Episode 708: "Turning Points" (SPOILERS!)

Here are my reactions to Episode 708 of the OUTLANDER TV series, titled "Turning Points". I thought this was a terrific episode, one of the best of the season, and a great way to wrap up this first half of Season 7! *** IMPORTANT NOTE!! *** This is the final episode of the first half of Season 7. The second half (episodes 709-716) will air sometime in 2024, but the date has not been announced yet.

*** SPOILER WARNING!! ***

There are SPOILERS below! If you don't want to know yet, stop reading now.

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The episode picks up where Episode 707 left off, with Jamie lying face-down, unmoving, on the battlefield after the first battle of Saratoga. This scene is based on ECHO chapter 62, "One Just Man". A boy and his mother are scavenging the dead soldiers, taking anything that might be of value. The boy grabs Jamie's tricorn hat. The woman finds the miniature of William that Jamie was carrying. I winced when she tossed it into the dirt, knowing how much it means to Jamie.

Claire arrives just in time to stop the boy in the act of preparing to slit Jamie's throat. I think Cait did a terrific job with this scene! I have always loved the image of Badass Claire, berserk with fury, wielding Jamie's broadsword. Even though the words are somewhat different in the book, they captured the essence of this scene perfectly.

I had picked up Jamie’s sword before. It was a cavalry sword, larger and heavier than the usual, but I didn’t notice now.

I snatched it up and swung it in a two-handed arc that ripped the air and left the metal ringing in my hands.

Mother and son jumped back, identical looks of ludicrous surprise on their round, grimy faces.

“Get away!” I said.

Her mouth opened, but she didn’t say anything.

"I’m sorry for your man,” I said. “But my man lies here. Get away, I said!” I raised the sword, and the woman stepped back hastily, dragging the boy by the arm.

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 62, "One Just Man". Copyright© 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Claire examines Jamie quickly. His left hand is badly injured, but otherwise he seems OK. Claire can't contain her fury at Jamie for nearly getting himself killed. I love the way she explodes at him, all the pent-up stress and fear and worry boiling out of her all at once.

"How dare you do that to me? You think I haven’t got anything better to do with my life than trot round after you, sticking pieces back on?” I was frankly shrieking at him by this time.

[....]

“Be careful, Sassenach,” he said, still grinning. “Ye dinna want to knock off any more pieces; ye’ll only have to stick them back on, aye?”

“Don’t bloody tempt me,” I said through my teeth, with a glance at the sword I had dropped.

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 62, "One Just Man". Copyright© 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

As they walk away from the battlefield, notice that Claire bends down to pick up Jamie's hat. Good thinking, because he'll need it later.

This whole sequence is one of my favorites in ECHO, and I'm delighted to see it on screen at last!

The "title card" shows an empty boot, upside down and dripping blood. A very powerful image, considering what happens to General Fraser later in this episode.

In the next scene, Jamie and Claire are back in the Continental Army camp, and Claire is tending to his injured hand. I wondered all through this sequence if they would actually have Jamie lose a finger, as in the book, but I'm glad they decided not to do that. It would have made things unnecessarily awkward for Sam for the remaining season and a half of the show.

Claire fills Jamie in on the outcome of the battle. "Reports are [the British] suffered nearly twice the casualties we did." Notice Jamie's stunned look. It's not just the fact that the Americans did better than expected in the battle. Claire senses that he's worried about William, fighting on the British side.

The next scene, between Claire and Denzell Hunter, is not in the book, but I thought it was really well done.

"In all my life I've lost four patients on my table. And now in one day, that number has increased tenfold. Thee has done this before, thee said. How does thee go on?"

Claire, of course, knows exactly how he feels. I'm reminded of her frustration and despair on the Porpoise in VOYAGER, in the middle of the typhoid epidemic:

Any doctor hates to lose a patient. Death is the enemy, and to lose someone in your care to the clutch of the dark angel is to be vanquished yourself, to feel the rage of betrayal and impotence, beyond the common, human grief of loss and the horror of death’s finality. I had lost twenty-three men between dawn and sunset of this day. Elias was only the first.

