Episode 808: "In the Forest" (SPOILERS!)

Here are my reactions to Episode 808 of the OUTLANDER TV series, titled "In the Forest".

*** SPOILER WARNING!! ***

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

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This episode was definitely an improvement on last week's, but there's relatively little material taken from the books. For that reason, you can assume that most scenes are not based on the books, unless otherwise indicated.

The episode opens with Jamie and Marsali standing at Fergus's grave, reminiscing about him. We can see the small cairn that Fanny built, beside the freshly dug grave.

"I'm thinking of taking Percy Beauchamp up on his offer," Marsali says. "Using the money from the sale of the land up north to rebuild the printshop." I was surprised to hear this, for two reasons: first, Fergus was adamantly opposed to the idea, and second, surely the inheritance from the Comte St. Germain would be worth vastly more than the cost to rebuild the printshop!

Why did she change her mind? "When I left Scotland, it wasn't only for love. It was because I wanted to make my own way, livin' by my own rules, determining my own fate. I wanted freedom. That's what America wants."

But she's no longer a carefree fifteen-year-old with no responsibilities. She's a widow with four young children to care for. Money isn't a guarantee of freedom, especially as the money wouldn't be hers in this case, but Germain's.

The conversation turns to the revelation that Fergus is (apparently) the son of the Comte St. Germain. "He knew the Comte to be a villain. I'm sure he didn't want to believe that he came from such an unscrupulous man." That hits close to home for Jamie, because of William's reaction to the revelation that Jamie is his biological father. The parallels here are very clear.

"[Fergus] never wanted to call any man but you his father," Marsali says.

"Fergus Fraser was my son," Jamie says firmly, and then, addressing the grave before them, "Son of my name, of my heart. Now, then, forevermore. No piece of paper, nor anything in this world, can change that."

Marsali asks Jamie to let her speak to Fergus alone. She tells him she'll take the money, for the sake of her bairns, "and the bairn yet to come." (For those of you who missed it in the last episode, yes, Marsali is pregnant with #5.) "I'm so happy to have more of you," she says, with tears in her eyes.

The "title card" for this episode features Jamie tying a fly onto his fishing pole, or something along those lines.

In the next scene, Roger and Bree have returned to Fraser's Ridge, bringing the crate of muskets provided by Col. Francis Marion.

Jamie examines the guns, then starts talking about a new type of rifle designed by Major Patrick Ferguson, who will lead the Loyalists at the Battle of Kings Mountain.

Bree says she's familiar with the Ferguson rifle. "My father showed it to me once." Interesting that Jamie doesn't frown at this reference to Frank. He only smiles and says, "He was right to."

Bree mentions another type of rifle, called the Hall rifle, adopted by the US Army in 1819.

The talk turns to Bree's shooting skills, and Roger says, "There's a reason why she was nicknamed 'Deadeye', practically from the time she could walk." That gets Jamie's attention, because Frank Randall's book, THE SOUL OF A REBEL, is dedicated, "For My Dearest Deadeye."

Later, Jamie and Claire talk about that in private.

"[Frank] armed her with the knowledge of how to survive in this time." Did he know she would go back in time, or was he only guessing, trying to prepare her, just in case? We don't know.

"It's a warning," Claire says. "He was trying to save you, for Bree, because he knew that you would--"
"Continue to protect her," Jamie finishes.

Jamie says that he used to pray for Frank. That's true, as we saw in THE SCOTTISH PRISONER:

Lord, he thought automatically, as he did whenever thought of them came to his mind, that she might be safe. She and the child.

How old would his first child be now? He swallowed a thickness in his throat but continued doggedly in his train of thought. Claire had been two months gone with child when she’d stepped through the stones and back to Frank.

“God bless you, ye bloody English bastard,” he said through his teeth. It was his customary prayer when Frank Randall came to his mind--something he tried to avoid happening, but now and then ... “Mind them well!”

