We are finally back for the sophomore season of Outlander’s first spin-off, Blood of My Blood. To dust off your memory, this Starz series follows the parents of both protagonists from the original series, Jamie and Claire Fraser. Jamie’s parents in 18th century Scotland are played by Harriet Slater as Ellen MacKenzie and Jamie Roy as Brian Fraser. Claire’s parents in the 1920s are played by Hermione Corfield as Julia Beauchamp and Jeremy Irvine as Henry Beauchamp.
Season 1 of Outlander: Blood of My Blood ended on a terrific cliffhanger for the two leading couples. Brian and Ellen have finally managed to be together; however, just as they have overcome so many obstacles to escape, they see that the Fiery Crosses — used to summon men to war — have been lit. Meanwhile, Henry and Julia Beauchamp are ready to return to their time and their daughter, Claire. We were left holding our breath for a whole year, since it wasn’t clear until this episode whether they had made it back.
I’ve already seen the first four episodes of season 2 and can’t wait to share my thoughts and observations on the premiere. So, let’s dive into it!
Henry’s return to the 20th century couldn’t have gone worse
The premiere starts in media res: Henry wakes up in 1924, dizzy and confused, and he’s being interrogated. To make it worse, he’s been constrained in a straitjacket. The explanation is given right after the new opening credits, which features a masked ball, little Claire, and poppy flowers, symbolizing the theme and title of the episode, “Remembrance Day.”
We finally come to know what happened to Henry and Julia at the end of season 1. Julia and Henry’s plan to travel through the stones went horribly awry: when they touched the stone, something did not work, and so they were left behind to fend for themselves against Arch Bug and the Grants. Henry is stabbed and concussed, and accidentally touches the stones and travels back to 1924, leaving his wife and child in the 18th century.
Henry struggles to keep his memories and sanity intact. Because of his recent concussion and traumatic experience — first in the trenches of World War I and then working as bladier for clan Grant — he can’t remember clearly what happened to him. He is consequently deemed unstable and is brought to the Inverness asylum. There, he is forced to submit to electroshock therapy, which further deteriorates his fragile state of mind.
Julia is back in hell
In episode 1, Julia, with baby William in her arms, is forced to return to her captor and husband, and assume the mantle of Lady Fraser of Lovat once again. To keep her hopes up, she desperately believes that Henry was able to travel back to the 20th century and has found his way back to their daughter, Claire.
In the kitchen, Julia finally breaks down in tears and confesses everything to Davina, Brian’s mother (Sara Vickers): the time travel, Henry going through the stones, the daughter they involuntarily left behind. She explains how the stones didn’t work for her, planting a seed of doubt about her time-travel abilities. Referring to Claire, Julia tells Davina: “A part of my heart is missing and I’m afraid it always will be.” This brings forth a looming question: will Julia be able to make it back to the 20th century? If we look to the source, she might not. Corfield’s superb performance and Vickers’ compassionate reaction absolutely carry the scene, without a doubt bringing many — myself included — to tears.
Ellen faces her brothers’ wrath at Leoch
In the calm before the storm, Ellen and Brian share one last moment together, before he has to go back to Castle Leathers and she to Castle Leoch. He vows to find his way back to her side, since anywhere else is unthinkable. They dream out loud of a "small life:" a house, fields to work, and children to grow. I’m content knowing that, eventually, they will build a life together at Lallybroch and have Jamie and his siblings — even if only for a time.
Ellen reluctantly chooses to return to Leoch, but with a plan she hopes will protect the clan from the Crown’s wrath, should the Jacobites lose. She finds her brothers, Colum (Seamus McLean Ross) and Dougal (Sam Retford), feuding over how to respond to the call to arms — and fuming over her leaving Malcolm Grant at the altar. Before she has a chance to explain herself, Colum has her imprisoned in the family chapel.
Brian swears to fight for his future with Ellen
Brian and his cousin Murtagh (Rory Alexander) return to Castle Leathers and pledge to fight beside the scheming Simon Fraser (Tony Curran), Lord Lovat, and to start gathering men, so that he may return to Ellen’s side as soon as possible. Brian quickly realizes that there is a hidden agenda to his father’s ambition in the upcoming fight.
Julia is able to convince Lovat to join Brian in their recruiting mission, so that he may be absent from Leathers. Brian’s emergence as a leader will be a major theme of this season, and will be explored more in depth from episode 2.
Season 2 will be about memory and loss
The premiere laid down the foundation for its season: every character will have to deal with the Jacobite Rising one way or another, and war seldom brings peace, as Henry and Julia know very well. Beyond this, it’s obvious that the star of the premiere is Henry. The comparison between combat trauma and time-travel disorientation sits at the heart of it. For Henry, time travel mimics shell shock: both ultimately fracture his identity and sever his ties to home. And not just any home: he forgets his children.
Forgetting then becomes survival. He forgets everything but his wife, his “North Star,” and in remembering his love for her, he’s able to remain as present as he physically can without losing his mind completely in the madness of his predicament.
The key to understanding this episode are the flashbacks to the 20th century. The first one is set during the last Remembrance Day Henry and Julia spent together. He confesses that he’d rather forget everything about the war instead of reliving it year after year (this, of course, foreshadows his eventual memory loss). But, he tells Julia, “When I’m with you, everything else goes quiet.” Of course, now that he’s not with her, he’s trapped inside his mind in a 1920s asylum. The scene chaotically reassembles to show that Claire, who at first was present in the flashback, is slowly disappearing from his memory.
In the second flashback, Julia finds a letter by Henry’s fellow soldier, who entrusted his last words to him. She suggests they send it to his mother: “It’ll be like the poppies that grew in Flanders Fields,” Julia says, referring to the symbol of hope — the poppy flower — growing in the abandoned trenches. Showing him a camera, she says: “This captures a moment in time. We don’t know how many we’ll have, so we make the best of each one, because in each moment, we’re different than the moment before — hopefully for the better.” In this moment, she didn’t know how right she would be. But I’m not allowed to spoil anything from the next episodes yet!
Two familiar faces return
To many’s surprise, two characters we met in the first season of Outlander come to Henry’s rescue. Reverend Wakefield (Tom Ashley), who will one day give lodgings to Claire and Frank during their Scottish honeymoon in the original series, visits Henry at the asylum, with the intent to offer some peace through prayer and conversation. Back home, Wakefield talks about Henry’s peculiar case to Mrs Graham (Emma Hartley-Miller), his housekeeper.
For Outlander fans, her beliefs are fundamental to the story: she’s the one who foretells Claire’s journey through time, and the woman Claire later confides in about her time with Jamie. In Blood of My Blood, Mrs Graham doesn’t have proof of time travel being real, but she decides to believe Henry’s story and to help him escape the asylum, so that he may go back and find Julia.
Verdict
“Remembrance Day” delivers a strong start to season 2 and a masterclass in thematic storytelling. It also achieves something very difficult: bringing viewers up to speed after a year-long break, without slowing the story down. In fact, every act unfolds quickly and without too much fuss, trusting the viewers completely.
Hermione Corfield’s performance as Julia in this episode will stay with me for a long time, as well as Jeremy Irvine’s haunting portrayal of mental disorientation and the psychological aftermath of electroshock therapy (more like torture). With this premise, Outlander: Blood of My Blood season 2 promises to test the limits of love, trauma, and human memory. The return of familiar faces like Mrs. Graham offers a beacon of hope in the chaos, reminding viewers just how deeply interconnected the Outlander universe is. The stage is set for an emotional rollercoaster, and if the first episode is any indication, fans are in for an unforgettable ride. Bring on the rest of season 2!
Grade: A
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