Outlander – S4E6 – Blood of My Blood

Previously on Outlander, “Savages”

It doesn’t seem to matter what country Jamie lives in, John Grey is going to accidentally run into him. This time, it’s in the backwoods of North Carolina and right on Jamie’s doorstep. He’s brought his son with him—er, Jamie’s son—who Claire and Murtagh find sitting in the woods alone waiting for his Father of the Year to return. They all converge on the cabin at the same time, because this show is nothing if not a series of happy accidents. Murtagh isn’t as thrilled about Lord John’s surprise visit; the last time they knew each other Murtagh was dying in prison under John’s watch, so there might be a touch of bad blood there.

John and William are going to be spending the night at Fraser’s Ridge, though thank God Murtagh isn’t staying after he starts a political argument with John over dinner. It’d be nothing but awkward to sleep in a one room house with someone who would probably slit your throat. Murtagh’s real hot about Jamie’s friendship with John and has a little fit about it before storming off into the night.

The Frasers are so close to getting some alone time together right up until John comes down with a fever and has to be put to bed. It’s most likely the same measles that the Muellers had, and since William has never had it he and Jamie have to disappear until John is better. Jamie’s not mad at it; he’ll get some time alone with his son, who so far is kind of a shit. He might have learned it from his adoptive father, because John is being kind of a shit to Claire (while she’s keeping him from dying, no less). Claire is being a shit right back, but that’s the least surprising thing to happen so far, because she is still Claire. They basically argue about who Jamie loves the most before they finally decide to call it a draw.  

Jamie and Willie spend some QT time in the woods, noodling for fish and hunting deer and all of the usual secret father/illegitimate son business. He’s still a shitty kid, all demanding and haughty, but underneath all of that entitlement he’s also a kid scared that his dad is going to die. But since no one on this show ever really dies, he has nothing to worry about.

When Jamie wakes up and William is missing, he tracks him beyond the boundary of Cherokee land. William is catching fish for their breakfast, but since it’s not his land, he’s actually stealing fish, a detail not unnoticed by the band of Cherokee that come down the hill after Jamie. The warriors demand to be paid in blood, and a lot of scuffle takes place where Jamie offers himself instead and then William grows the hell up and jumps in front of Jamie to save him. Maybe the Cherokee are impressed by William’s bravery, or maybe they were just fucking with him the whole time, because their “blood debt” is a slight scratch made to William’s hand with an axe. Either way, they’re appeased, William stopped being a shit for a minute, and no one walked away with bloody stumps. It’s a win-win, right?

John sure is acting like he’s going to die, making some mortifying confessions to Claire about his now-dead wife and his undying passion for Jamie. He’s probably going to wish he was dead when he remembers everything he said in the morning. But die he does not, and when he wakes up he has to make a red-faced apology to Claire for behaving like a giant baby. Claire has some apologies to make of her own, and they actually find some common ground, having both been married to really good people that loved them more than they deserved.

There’s a happy reunion at the Fraser’s cabin when Jamie and William make it back, and now that John is on the mend they can get on the road to Virginia. Jamie and Claire finally get to be alone together, and I was so certain that Ian and Rollo would come bounding in any second to ruin it. Instead, Jamie presents her with a new wedding ring to replace the one that was stolen, and covers her with a thousand kisses.