(From VOYAGER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 48, "Moment of Grace". Copyright© 1994 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Denny is only now realizing just what it means to be an army surgeon. Even though he volunteered for this, coming face to face with the horrible, bloody reality of it, complete with wounded and dying soldiers, has to be a shock to him, to say the least! I see a parallel with William's reaction in Episode 707 ("A Practical Guide to Time-Travel") to his first experience of battle. "You're a different man now," General Fraser told him. I think Denny, too, is changed by this experience. How could he not be?

I was startled by the sight of Claire lighting a match as she entered Jamie's tent at about 10:30 into this episode. I thought surely any matches they had on hand would have long since burned up in the fire that destroyed the Big House, but I guess they managed to save a few.

Most of the dialogue in this scene, where Jamie refers to the Biblical story of "ten just men" in Genesis chapter 18, comes straight from ECHO chapter 62, "One Just Man". It's very much as I'd always imagined from the book.

In the next scene, we're back at Lallybroch in 1980, and Roger and Buck have just returned from Craigh na Dun with very bad news. "He did it," Roger says. "Rob took Jem through the stones."

Roger shows Bree the scarf with Jem's Tufty Club badge, which they found in the stone circle. It's all the proof they need.

Bree says that Rob must have got into the box of letters, because the little ball of gold is missing, as is the letter that refers to the Spaniard guarding a hidden cache of gold. At this, Roger reacts with fury. "God damn him!!" I suspect he's feeling more than a little guilt, as well, for not hiding that box, and his Hitchhiker's Guide to Time-Travel, away behind a locked door where Rob Cameron wouldn't be able to get to it.

But there's no time for what-ifs or beating himself up. He must go through the stones, as soon as possible, before Rob Cameron can catch a ship to America. Roger heads straight for the trunk where they keep their 18th-century clothing and begins pulling clothes out.

Buck startles both Roger and Bree by volunteering to go with Roger to search for Jem. "It's my time we'll be goin' to, is it no?" he says simply. "I want to help. You're kin." They can't very well refuse, under the circumstances. And once again I have to say I really like Show Buck! He's a very appealing character, no question about it.

The bit where Bree gives each of them a small piece of jewelry with gemstones in it is based on this passage from ECHO:

And so Brianna gave each of them a chunk of silver studded with small diamonds and two peanut butter sandwiches. “For the road,” she said, with a ghastly attempt at humor. Warm clothes and stout shoes. She gave Roger her Swiss army knife; Buccleigh took a stainless-steel steak knife from the kitchen, admiring its serrated edge. There wasn’t time for much more.

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 90, "Armed With Diamonds and With Steel". Copyright© 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

The next scene, with Ian and Claire, takes place two weeks after Jamie injured his hand. Their conversation, which is not in the book, seems designed to give Claire a way to voice her inner turmoil. Yes, Jamie is recovering, but that means he will fight in the upcoming second Battle of Saratoga, and Claire had hoped he would stay out of it. While they're talking, Rollo has gotten into the little tin of goose grease on the table. Claire sends Ian to fetch some more grease and bring it to Rachel.

This is my least favorite scene in the whole episode. In the book, Claire's acquisition of this grease from a nearby campfire leads to a very disturbing and emotionally intense PTSD episode, where she relives her rape in ABOSAA, including hearing her rapist refer to her as "Martha". I am profoundly grateful that they didn't try to show that flashback here, and I'm not going to quote it here. You can look it up in ECHO chapter 67 if you're interested. We spent more than enough time on all of that in Season 6. <understatement!> On the other hand, without this very dramatic scene, what remains is little more than a transitional scene designed to get Ian and Rachel alone together.

In contrast, the scene with Ian and Rachel that follows is basically word-for-word from the book, and I loved it! I especially liked that impromptu first kiss, where the two of them come together as if drawn by a magnet, and then Rachel comes to her senses and slaps him.

Without even thinking, he put both hands on her face and bent to her. Saw the flash and darkening of her eyes, and had one heartbeat, two, of perfect warm happiness, as his lips rested on hers, as his heart rested in her hands.

Then one of those hands cracked against his cheek, and he staggered back like a drunkard startled out of sleep.

“What does thee do?” she whispered. Her eyes wide as saucers, she had backed away, was pressed against the wall of the tent as though to fall through it. “Thee must not!”

