Outlander Season 7, Episode 10 review: Disaster strikes (again!) as Claire learns gut-wrenching news

Outlander is only two episodes into the second half of its seventh season and chaos is already ensuing, with no signs of stopping. As we saw in the premiere, the story is picking up rapidly. We've already watched the Frasers return to Scotland and then promptly after watched Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Young Ian (John Bell) leave for America to help Lord John Grey's (David Berry) nephew.

If you are a long-time fan of Outlander, you know good things can never come from Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire separating. It never sits well with me, and this week's episode proves exactly why that feeling is warranted.

A lot takes place in "Brotherly Love." It's filled with moments that remind me that this series is inching closer to its end and thus packing in all the punches it can along the way.

Read ahead for our review of "Brotherly Love", and please remember that MAJOR SPOILERS are below!

Farewell, Old Ian

The episode opens with us bidding farewell to a beloved character, Ian (Steven Cree). It was clear that his days were numbered, but it didn't make the goodbye any easier. Young Ian learns of the news in the days that follow, since this is the 18th century and news travels slow.

As Ian is laid to rest, Jamie begins promptly making plans to stop by Paris and then head to the States to reunite with Claire. It's always good news when a reunion is on the horizon, right?

Hello, America

Young Ian and Claire make it to Philadelphia with no issues, and it is a good thing because Lord John's nephew is in dire pain and in need of Claire's medicinal magic. However, I must say, how did he survive all those weeks while Claire was traveling to Philly? It did take like a month back then, didn't it?

There isn't much time to waste as Claire needs to perform invasive surgery, which is met with much trepidation because opening someone up wasn't exactly something doctors did in the 18th century. But Claire Fraser strikes again and is able to help Lord John's nephew and save his life.

We also meet a woman named Mercy Woodcock (Gloria Obianyo), the owner of the house where Lord John's nephew is staying. She is a free Black woman, which is rare in these days, to say nothing of the fact that she owns property. She seems to have a romantic relationship with Lord John's nephew Henry, and in order to keep her protected, Lord Grey wears his uniform. This is not because he is in service again, but because he wants to protect Mercy as she is considered a rebel who wants independence for the colonies.

The return of Mr. Bug

If Outlander wanted to make us feel uneasy during this episode, they did a grand job of doing so. Just as young Ian returns to the states, he attempts to seek out his love, Rachel, who has been spending a lot of time with William (Charles Vandevaart). Instead, he finds Rollo, who knows he has returned. Unfortunately, Rachel and Ian do not see one another.

There is one individual who does see them, however: Mr. Bug. You'll recall that Young Ian was accidentally responsible for killing Mrs. Bug after Fraser's Ridge was destroyed in the fire, and Mr. Bug had promised to wreak havoc in Young Ian's life. While this encounter with Rollo and Ian takes place, he realizes that it is not Rollo he needs to hurt, but Rachel. Especially if he wants to hit Ian where it hurts.

Young Ian nearly loses the love of his life when Mr. Bug finally manages to corner Rachel in the stable. Ian shows up in the nick of time to stop him, but it is William who delivers the final crushing blow that takes Mr. Bug's life. He needed to go, I'm sorry, we can't have any of these threatening folks out and about!

Buck and Roger and a blast from the past

The premiere ended with Buck (Diarmaid Murtagh) and Roger (Richard Rankin) running into Geillis (Lotte Verbeek), who was one heck of a blast from the past. It's a jarring run-in because there is a lot of history between her, the Frasers, and even Roger and Brianna (Sophie Skelton). She was infamous for trying to ruin everyone's lives, including those of her dead husbands, all of whome she killed at some point.

What I think is so intriguing about this encounter is that, unbeknownst to Geillis, she is helping treat her illegitimate son. Talk about awkward! But that's not the moment I want to focus on.

During this encounter and while Roger is trying to piece together what is happening, another blast from the past walks in. Who is it, you ask? DOUGAL MACKENZIE (Graham McTavish).

I'm totally loving the return of these characters!

Dougal wants to talk to the man who has been asking about fairy men, aka Roger, and comes bearing some interesting news. It looks like he and Geillis are acquainted and disappear into a room, but not before Roger tries to pry and find out if Geillis has heard of Rob Cameron (she said she has no idea who that is) and Dougal shares a trinket he won during a dice game.

The trinket, as we learn, are actually army tags...that belong to Roger's father. Say what?!

So perhaps the fairy man is not Rob Cameron but in fact Roger's father?? What is happening, and how is it happening?!

Ending of Outlander Season 7, Episode 10 explained

As the episode comes to a close, Claire and Young Ian learn that Jamie is on his way to the States. Of course the letter is dated from a few weeks ago, so he is expected to arrive at any moment. It's a joyous moment indeed because like I said, we do not stan a Claire and Jamie separation.

And there's a reason for that. More on that in a second.

Mercy reveals to Claire that since she is a rebel, she carries secret messages to deliver to the George Washington, but she has been found out and doesn't want to risk anyone confirming what he's done. Claire offers to deliver the message herself because she is never stopped for questioning. She's successful, but gets terrible news upon her return...

Jamie is dead. I repeat, she finds out from Lord John that Jamie's ship is lost at sea, and there were no bodies found. Jamie Fraser is no more.

This is obviously not real...right?

While we try to digest this awful news to the backdrop of a Claire and Jamie love montage and curse the writers for doing this to us, there is another thing to contend with. Remember how Claire thought her privileged position meant she wouldn't get caught sending secret messages to the rebellion? Well, she was wrong because the British come knocking the next morning.

She is to be arrested for being a spy, Lord John is told. Apparently, there is but one solution in this matter that will solve everything, according to Lord John: Claire has to marry him.

My oh my, this episode was a doozy. I'm still reeling from it, and I can't think about what comes next. Claire essentially has to marry Lord John because otherwise everyone is in danger. But Claire has lost Jamie and probably can't think of anything else right now. What does life even mean at this point? Honestly, I couldn't agree more with her. What is the point without Jamie Fraser?!

I can't imagine that Jamie is truly gone, but I'm enjoying the angle they're going with here. It really makes things interesting for the episodes to come, especially if Claire and Lord John truly go through with this marriage. What if Jamie returns? What will happen then?

Outlander, you are truly stressing us out, but we love it.

Episode Grade: A

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