catch her; she was a very solid young woman. But he folded her into the embrace he’d wanted to give her on meeting and felt the odd pain ease, as this strange daughter fitted herself tidily into an empty spot in his heart he hadn’t known was there.

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 79. "The Cave". Copyright © 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

The next scene also comes straight from the book (ECHO chapter 80, "Oenomancy") Jenny comes to Claire to beg her to save Ian's life. She's desperate, but there is nothing Claire can do in this time.

"I would give my soul if I could do it."
"Then maybe you have no soul," Jenny says, fleeing in tears back toward the house.

I've always thought that line absolutely chilling. Granted, people say things in the midst of grief that they would never utter out loud in normal circumstances, but that thought -- from a woman Claire had once regarded as a sister -- really hurts.

Meanwhile, at Lallybroch in Brian Fraser's time, Roger has determined that he and Buck have somehow ended up in 1739 or 1740. Why or how, he has no idea. All he knows is that he must keep trying to find Jem. I will not go back without him. I cannot go and look my wife in the eye if I haven't got our son with me. Is he doomed to spend the rest of his life in this time, searching?

The next day, Brian takes Roger to meet his factor, John Murray -- father to Ian, and future grandfather to Young Ian. Murray says some of his men saw a "faerie-man" wandering the moors. "They said he was strangely dressed -- short coat, long breeches, and boots the like of which they'd never seen." Could that be Rob Cameron?

Before Roger can contemplate this, Jenny Murray rides up to them with an urgent message. Buck has been taken ill and wants Roger to come to him. In the book, Jenny delivers this message at Fort William, much further away. They've simplified the situation somewhat here, but I think it works well, condensing things in order to move the story along.

"There's no healer we can send for," Jenny says, "but there's a herbalist some distance away."

Back at Lallybroch in 1778, Jamie is out hunting in the woods when he hears Jenny screaming at the top of her lungs. This scene is partly based on ECHO chapter 81, "Purgatory II". Jamie looks around for a threat, finds nothing, and finally sets down his rifle and goes to his sister. Jenny is screaming with her face turned toward the sky -- toward God, perhaps?

"I'm scared," Jenny says. "I dinna know how to go on without him." That brought tears to my eyes, thinking of the way I felt when my mother died five years ago.

Jamie tries to reassure her, reminding her of all the times she's shown exactly how strong and resilient she is, ever since they were children, and eventually Jenny starts to feel better. I liked this exchange:

Jenny: "I dinna suppose I could hide away in that cave of yours?"
Jamie: "I wouldna recommend it. It's cold, and very damp."

I saw that as a nod to book-readers, who remember that Jamie took Claire to visit his cave at this time in ECHO.

In the next scene, Laoghaire comes to hear Jamie's proposed solution to Joan's difficulties. Laoghaire will marry Joey the hired man, at which point she will become the sole owner of her home, Balriggan. In return, she will give up the alimony, and Joan will receive a small sum of gold to be given to the convent she chooses to enter.

In the next scene, Claire is putting together a packet of letters for Bree and Roger, to be put into the box we saw in 1980, when Jenny hands her a letter that turns out to be from Lord John. He urgently requests her to come to Philadelphia, to treat his nephew Henry (William's cousin), who is suffering from bullet wounds sustained in battle. The surgeons in Philadelphia have been unable to help. "I'm afraid you alone, Claire, can perform this task," Lord John writes. "Without your help, Henry will surely die." In the book, Lord John did write such a letter (to Jamie), but the Frasers had left the Ridge before it arrived, and they never saw it.

Claire being who she is, she can't refuse this request. Jamie being who he is, he must stay and see Ian through his final days. The prospect of Jamie and Claire being separated again, for an unknown length of time, is gut-wrenching, but they don't see any alternative. Jenny tells Claire, "You are your friend's only hope. You should go."

And that leaves Young Ian with an agonizing decision of his own to make. Leave his dying father, or go back with Claire, to join Rachel in America. He wants so badly to go to Rachel, but he feels that his duty compels him to stay at Lallybroch.

"When I ran away to Edinburgh as a lad, then again, when I remained in the colonies with Uncle Jamie, I ken I broke his heart. I willna leave him again." He has written a letter to Rachel, telling her that he must let her go.

Jenny promptly tears up the letter and takes Ian out to the family graveyard, where there is a grave marker in honor of his baby girl, Iseabail. The scene in the graveyard comes straight from the book. I love this bit, and I'm glad they included it here!

[Jenny] squatted down beside him, and reaching, put her own pebble on the stone. It was what you did, he thought, stunned, when you came to visit the dead. You left a pebble to say you’d been there; that you hadn’t forgotten.

His own pebble was still in his other hand; he couldn’t quite bring himself to lay it down. Tears were running down his face, and his mother’s hand was on his arm.

“It’s all right, mo duine,” she said softly. “Go to your young woman. Ye’ll always be here wi’ us.”

The steam of his tears rose like the smoke of incense from his heart, and he laid the pebble gently on his daughter’s grave. Safe among his family.

It wasn’t until many days later, in the middle of the ocean, that he realized his mother had called him a man.

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 83, "Counting Sheep". Copyright © 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Still, Ian resists.

Ian: "I should be with him, for the rest of his life."
Jenny: "No. Your da wants you to go and live the rest of your life."

I like that very much.

As Claire and Young Ian prepare to depart for the journey to America, Jenny apologizes to Claire for saying she had no soul. I'm glad they were able to reconcile before Claire left. It was very sad to see Ian the Elder waving goodbye as the wagon drove away. Thank you, Steven Cree!

Meanwhile, Roger has rejoined Buck and the two of them have made their way to a village where there is a herbalist. Longtime fans of the show will recognize the village as Cranesmuir, near Castle Leoch. Roger knocks on the door, and is astonished to find his ancestor, Geillis Duncan, looking back at him! With that, the episode ends.

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I hope you enjoyed this recap. Look here for my recaps of all of the OUTLANDER episodes, and please come back next week for my recap of Episode 710.

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