He couldn’t find the words to say. His languages boiled in his mind like stew, and he was mute. The first word to surface through the moil in his mind was the Gàidhlig, though.

“Mo chridhe,” he said, and breathed for the first time since he’d touched her. Mohawk came next, deep and visceral. I need you. And tagging belatedly, English, the one best suited to apology. “I--I’m sorry.”

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 67, "Greasier Than Grease". Copyright© 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

And they included one of my favorite Ian lines from the book: "I'm not worried about whether ye love me. I'm worried that you might die because of it." This is a vivid reminder of Arch Bug's vendetta in Episode 703, "Death Be Not Proud": "When you have something worth taking, lad, you'll see me again."

The next scene, in which Claire encounters Benedict Arnold, also comes straight from the book, and I liked it very much. A Continental officer comes to see Claire, in search of cinchona bark to treat malaria. He shows Claire the contents of his medical box -- I wanted to get a closer look at all the little jars and bottles and things! -- and asks if she would consider making a trade. Claire spots his bottle of laudanum, which she definitely could use.

As Claire and the unidentified man are chatting, Jamie approaches, greeting the man formally as "Sir". The officer draws him into the conversation.

“I’ve heard it said that a man’s reach must exceed his grasp—or what’s a heaven for?”

The officer stared at him for an instant, mouth open, then laughed with delight and slapped his knee. “You and your wife are two of a kind, sir! My kind. That’s splendid; do you recall where you heard it?”

Jamie did; he’d heard it from me, more than once over the years. He merely smiled and shrugged, though.

“A poet, I believe, but I’ve forgot the name.”

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 64, "A Gentleman Caller". Copyright© 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

I always love it when Jamie refers to something anachronistic that he could only have learned from Claire. The poem is Andrea del Sarto, by Robert Browning.

I liked Claire's stunned reaction when the officer introduces himself as Major General Benedict Arnold. I thought Rod Hallett was excellent as Arnold, a very likeable character with a friendly smile. I still remember my reaction on first reading this bit in ECHO in 2009: "Wait, that was the infamous Benedict Arnold? But he can't be a traitor! I liked him!" I had the same reaction here, watching this scene.

The next scene, featuring Denny and Rachel Hunter, is also straight from the book. It's becoming obvious that Rachel is in love with Ian Murray, and naturally this worries her brother Denzell, because Ian is a Mohawk warrior and a violent man, definitely not a suitable husband for a respectable Quaker woman.

“I will tell him to stay away and never to speak to thee again, if thee wishes it. Or if thee prefers, I can assure him that thy affection for him is only that of a friend and that he must refrain from further awkward declarations.”

She poured the grounds into the pot and then added water from the canteen she kept hanging on the tent pole.

“Are those the only alternatives you see?” she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

“Sissy,” he said, very gently, “thee cannot wed such a man and remain a Friend. No meeting would accept such a union. Thee knows that.”

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 67, "Greasier Than Grease". Copyright© 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

The next scene, with Daniel Morgan addressing the soldiers, was very well done. I particularly liked the part where he displayed his scarred back to them, as proof of his hatred for the British. It was very reminiscent of Dougal's forcing Jamie to show his scars in Episode 105, "Rent", but the crucial difference is that Daniel Morgan is not being coerced, and he's not the least bit self-conscious about his scars.

“Got something to show you, Mr. Fraser,” he said, loudly enough that the women who had still been talking stopped, every eye going to him. He took hold of the hem of his long woolen hunting shirt and pulled it off over his head. He dropped it on the ground, spread his arms like a ballet dancer, and stumped slowly round.

Everyone gasped, though from Mrs. Graham’s remark, most of them must have seen it before. His back was ridged with scars from neck to waist. Old scars, to be sure—but there wasn’t a square inch of unmarked skin on his back, massive as it was. Even I was shocked.

“The British did that,” he said conversationally, turning back and dropping his arms. “Give me four hundred and ninety-nine lashes. I counted.” The gathering erupted in laughter, and he grinned. “Was supposed to give me five hundred, but he missed one. I didn’t point it out to him.”

