Outlander review, Episode 701: “A Life Well Lost”

A sweeter sound than the Outlander title song has never been heard, ladies and gentlemen. Hearing the melodic “The Skye Boat Song” by Bear McCreary is a beautiful reminder that our favorite time-traveling romance is back!

The season 7 premiere, “A Life Well Lost,” answers all the burning questions we’ve had over the last year and then some. It’s an emotional rollercoaster ride from start to finish, and I am so happy to say that it dopes not disappoint.

There is much to talk about in this episode, so let’s not waste a moment more! If you haven’t watched the Season 7 premiere, please be aware, there are SPOILERS AHEAD!

Claire fights to live another day

Claire Fraser (Caitriona Balfe) was carted off to jail at the end of last season after being accused of murdering Malva Christie (Jessica Reynolds). As the seventh season begins, we find her in prison awaiting punishment for a crime we all know she did not commit.

Sadly, this isn’t the first time Claire has been accused of something she has nothing to do with. In season 1, Claire was labeled a witch and nearly killed for it. And here we are six seasons after that moment, and it’s as if nothing has changed.

Luckily, Jamie (Sam Heughan) is not the type to let his wife rot in prison! Good-looking, intelligent, and loyal? Truly a diamond in the rough for an 18th-century man!

In “A Life Well Lost,” Claire’s fate hangs in the balance while Jamie and Young Ian (John Hunter Bell) make plans to rescue her. While she waits, a British soldier comes in looking for the healer, aka Claire. Apparently an officer’s wife is pregnant and needs medical attention.

Claire treks off to the boat where the officer and his wife are waiting and promptly tries to help. It looks like Claire will have to stay on the boat and travel with the couple while she cares for the wife…until Jamie Fraser intervenes.

I love that Jamie’s love for Claire never wavers. It does not matter what time, place, or circumstances they are in. He will find and rescue her, and he does precisely that with the help of Tom Christie (Mark Lewis Jones). Tom confesses to the murder to save Claire because…he LOVES her! After everything that happened last season, it was wild to learn that Tom’s love for Claire is what prompts him to confess to a murder he didn’t commit (or at least that’s the understanding).

We also learn that Malva wasn’t Tom’s daughter, but rather his brother’s. Tom’s wife, who he referred to as a witch, slept with his brother and gave birth to Malva, but Tom raised Malva as his own.

By the time Claire returns to Jamie’s arms, we assume that Tom has turned himself in to save Claire, but we should remember that he likely isn’t the one who murdered Malva. Book readers know who the murderer is, but I won’t reveal that just yet…

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee

As we hear Roger MacKenzie (Richard Rankin) utter those words in this episode, the last thing we expect to hear is someone say, “Ali.” I heard that reaction and was floored that another character we hadn’t met or seen before responded to Roger’s “Bible verse” that way.

The man is named Wendigo Donner (Brennan Martin), a traveler like Claire, Roger and Brianna (Sophie Skelton). Sadly, he is also one of the men who kidnapped Claire a couple seasons back, when she was subject to a gang rape by Lionel Brown (Ned Dennehy) and his men. If you remember, Wendigo also tried to hum “Yellow Submarine” to get Claire’s attention last season.

Roger is angered to learn Wendigo’s name — Claire remembers the names of all the men who hurt her — but Wendigo quickly tells Roger he did not hurt Claire in any way and tried to help her run away. I don’t know if I trust him, but let’s see what happens!

Wendigo’s story is that he traveled back in time to save the Indian Nations during the American Revolutionary War, but his plans did not pan out as he wanted. He was coming back in time with others, but everyone was split up, and now all he wants is to get back home, but he had no idea how. Will Roger help him? Tune in to find out!

Ending of Outlander Season 7, Episode 1 explained

As the episode comes to an end, one thing is clear: the American Revolutionary War has arrived in Wilmington, North Carolina. During the events of the episode, the war is lurking in the background, but by the end of the episode, it’s here.

However, Jamie needs to take care of one thing before he can worry about the war on his doorstep. That thing is Richard Brown (Chris Larkin), the brother of the man who hurt Claire in the most brutal way possible.

The episode ends on a cliffhanger as Jamie waits for Richard in the darkness and runs towards him. Jamie had no qualms about telling Richard he was going to destroy him, so thing aren’t looking good for Richard Brown. Is it horrible to say he absolutely had it coming?

Outlander is back, my fellow fans, and there is so much to unpack in the episodes to come. I cannot wait, and I am just so happy that this series does not miss a beat now that it’s back.

Episode Grade: A-

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