Catherine: Hi, Stephanie! This episode about a witchcraft trial was complex and shocking. It had terrible moments but what marked the highlight for me was when Claire made the noble decision to burn at the stake with Geillis rather than renounce her friend as a witch and save her own life. We’ve seen Claire struggle and mourn from the suffering and violence around her but we’ve never seen her risk her own life for the aid of another. We’re over halfway through the season and this is the first time we’ve seen her lay down her life for another and I love this show for putting this action in late rather than early in the season. Claire is a difficult and irritating character and she’s not generous or selfless. She borders on the unlikeable and that’s what makes her great. Why does this make her great? Because we’re oversaturated with generous selfless women in TV, movies, and books. And Claire is one of the few women on TV that marches to the beat of her own drum and doesn’t live to scatter kindness and care onto others everywhere she goes.

Stephanie: So this week has one of my favorite reveals from the book: Geillis’ smallpox scar. When she tells Claire “1968” among the chaotic shouts in the courtroom, then reveals her own scar, I got chills! And just when we’re at the brink of finding out more about the time travel, Geillis is literally being pulled out of the room to burn at the stake! You can’t get more dramatic than that. If only Claire and Geillis had revealed their vaccination scars while down in the prisonhold, they could have discovered so much.

Catherine: And what a way to find out that her friend has a smallpox scar. It was super hard to watch Geillis “hamming it up” so the crowd would completely turn on her and forget Claire and Jamie, giving them time to flee. Geillis’ smallpox scar became the “mark of Satan” and Geillis proceeded to give a performance to the ravenous crowd. She ripped of her clothes (why is there so much bodice ripping on this show? Oh yeah duh) and gyrated her pregnant body in front of the seething crowd. It was horrifying to see a pregnant woman sacrifice her naked body to a blood thirsty crowd. That scene will stay with me for a long time. So that was shocking but it’s also awful because Geillis is most likely dead and we’ll never know her backstory and how she also time traveled to Scotland!

Stephanie: My first thought when the crowd started jeering during the trial was, “that’s the Internet.” The collective mob is never going to be reasonable, not in 1700-whenever, and still not today. You can’t reason with a mob. Though I appreciated that we the audience had another modern viewpoint with the lawyer, Ned Gowan. Maybe he’s just the stereotypical lawyer turning the argument on its head, but he at least provided some reason we could latch onto while Laoghaire and others ripped into Claire and Geillis in a public shaming. Laoghaire … how I wanted her to realize the consequences her jealousy has caused, but she truly believes Jamie is meant for her, and I think she really wants Claire dead. That’s ugly, and pretty much saps any further innocence the girl offered. Geillis’ confession and the spectacle that followed felt truly moving-she’s giving up her own life and her child’s! I think you’re right to note that Claire is not always the most giving of people-she gives under her own terms. What Geillis has done will likely have a lasting effect.

Catherine: Geillis turned out to be one of the best friends Claire will ever have. Maybe the best of the best. And damn, isn’t that good to see on TV? Not women fighting each other and being petty and mean but genuinely helping each other. Despite that, I’m pretty bummed Geillis is dead (or likely dead? never say die when it comes to television shows) and I’m also irritated that Claire didn’t tell Geillis the truth about her time traveling self during their last few minutes in that room. If she had…! Another thing that irritated me was Claire’s clothes being ripped off Again. And she was physically abused yet again. There needs to be a break and soon on all this violence done to women on the show (and every other show, thank you very much).

Stephanie: Well, premium cable TV and clothes being ripped off women seem to go together. Isn’t that awful? I don’t recall the specifics of the book, whether this action is described, but people are constantly tortured and brutalized in the book, so it does seem the show is taking a faithful adaptation. It’s still disturbing to see a pregnant woman exposed and carried off like that, and the show does a good job at inciting that reaction of injustice in the viewer. Like, that whole town can burn for all I care. Get Jamie and Claire and Geillis out of there and see ya villagers. So, moving on to Jamie and his heroic moment in the courtroom. He does have a knack for showing up just in time, right? His expression of horror didn’t linger long before he threatened everyone. Can you imagine, your own spouse being put to death and you aren’t even there? Aren’t even informed? Even in that day and age, people know that’s wrong.