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 61, "No Better Companion Than the Rifle". Copyright© 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Notice the way Jamie stares at his scarred back. You can almost see him thinking: This man survived 499 lashes (!) -- more than twice what Jamie received in all the floggings he endured as a young man combined -- and yet he doesn't appear bothered by them. He's neither afraid nor ashamed to show his scars to strangers. They're part of who he is. You can see Jamie absorbing this example, and learning from it. It's a turning point of sorts for Jamie, in my opinion. (Another reference to the episode title. <g>) In the book, at least, he's less self-conscious about his scars after this point. I loved this bit in the book, and I think they did an excellent job of conveying the essence of it here.

The next morning, the two armies face one another in the Second Battle of Saratoga. I thought the battle sequence was very well done. It must have been incredibly complicated to film!

Jamie sees Brigadier General Simon Fraser, whom we got to know in last week's episode, leading his troops on horseback, very visible in his red uniform, presenting an excellent target for Morgan's riflemen. Jamie aims his rifle at General Fraser, but at the last moment he deliberately aims wide, shooting the hat off the head of a young Redcoat officer. A moment later, Jamie realizes that the officer is his son, William. Yikes, that was a close call!

While Jamie is still trying to absorb the shock of coming so close to accidentally shooting his son, one of the other riflemen, a man named Tim Murphy, calls out triumphantly, "I got him!" And Jamie sees that General Fraser has been hit. William, unhurt, rushes to the General's side and leads him from the field. Meanwhile, Benedict Arnold signals for the Continental troops to follow him toward a nearby redoubt.

I actually found the action in this part easier to follow on TV than it was in the book. I was able to visualize the terrain more easily, as well as the obstacles facing the American troops, like the abatis (a fortification made of sharpened logs) that you can see Jamie leading his men through at about 36:00 into the episode.

The action gets pretty chaotic for a while, but it was definitely entertaining. I was impressed with the level of detail. I liked the 18th century version of grenades, which I've never seen before except in pictures. Ditto for the grenadiers with their fancy headgear. Jamie shoots one of them with a pistol around 36:27. I also liked seeing Ian in his Mohawk war paint, around 37:20.

Suddenly Jamie looks up to see the British flag being taken down from the flagpole. The Americans have captured the British outpost, and the battle is over. Jamie sees General Arnold, lying on the ground with an injured leg.

In the next scene, Claire is tending to General Arnold in the hospital tent. This scene isn't in the book, but it explains a possible motive for his later treason. He certainly seems bitter and angry at General Gates.

"Gates will tell the story of the battles. And he will leave me out of them as he has always done. It's a conscious omission of merit, of fact. He robs me of honor and promotion."

Just as an interesting aside: I attended an online lecture about Benedict Arnold a few months ago, given by Professor Richard Bell of the University of Maryland, a historian who specializes in the Revolutionary War period. In the Q&A after the lecture, I asked him specifically, "Why did he do it? You didn't really go into his motives." Professor Bell said that's because historians don't know for sure. Money? Fame? A chance to earn the respect he felt he had been denied by his superiors in the American army? Maybe a combination of all three. He said there isn't a definitive answer to that question.

Later that night, Jamie and Claire finally have a private moment in their tent to talk. Jamie tells Claire about nearly shooting William by accident. Exhausted, he lies down to try to sleep, and about two seconds later, someone is at the tent flap, calling for him. I had to smile at that. But I sobered as soon as the messenger delivered his news: Brigadier General Fraser lies mortally wounded in the British camp, and has asked to see Jamie. Of course, Jamie and Claire agree to come at once.

The deathbed scene is based on the one in the book, with the major change being that William is not present. That change robs this scene of much of its dramatic tension -- will William look up, meet Jamie's eyes, and suddenly see the resemblance between them and guess the truth? -- but it's still a moving scene, the cousins who haven't seen each other since they were boys reunited only to say a final farewell.

By the way, check out this painting of the scene, helpfully labeled with the names of the participants. I found this on the Clan Fraser website some years ago.

One of the British officers has noticed that William is missing his hat. Jamie steps forward impulsively and holds out his own tricorn to William. "I believe I owe you a hat. Sir." And then he turns and walks away. I liked the way Jamie kept his head down, trying not to meet his son's eyes.

I love this scene in the book, particularly for Jamie and Claire's conversation afterward, and I think Sam did a great job with it.

“Are you all right? What on earth is the matter?” I sat beside him and put a hand on his back, beginning to be worried.