(From THE SCOTTISH PRISONER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 6, "Summoning". Copyright © 2011 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

I liked this exchange between Jamie and Claire:

"We canna change the course of history. Lord knows we've tried."
"Maybe not the course of history exactly. But we have changed small things, things that may seem insignificant in the flow of time."
"You trying to say I'm another one of those 'insignificant things'?"
"Perhaps. Even if you are very significant to certain other people, whoever they may be."

Meanwhile, back in Lord John's house in Savannah, Amaranthus is upset because no one has seen William for days, and she doesn't know where he's gone. She suspects that she might have driven him away.

But Lord John says that's not it, telling her that he and William had an argument "of a private nature", adding only that it was "a rather difficult moment between father and son."

He's referring, of course, to William's discovering John in a passionate embrace with his former lover, Percy Beauchamp, in Episode 807, and William's inescapable conclusion that his stepfather is a sodomite. A very scandalous discovery, considering that sodomy was punishable by death in those days.

Amaranthus is distressed because she lied to William (or maybe just that she got caught lying to him?), and she feels that William's character "prevents him from forgiving deception in others." And that, of course, hits home for Lord John, who lied to William for years about the fact that Jamie Fraser is his biological father.

Back on the Ridge, Jamie is studying Frank's account of the Battle of Kings Mountain. You can tell because of the distinctive shape of the battlefield depicted in the book.



They've started making preparations for Kings Mountain in other ways. Bree, for example, is busy designing and building her new rifle. This is loosely based on a bit from A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES, where Bree showed Robin McGillivray her design for an improved rifle:

“Did your lass show ye those?” Robin asked, with a nod at the papers. He pulled the tail of his shirt up from behind his leather apron, and mopped steam from his sweating face, looking amused.

“No. What is she about? Is she wanting ye to make her a gun?” He relinquished the sheets to the gunsmith, who shuffled through them, sniffing with interest.

“Oh, she’s no way of paying for that, Mac Dubh, unless Roger Mac’s discovered a pot o’ fairy gold since last week. No, she’s only been telling me her notions of improvement in the art of riflery, asking what it might cost to make such a thing.”

(From A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 41, "The Gun-Smith". Copyright © 2005 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

The problem is that Bree, of course, is not a gunsmith trained to build this type of weapon, so I don't think it's believable that she could build it all by herself!

Meanwhile, Jamie has started training his militia. Knife-throwing or hand-to-hand combat may not be of much use against a well-equipped Loyalist force at Kings Mountain, but I suppose they have to start somewhere.

In the next scene, Buck tells Roger what happened after he and Bree and the kids went back through the stones. He went back to see Geillis again, and found that they had a mutual attraction "of an amorous nature". But apparently nothing came of it. Having nothing better to do, Buck went back through the stones at Craigh na Dun, to 1980.

"The first person I encountered was Rob Cameron. I watched as he went into a shop, and bought a gemstone. Any fool could see what he was intendin'" We see in flashback how Buck confronted Cameron in his home, obviously preparing to go back in time.

"I owe Roger MacKenzie a life," Buck says. "Yours'll do." After a brief fight, Buck kills him with a knife and takes the gemstone, as well as Cameron's tricorn hat.

So we don't have to worry about Rob Cameron coming through the stones after Bree. (Not that I personally was all that worried; we know from the books that he can't time-travel.)

In the next scene, Bree demonstrates her new rifle, which loads much faster than the type Jamie has been using. Buck and Jamie are very impressed! So am I, considering that Bree has no training in how to build a 19th-century rifle.

Some time passes, and then one day William arrives on Fraser's Ridge, to everyone's surprise. Fanny, especially, is very excited to see him. Jamie welcomes him politely.

"Thank you...sir. I hope I am not intruding." William's manner toward Jamie is cold and formal, in contrast to the way he greeted Claire and Fanny.

William asks to see Brianna. He tells her what he learned about Amaranthus and Ben, including the fact that it was her idea for Ben to pretend to be dead. Naturally William feels like a fool. Bree is sympathetic.

"I had to tell someone, so I came to tell you, the only member of my family who has never broken my trust."

