Caitriona Balfe’s Top 10 Best Moments as Claire Fraser on Outlander

5. Episode 201, “Through a Glass, Darkly”: Claire returns to the future 

Caitriona Balfe has an incredibly wide emotional range, the most expansive I’ve seen on an actor in a long time. Over the course of Outlander, we see her play every emotion imaginable and somehow do justice to all of them. The season 2 premiere gave us one of those moments where you just have to step back and be in awe of Balfe’s talents as a performer.

The episode picks up with Claire in 1960s Scotland, which makes no sense since that the last time we saw her she was with Jamie heading off to Paris. The season will explain that tragic mystery soon enough, but first we puzzle through Claire’s ordeal in this episode.

Claire finds herself back in her time, but it’s not really “her” time anymore, is it? It feels foreign to have all the luxuries of the 20th century while trying to wrap your head around the fact that the man you love is back in another century, all while getting back to “normal” life with your first husband.

For Frank (Tobias Menzies), Claire’s return is a cause for celebration, but for her, not so much. Balse is tremendous here at showing us the mess inside Claire’s head. It feels real, raw and palpable. We see the pain Claire is in; there’s almost a madness to her, as she is still connected to the 18th century and wants to know more about the Battle of Culloden. This frenzy and chaos all come out through Balfe’s spectacular performance. Perhaps the most defining moment is the standoff with Frank, who simply can’t begin to understand what Claire is going through.