“I dinna ken whether to laugh or to weep, Sassenach,” he said. He took his hand away from his face, and I saw that, in fact, he appeared to be doing both. His lashes were wet, but the corners of his mouth were twitching.

“I’ve lost a kinsman and found one, all in the same moment--and a moment later realize that for the second time in his life, I’ve come within an inch of shooting my son.” He looked at me and shook his head, quite helpless between laughter and dismay.

“I shouldna have done it, I ken that. It’s only--I thought all at once, What if I dinna miss, a third time? And--and I thought I must just … speak to him. As a man. In case it should be the only time, aye?”

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 66, "Deathbed". Copyright© 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

The next scene takes place in the Continental Army camp. General Gates comes in person to make a request. He wants Jamie to take General Fraser's body back to Scotland. Gates says that this is British General Burgoyne's last condition before he will sign the terms of surrender. He really didn't have to twist Jamie's arm very hard, of course. Talk about a stroke of luck!

I love the look on Jamie's face when he says, "We're going to Scotland." We haven't seen him smile like that in a very long time.

This is undeniably good news for Jamie and Claire, but bittersweet for Ian. He says farewell to Rachel, asking her if she will look after Rollo.

"Of course I will. Not only because I adore him, but because it means thee will return." Good line!

Meanwhile, back in the 20th century, Roger, Buck, Bree, and Mandy arrive at Craigh na Dun, as Roger and Buck prepare to go through the stones. Mandy looks scared of the stones, and possibly bothered by the noise they're making. The rest of them are grim and determined, doing what must be done, because they have no choice.

Roger and Bree embrace one final time.

"I love you," Bree says.
"I will find him, Bree. I'll bring him home." I was a little disappointed that Roger didn't say "I love you" back to her.

After they're gone, Bree stands there for a while, visibly fighting back tears, getting control of herself.

She’d watched them--she couldn’t help watching them--as they climbed toward the top of the hill, toward the invisible stones, until they disappeared, out of her sight. Perhaps it was imagination; perhaps she really could hear the stones up there: a weird buzzing song that lived in her bones, a memory that would live there forever. Trembling and tear-blinded, she drove home. Carefully, carefully. Because now she was all that Mandy had.

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 90, "Armed With Diamonds and With Steel". Copyright© 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

In the next scene, Rachel is walking alone in the woods when she encounters Arch Bug. Rollo recognizes him at once as a familiar person from his days on Fraser's Ridge and is not alarmed. Arch makes small talk with Rachel, who tells him that Ian has gone abroad. "I hope he'll return to you soon," he says, and I'm sure he means it. He has a vendetta to carry out, after all, and he can't very well do that when Ian has gone overseas! Seriously, though, I love the look on Arch's face as he watches her go: a combination of intelligence and menace, very chilling.

I was surprised to see that the next scene takes place on board the ship heading to Scotland. This is something we didn't get to see in the book. Poor Jamie is still, unfortunately, suffering from seasickness, but he refuses to let Claire use the acupuncture needles. Suddenly they hear a cry from one of the sailors in the rigging. "Land ho!"

They rush up on deck to find that the shore of Scotland is indeed in sight at long last. I really like the Gaelic song playing in the background, sung by Griogair Labhruidh. It's called "Tha mi sgìth ‘n fhògar seo (I am weary of this exile)" by John MacRae, and the lyrics (in Gaelic and English) are here. (Thanks to Fran R. on Facebook for the link!)

"Scotland," Jamie says, unnecessarily, in case there's anyone out there who didn't understand where they were heading. As the episode ends, Claire and Jamie are bursting with happiness, and Ian looks apprehensive. For now, at least, they're going home to Lallybroch, and everything will be all right. I like the fact that the episode ended on a positive note.

I hope you enjoyed this recap. Look here for my recaps of all of the OUTLANDER episodes.

*** IMPORTANT NOTE!! *** This is the final episode of the first half of Season 7. The second half (episodes 709-716) will air sometime in 2024, but the date has not been announced yet. Stay tuned for more information. I'll post an announcement as soon as we have any news about a premiere date. In the meantime, I hope you find plenty of things to keep you busy (OUTLANDER-related or not!) during the coming #Droughtlander.

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