That evening, the whole family gathers for dinner, complete with a "kids' table" where Fanny and the younger children sit to eat. Everyone is happy and relaxed, except for Jamie. Roger announces that his application for ordination as a Presbyterian minister has been approved.

AFter dinner, Jamie invites William to go fishing with him in the morning. William can't help recalling the last time they went on a fishing trip, in Episode 406, "Blood of My Blood", where Jamie saved him from the Cherokee by telling them William was his son. Naturally William didn't know at that time that Jamie was telling the truth.

"I thought you were merely lying to protect me," William says bitterly. "How easily duped I was."
"I'll always try to protect you, lad. No matter what."

William tries to decline the offer to go fishing, but in the end he's forced to agree.

The next morning, Jamie and William are knee-deep in the trout stream, with plenty of time to talk. This is a really good scene. They reminisce about fishing at Helwater, and William actually loosens up enough to smile at the memories. He recalls a time when he caught two dozen trout, and when Jamie is skeptical, he says, "If you don't believe me, ask my father!"

Oops. The conversation instantly turns serious at the mention of Lord John. William reveals that he knows John is a sodomite, and things get very awkward.

"I caught him in the arms of a man, so in addition to being a sodomite, he's an indiscreet one as well." This is what happens when the writers have Lord John doing something that his book counterpart would never do in a million years. In the books, John is nothing if not discreet, especially about his sex life!

"You and he, at Ardsmuir, were you lovers? Is that why he agreed to raise your illegitimate son?"
"Why would you ask me something like that?"
"Because it makes perfect sense!"
"But it isn't true!"

I thought this scene was really well done. Both Sam and Charles did an excellent job.

Jamie tries to defend John, saying, "John's private life is his personal affair, and I'll neither defend nor condemn it. He's one of the best men I know. [....] He's given you everything he had to give!"

"Except the truth. On that point, you're exactly the same." William shoves his fishing rod into Jamie's arms and stalks away.

Back at the house, William is preparing to leave when Claire comes out to talk to him. I didn't care for the way she kept her arms folded throughout the first part of the discussion, like a parent scolding a wayward teenager. He's not her son, after all.

"It was a mistake to come here," William says. "A foolish, impulsive mistake."
"It was hardly impulsive. It takes a long time just to get here."

That reminds me vividly of Claire's reaction to Lord John and Willie's visit to the Ridge some years before:

"I determined that we should sail to Charleston, and from there, travel overland to Virginia. I trusted to the novelty of the experience to divert William from his grief--which I am pleased to observe, it seems to have done. He has been much more cheerful these past weeks.”

I opened my mouth to say that Fraser’s Ridge seemed a bit out of his way, regardless, but then thought better of it.

(From DRUMS OF AUTUMN by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 25, "Enter a Serpent". Copyright © 1997 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Claire points out, unnecessarily, that they're in the middle of a war. "So I want you to think -- really think -- about how you'd feel if this morning was the last time you ever see your father."

William is still digesting this when he looks up to see Jamie in the distance, teaching Mandy to ride a pony. He abruptly recalls his own childhood at Helwater, when Mac the groom taught him to ride in exactly the same way.

I really liked the way they did this, because it brings back not only William's memories of "Mac" from Episode 304, "Of Lost Things", but also (for the viewers) recalls the scene in Episode 702, "The Happiest Place on Earth", where Jamie brings newborn Mandy to the stable and makes the following promise to her:

"Someday you'll ride him. Grandda will teach you. And you will be a braw equestrian." Awwww!

William is remembering more than just horse-riding lessons, of course. He has vivid memories of the day when he was six years old, when Mac left Helwater for good:

Willie knew how an earl should behave; he was making a masterful effort to subdue his tears, sniffing ferociously and swiping at his face with a sleeve.

“Allow me, my lord.” Jamie did kneel then, and wiped the little boy’s face gently with his own coarse handkerchief. Willie’s eyes looked at him over the cotton folds, red-rimmed and woeful.

