Recap of Outlander
Season 1, Episode 10:
By The Pricking of My Thumbs
The arrival of the Duke of Sandringham raises Jamie's hopes and Claire's suspicions. Meanwhile, Claire confronts romantic rival Laoghaire and sees a troubling new side of her friend, Geillis.
Tropes
- Abomination Accusation Attack: Jamie accuses the MacDonald boys of having relations with their mothers after they accuse him of being the Duke's lover (a grave insult in the 1740s). Both parties use very vulgar terms, leading to an all out fight with swords.
- All Gays Are Pedophiles: Murtagh and Jamie imply this, commenting on how keen the Duke was on Jamie when the younger man was a teenager.
- And I'm the Queen of Sheba: When Claire is arrested, she tries to stop them by telling them she's pointing out she's married to Jamie, the Laird's nephew. Unfortunately, they've only been back a few days and word of their marriage has not had time to spread, so as far as her jailers know, Jamie Fraser is an unmarried man. So the jailer responds, "Yeah, and I'm King Arthur."
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Despite the fact that Dougal spends all his time away from home and describes his wife as so homely not even a blind man could call her bonnie (pretty), he is genuinely broken hearted over her death.
- Backing Away Slowly: Murtaugh is giving Jamie and Claire a hard time about enjoying marital bliss a bit too much. Then he really takes a look at them and it becomes obvious that they were in the middle of something when he arrived. His eyes go wide, he gives Claire a curt nod, and then bodily turns to face Jamie.
- Bitch Slap: Claire slaps Laoghaire across the face after the girl implies that Jamie only married Claire because he felt bad for her and that he must have to get stone drunk to stand having sex with Claire.
- Bitter Almonds: Arthur Duncan is killed with cyanide and smells of bitter almonds.
- "Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: Claire promises her silent "friendship" about the Duke's Jacobite leanings in exchange for the letter Jamie needs to clear his name.
- Brave Scot: Jamie is able to take on all three MacDonald brothers in a sword fight by himself, emerging the clear victor.
- Changeling Tale: Claire discovers a baby that has been left to die. Geillis explains that the baby is sickly so the parents suspect that fairies have swapped out their healthy baby for a sickly changeling. They leave the baby in the woods so the fairies will be forced to swap back. When the baby dies, Claire is devastated, unable to understood how the parents could do such a thing. Jamie explains that it's easier for them to believe that the baby is a dead changeling and that their baby is healthy and living with the fairies.
- Duel to the Death: Averted. The men are only dueling until one party apologizes or one party dies. The Duke apologizes at the first opportunity and it is accepted, ending the duel.
- Entertainingly Wrong: Laoghaire is very sure that Jamie does not enjoy having sex with Claire.
- Fate Worse than Death: Ned believes that being stripped of rank and power and being imprisoned for life would be a worse punishment for Jack Randall than simply being allowed to hang.
- Feuding Families: The Frasers and the MacDonalds are notoriously at odds to the point that Murtagh is willing to abandon their plans to influence the Duke if it means having to risk clashing with the MacDonalds while on the MacKenzie land.
- Fisticuff-Provoking Comment: The MacDonald boys attack Jamie after he implies that they are literal mother fuckers.
- Five Stages of Grief: Dougal is definitely stuck in anger, raging in the dining hall, lashing out at his men with his sword as he screams at the heavens. It's stark contrast from the normally very put together man.
- Forced from Their Home: Colum banishes Dougal, Jamie, Rupert, and Angus from Castle Leoch indefinitely as punishment for failure to respect his authority as Laird and committing acts that risked unleash inter-clan conflict.
- Foreshadowing: In Geillis's Magic Dance, she refers to the "Earth Mother" and the "Goddess", terms from modern syncretic neopagan religions.
- Gasshole: Arthur Duncan is having sever gastrointestinal issues.
- The Gambling Addict: The Duke has been challenged to a duel for failure to pay a gambling debt. He admits that he has trouble resisting a good game of maw, despite not being very good at the game.
- Internal Reveal: Claire lets Jaime and Murtaugh know that the Duke of Sandringham is a patron of Jack Randall, a fact that Claire and the viewers have known since the first episode.
- Interrupted Intimacy: Claire and Jamie are starting they're day with some sexy time when Murtagh begins pounding on the door. The couple is disinclined to stop and Jamie only begrudgingly allows Murtagh in once Claire has finished.
- Magic Dance: Claire finds Geillis engaging in a Nude Nature Dance as she performs an incantation that she believes will cause Dougal's wife to fall ill and die.
- Modesty Bedsheet: All Claire is wearing when Murtaugh comes into tell Jamie about the Duke's arrival.
- Open Secret: All the men are aware that the Duke prefers the company of other men, but because of the times and his societal status no one confronts him on it.
- The Reveal:
- Dougal is married
- Dougal and Geillis are having an affair and Geillis is pregnant with his child.
- Sex Dressed: Murtagh bursts in to the bedroom to tell Jamie the news about the Duke arriving. He begins with giving Jamie a hard time about being a newlywed making him sluggish and slow to answer Murtagh's hails. Then he realizes that Jamie is disheveled, wearing only a pair of poorly fastened trousers and Claire is in bed and looks mere seconds post act.
- A Simple Plan: Jamie hopes to parlay the Duke's interest in him to get a pardon for the crime he's been framed for. It escalates into Jamie having to participate in a duel, getting stabbed, stabbing three members of a rival clan, and getting banished from Castle Leoch, forbidden to take Claire with him. Without Jamie's protection, Claire is arrested for witchcraft.
- Stalker with a Crush: Laoghaire swears that she and Jamie are destined to be and that Claire is standing in the way of true love. She resorts to putting ill-wish charms under Claire's bed, hoping to make her deathly ill.
