"The tide has turned."
Hello everyone!
As a very helpful Claire points out: the dates that we have in our heads are for when the Declaration of Independence was signed, not for when the war actually began.
That stuff, the scary, shoot-people and stab the rest kind of deal?
That starts WAY before anything can ever be signed.
And it's that which worries anyone who has a modicum of knowledge when it comes to the future, among other things. But there's a lot to unpack for this episode, even though my personal favourites will be and always remain the guest stars.
Listen, Starz, can you just, ignore whatever prequel thing you're doing for Outlander and give us a Lord John spin-off instead?
Much obliged. But Give Me Liberty first.
Give Me Liberty finds our favourite couple in Wilmington to listen to the address of none other than Flora MacDonald, the same Flora who helped Bonnie Prince Charlie escape to the Isle of Skye dressed as a woman.
Cowardice? Or courage to brave the potential discovery from the British?
Either way, Jamie has a bone to pick with some people there, and some people there have a bone to pick with him.
See, the Governor received his letter of resignation, and he complains to - drumroll please - none other than our very own Lord John (the amazing David Berry) that Fraser could become a problem because he can raise a militia to back him, so they kinda NEED him on their side.
Lord John, wondering why on this flat Earth does he have to continuously keep saving one Fraser or another, assures his buddy that Jamie Fraser is loyal. For real guys, he's as loyal as can be (psyche).
But that doesn't mean he won't go and investigate, especially because the Sons of Liberty are getting bolder and bolder AND seem to be recruiting none other than Fraser himself. Speaking of Fraser, after Claire reminds Jamie it's time to pledge allegiance to this new nation, or there might not be any United States ever, he promises to attend the Sons of Liberty meeting the next evening.
First though, he has to have some family reunions, including but not limited to Aunt Jocasta (Maria Doyle Kennedy is gracious as always) and Lord John himself, who waxes poetic about William and his scholarly progress. It's an interesting conundrum these people find themselves in, really, as they all know who William's real father is (Jamie) but the man who raised him is someone else entirely (John).
ANYWAY, turns out these Scots all know one another somehow (it's the Scots, were we expecting something different?), Major MacDonald is annoyed Jamie didn't tell him about his resignation before-hand, and the address Flora gives the others gathered there tries to bid for peace.
Unfortunately, no matter Jocasta's scheming and paying for that address (and she also bought a printer out and sent Fergus to the shop to take over, so Marsali and the kids will be leaving Fraser's Ridge and heading to New Bern), the liberation movement from the taxes the King imposes on his colonies (among other things) is already much too far gone. Jamie, too, is gone deep down the rabbit hole now, and he outright tells his aunt that he knows Fergus is now beholden to Jocasta and has to print what she tells him to - but given the atmosphere, if something happens to him, he's holding her personally responsible.
Jamie knows what he's on about. He and John went into town earlier to save a man from being tarred and feathered for printing a flier Jocasta herself sent to be multiplied, in a show of support for the British - and nearly got tarred himself.
He finally comes clean to John that he's not going to play double agent any longer, because it never served him before, and he's standing with the America that's rising. If John ever cared for him, he would hold back the soldiers headed for the Sons of Liberty meeting, if possible.
Naturally said Sons of Liberty are also there turning up their noses because Jamie saved the printer, and Jamie's just about had enough of people who think they're better than others. He's seen it happen too many times before, and in what I consider a fantastic piece, the show utilizes all the power James Fraser actually has, as orator, as a man of the people, and as someone who IS actually dangerous to any leader showing up because he's a natural-born one and men gravitate towards him and his inbred sense of justice.
He also conveniently saves the lot of them from being arrested. As you do.
But it's time to head home, and while Claire thinks she hears a song that's not supposed to exist yet (she does, in fact, from someone imprisoned with an emerald in his possession he stole off Flora MacDonald earlier, indicating TIME TRAVEL, PEOPLE!), home has been tumultuous at best.
Bree warns Roger that he's spending too much time with a widow and her son, who needs to find a husband of her own, and gossip may already be running amok. He doesn't see it that way, but he does concede to Brianna and sends of someone else to look in on said widow later - after finding said someone with his hand up Malva Christie's skirt while he's helping Tom Christie set up a church bell.
Malva unleashes her true colours then, spitting she'll tell everyone how she saw Roger and the widow kissing, and that everyone will believe her, too, which still boggles my mind and it boggled me when I read it, come to think of it: WHY would anyone believe a newcomer they've only just met over their more-or-less minister who they've known for years at this point? Like, where does this hole get stuffed up with logic?
Anyway, there's more to it than that. The women find what looks to be a love spell, and it turns out MALVA is the one who set it up, using actual fingerbones from the sin eater we met earlier in the season. And she is ... disturbed is a pretty good word I'd use for the girl, honestly.
However, in happier news, Bree is pregnant again! And Marsali figures it out all on her own, but Roger needs to be told, so there's some brightness on the horizon for the Ridge after all, amid all the gathering clouds.
Honorary mention goes to Claire giving Jocasta hemp seeds to smoke to ease her pain, which, honestly, I can't even LOL. But then again Claire goes and uses some ether afterwards with memories of Paris invading (I kind of thought she wasn't even bothered by what she and the King got up to so she could get Jamie out of prison?). Things are beginning to turn down a much darker path now and with three more episodes this season, it's bound to be explosive.
Tune in again next week!
xx
*images and video not mine
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