Outlander review, Episode 705: “Singapore”

In this week’s episode, Outlander dives deeper into the trenches of the American Revolutionary War. Claire (Caitriona Balfe), Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Young Ian (John Hunter Bell) have to take an unexpected detour to Fort Ticonderoga before sailing off to Scotland. If I had to guess, they’ll be detoured for a long time.

In the present, Brianna (Sophie Skelton) and Roger (Roger MacKenzie) continue to work on building their lives in Lallybroch. They’ve been dealing with young Jemmy’s notions about pixies and something called the “Nuckelavee.”

I won’t reveal who this “demon” is, but let’s just say if Outlander is going to follow the books, things are about to get really interesting.

Major SPOILERS ahead for Outlander episode 705, “Singapore”!

Tales of modern-day Lallybroch

At the start of this week’s episode, Brianna is overwhelmed to learn that her children visit the local graveyard daily. As we know, Jemmy had a close bond with his “grand-da” before traveling back to the future, and Jamie told Jemmy he could visit him on the grounds of Lallybroch.

When Brianna asks Jemmy if he found Jamie’s grave, he says no. However, he says that he and Mandy leave a stone for Jamie daily and talk to him. I was just as heartbroken and overwhelmed as Brianna by this tender moment.

Fort Ticonderoga

Thanks to Claire, Jamie has inside knowledge about how the Revolutionary War will play out. Side note: If I were suddenly thrust back to the past, I would not be very useful when it came to the outcome of battles and wars. Claire remembers all the details, but I would be utterly useless to those around me!

In any case, Jamie tries to warn the people at Fort Ticonderoga that the British may try to attack, and advises them to take higher ground. Of course, Jamie’s warning is not taken seriously, even though he literally knows what’s going to happen.

Well, he tried…

Brianna’s first day of work

Brianna is truly her mother’s daughter, as we see during this week’s episode of Outlander. Even though Roger feels a certain way about being unable to work like Brianna, he happily sends her off to her first day of work.

Of course, Brianna’s employees are not thrilled by her presence. Having a woman as your boss? They’d rather lock themselves up in a tunnel than face what they believe to be absolute blasphemy.

Sadly, this is precisely what they do to Brianna on her first day of work. They take her to a tunnel near the dam, lure her into it, and then lock the door behind her. Unfortunately for them, Brianna prepared for work and studied the tunnel’s schematics.

She eventually finds her way out. On her way, she runs through some funky-looking portal. It was making warping noises, and for a moment I thought maybe she would be traveling through time again. I don’t know what that was about, but I’m sure we will learn more about it in the upcoming episodes.

Ian faces his past

Just a quick moment to talk about Ian: In “Singapore,” he must face his past as he returns to the tribe he created a home with.

He runs into his first wife, Wahionhaweh (Morgan Holmstrom), which is probably jarring, but then he faces another major revelation: her son looks an awful lot like him!

It’s not confirmed that this is Ian’s son, but it’s very gently implied, and I’m here for it!

Ending of Outlander season 7, Episode 5 explained

This week’s episode was great, but it was definitely on the slower side, apart from the stuff at Fort Ticonderoga.

As expected, Jamie, Ian, and Claire, along with the other occupants of the Fort, have to flee when the British descend on them. If only they would have listened to Jamie!

While they jet away from the crumbling Fort, Brianna faces her demons, aka her male coworkers, and puts them in their place. Never will they lock her up in a tunnel again!

And finally, we must discuss the fact that there is definitely someone lurking around Lallybroch. Jemmy keeps saying it is the “Nucklevee,” but book readers know it is something else entirely. So far, we’ve seen food wrappers scattered outside, Jemmy saying this “demon” exists, and Mandy getting scared because she saw someone outside the home.

I cannot wait to learn more! If I had to guess, we’ll get the reveal at the end of this block of eight episodes, and then have to wait a while for the back half of the season. This absolutely will not be fair, but I 100% expect them to torture us that way!

Episode Grade: A-

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