“Have you really got to go, Mac?” he asked, in a very small voice.

“Aye, I have.” He looked into the dark blue eyes, so heartbreakingly like his own, and suddenly didn’t give a damn what was right or who saw. He pulled the boy roughly to him, hugging him tight against his heart, holding the boy’s face close to his shoulder, that Willie might not see the quick tears that fell into his thick, soft hair.

(From VOYAGER by Diana Gabaldon, Chapter 16, "Willie". Copyright © 1994 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

And of course he remembers their parting in Episode 304, "Of Lost Things", watching Jamie ride away, not looking back. Absolutely heartbreaking, for both of them!

The next scene, between Rachel and Fanny, is something I really didn't expect. Fanny is upset because some older boys at the trading post somehow got hold of the pamphlet containing Jane's confession. They were giving her a hard time because Jane was a murderer and died by suicide, so she must therefore be burning in Hell.

Fanny says she can't bear it, "the thought of her suffering, burning forever." Rachel suggests that she go and speak to Roger about it.

In the next scene, we're back in Lord John's house in Savannah. Amaranthus brings John a letter addressed to him. It turns out to be from Percy Beauchamp. He has news of Richardson, and asks John to meet him in three days to discuss the matter.

Book-readers can see where this is leading, of course. I wanted to yell at him, "It's a trap, John, don't go!"

Meanwhile, back on the Ridge, Jamie is training his militia, practicing drills on terrain similar to what they will encounter on Kings Mountain. This is vaguely inspired by the book, but in BEES Jamie was putting his men through cavalry drills, and here they're all on foot, scrambling up hills and among the trees.

Suddenly William rides up and joins Jamie. They make small talk for a bit, talking about the militia and the weather, nothing of importance, and then Aaron Whitaker (the free black man we met earlier in the season) approaches with some of his men. He says Ferguson attacked a settlement of free blacks nearby. These men fled, and now they want to join the militia. Jamie gladly accepts.

Jamie starts to walk away, but stops when William blurts out, "Hunting. We should go hunting. In the forest. Obviously in the forest. But together, you and I. If you have the time, or the inclination, for hunting in the forest."

William is clearly very embarrassed at the awkward way he phrased this invitation ("I don't know why I keep saying forest") but I liked that. It made him seem much less stiff and formal in his manner toward Jamie. They agree to meet the next morning, in the forest.

In the next scene, Roger is practicing singing a hymn for his ordination. It's good to hear him singing after all this time, but I still have to do a double take when I hear Roger singing with the same volume and power in his voice that he had before the hanging in Season 5. I have to remind myself that in the show, he recovered fairly quickly from the hanging and suffered no permanent damage to his voice, unlike Book Roger.

Fanny comes in silently and Roger asks what she thinks of the hymn. "Perhaps God is a great father to his sons, but I don't think he cares about his daughters." That's a depressing thought!

"Will you be different, once you're ordained?" she asks. The answer to that question comes straight from the book, but in BEES it was Jem who asked the question.

“Ye’ve seen when they ride out, your grandda lifts his sword or his rifle as the signal to start?”

Jem nodded enthusiastically, and Roger was obliged to admit that seeing Jamie do that sent a small thrill down his own spine.

“Well, see, that’s the signal that the men are to follow him and go where he leads them. If they come to a place where they need to go in a certain direction, quickly, he’ll draw his sword and point it in the way they should go, so they can all follow at once and not get lost."

“He’s still just who he is--your grandda, and your mam’s father, and a good man--but he’s also got to be a leader, and when he does that, he wears his leather waistcoat and he has his sword in his hand, so everyone knows he’s the leader. He doesna have to stop and explain it to anybody.”

Jem nodded again, listening intently.

“So, that’s sort of what it’s like for me to be ordained. Folk will know that I’m…a sort of leader. Being ordained is--my sword, in a way.” And with luck, they might pay attention to what I tell them, now and then…

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 70, "A Sword in My Hand". Copyright © 2005 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

The next morning, Jamie and William go hunting (in the forest, of course), and Jamie kills a stag. He says the gralloch prayer over the carcass.