Catherine: Jamie’s role in life is twofold for this series: save Claire and have a great sex life with her. So he has to keep saving her so he can do that sexual stuff. Beyond that…oh yeah, he’s muscle for the MacKenzie clan. When he showed up at the courtroom, I busted out laughing. Of course, he showed up! Of course! But where was Dougal MacKenzie, Geillis’ lover? We were never told how Jamie made it over so fast (the imprisonment and trial were only two days) and why Dougal didn’t bother to save Geillis and his child. But handwave, handwave, handwave. It’s all irrelevant because the witch must burn and Claire must be saved. And for all Claire’s independent and modern ways, she’s constantly getting saved. Even Geillis saved her this time. Which kinda negates all that independence. In fact, it’s her independent willfulness putting her into scrapes and forcing others to save her! Which works for what this series wants to do but it’s also a belief deeply ingrained in our culture. Look at Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Cinderella. All these women are waiting to be saved and Claire is their modern counterpart.

Stephanie: Well, we do know Colum Mackenzie laid down the hurt with Dougal on any intentions to run off with Geillis, so it’s possible Dougal is still off on that distraction mission or held up by Colum in some way. Or Dougal is being faithful to Colum and letting Geillis die. I hope we find out more. Even though Jamie showed up to save the day, he was outnumbered, and in the end, I agree Geillis saved Claire by confessing and playing up the evil spirits angle. That’s why I think Geillis’ sacrifice will have a lasting effect on Claire, because Claire is stubborn and doesn’t like being saved. But she needed Geillis to do that or she’d be dead.

The other big reveal this episode is Claire’s confession to Jamie how she ended up in Scotland. And how about Jamie’s reaction? Right about now the romance hero trope rings its bell loud and clear. Jamie patiently listens to Claire explain she’s not a witch. Nope, she just happened to time travel from two hundred years in the future where people walk free from disease and frolic by magic rocks. And then he believes her! Now, I’m not saying I’d prefer Jamie to not believe her, but to see him swiftly take command of the courtroom to stop his wife from being beaten, to then quietly listening to what by all accounts is very likely witchcraft in his eyes, well, you can’t get much more Gold Star Romance Hero than that. This is why Outlander has legions of fans; Jamie is a rescuing hero, AND he listens.

Catherine: The ease in which he accepted her birthdate was nearly as shocking as Geillis’ getting hauled off naked to be burned. After Claire told him the truth about her origins, he stared off into the distance, the wheels slowly creaked in his head, and then he accepted her story. ??? I missed something here. Where is the confusion, the bafflement, the mind hurting to accept such an insane idea? Is this man human? No, like you said, he’s the Gold Star Romance Hero. He’s a romantic ideal and as a result, so much meaningful human growth and connection is missed. Jamie doesn’t grow in this show. He accepts whatever he’s assigned to do and believes whatever he’s told as the truth. But for that matter, Claire has not grown much either. She’s still as headstrong and obstinate as she was from the beginning. I’d like to see both of them move out of their tropes and into character growth and development. It’s an ideal wish but this show is willing to be complex and edgy.

Stephanie: Well, at least with TV, there are more episodes, and more complications, so Jamie will have his chance to lash out about Claire’s past at some point. That’s prime stuff to hurl during an argument, so let’s check in on that later when things aren’t so rosy! After their heart-to-heart in the woods, Jamie intends to bring Claire to Lallybroch, his land and estate. Only he takes her to the stones instead. Jamie again sacrifices for Claire. He clearly loves her based on his complete trust of her time travel story, and yet he presents her with the choice to freely leave. Claire, after being imprisoned and so close to death, is not prepared to confront returning to her time so suddenly. I like how the show presented her actions as vague-did she test the stones and find they didn’t work? Or did she intentionally not attempt to go back, actually choosing Jamie over Frank? As viewers, we’re as uncertain as Claire. I’m looking forward to next week; the title of the episode is Lallybroch, so we’ll get a taste of the life Claire has supposedly chosen over returning to her time.

Catherine: I also liked how we didn’t know if she attempted to travel back or not by using the stones. The show’s dancing around the supernatural once again and it works well. Next week is Lallybroch and maybe an introductory of some of Jamie’s relatives too. After all, someone has to be holding down the fort while he’s off fighting and hiding. Maybe his sister will be there and she and Claire will have a heart to heart over Black Jack’s violent assaults. Jamie’s sister was revealed as being Jack’s victim on an earlier episode some time ago. With Geillis gone, Claire needs to have another female friend. Here’s hoping! Till next week!

Catherine Eaton is a contributor to The Stake. Catherine is a writer living in a western suburb of Chicago. She blogs over at sparrowpost.com and enjoys foraging around the neighborhood in her spare time.

Stephanie Scott is a Young Adult writer living in the western Chicago suburbs. Library superfan, award-winning TV-binger, and she just might be your cat’s new best friend. She tweets at @StephScottYA.

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