“O Lord, bless the blood and the flesh of this the creature that You gave me,” Jamie said softly. He scooped a pinch of the herbs himself, and rubbed them between thumb and forefinger, in a rain of fragrant dust.

“Created by Your hand as You created man,
Life given for life.
That me and mine may eat with thanks for the gift,
That me and mine may give thanks for Your own sacrifice of blood and flesh,
Life given for life.”

(From A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 71, "Black Pudding". Copyright © 2005 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

William watches Jamie closely during this prayer, and when it's over, he apologizes for his outburst during the fishing trip. And then he begins to speak about his memories of Mac at Helwater.

"You were the one person in my life I wanted to emulate when I grew up. I worshipped you like a hero, as only a young boy truly can. I loved you. Then you left Helwater. Left me. And as you rode away, you never even looked back. I am your son! I didn't know it then, but you did. How could you leave me?"

So there it is at last: the question he's never been able to ask, hanging in the air between them.

Jamie explains that he did what he thought best at the time. "And no, I didna dare look back, lest the sight of your face shatter my resolve. I've regretted it for years. I ken the pain it caused ye, discovering the truth, and the manner in which it was revealed. For that I am deeply sorry, and I hope you can forgive me."

And William hugs him tight, crying.

This is a scene that I liked much better on the re-watch. I thought the whole scene was really well done. It was emotional, yes, but it was also a moment we've been waiting for, for a very long time. It did seem to me like a true catharsis, for both of them.

The next scene is also a moment we've been waiting for, but I found it a bit confusing. Was this actually Roger's ordination? It seems so, but I would have liked to see the actual moment of his ordination as a minister. As presented here, it seems like an ordinary church service, albeit with a bigger crowd than usual and the traveling minister standing before the congregation. The focus was much more on the singing than on this momentous event in Roger's life, and I found that disappointing.

In the middle of the hymn, Fanny pokes her head briefly in the door of the church, but quickly leaves again. Later, Roger comes to ask her why. "I can't stand to be in a place where my sister isn't welcome," she says simply.

Fanny seems sure that her sister committed a mortal sin, condemning her to Hell. Roger isn't so sure. "Different denominations have different beliefs." He suggests that she try talking to God herself. "Let Him know how you feel."

So Fanny goes to Jane's cairn and talks to her sister. "If you can hear me, Janie, please send me a sign."

And just like that, she looks down and finds a large, shiny green rock in the stream at her feet. It's apparently a raw emerald. The stone grows warm in her hand, then hot, and finally breaks into pieces in her hand, while she seems to be sensing the same "buzzing" sound that emanates from the stone circle at Craigh na Dun.

We've seen this before, in both books and show. There is a scene in Episode 511, "Journeycake" where Jemmy holds an opal that breaks apart like that -- from which they conclude that he's definitely a time-traveler. (The corresponding scene is in FIERY CROSS chapter 109 if you're interested.)

The same thing happened when Fanny picked up that raw emerald, so the conclusion is unmistakable: Fanny must be a time-traveler! (In the show, that is. We have ZERO evidence that she is a time-traveler in the books.) This is clearly intended as more evidence for the "Faith lived" theory. It remains to be seen what they'll do with this revelation in the two episodes remaining.

In the final scene, Lord John goes to meet Percy at the solicitor's office in Savannah. Percy has promised to give him news of Richardson.

"Well, don't keep me in suspense!" John says impatiently. " Where is the black-hearted scoundrel?"

Richardson steps into the room, holding a pistol. "You needn't look far," he says, and slugs John in the head with the gun. He falls unconscious to the floor. "Good to see you," he says, looking down at John's unmoving body, and the episode ends.
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I hope you enjoyed this recap. Please note that there will NOT be a new episode of OUTLANDER the week of May 1! Come back the following week for my recap of Episode 809, and look here for my recaps of all of the previous OUTLANDER episodes.

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