Recap of Outlander
Season 1, Episode 4:
The Gathering
I come to you as kinsman and as ally. But I give ye no vow. For my oath is pledged to the name that I bear. I give you my obedience as kinsman and as laird. And I hold myself bound to your word so long as my feet rest on the lands of the clan MacKenzie.
-Jamie Fraser
As the Castle prepares for The Gathering, Claire makes plans to escape Castle Leoch. Meanwhile, Jamie is conspicuously absent from the oath-taking ceremony which could have awful results if not handled carefully. After a dangerous encounter with a drunken Dougal and other clan members, both Claire and Jamie find their careful plans thwarted.
Tropes
- Actually Pretty Funny: Jamie breaks out in laughter upon hearing that Claire clobbered Dougal with a stool and left him unconscious in a hallway.
- Attempted Rape: Claire is cornered by three drunk Clans men. The dialogue is Gaelic, but it's very clear that they intend to assault her. At the last moment, Dougal shows up and very literally kicks them in the seat of their pants for their behavior. Of course, Dougal is also drunk and starts to give Claire unwanted attention, leading to him getting a chair across the face so Claire continue her escape attempt.
- Bait-and-Switch: The episode opens with Claire running through a forest, breathing heavily, being chased, while armed, posted sentries aim guns at spot where it appears she'll emerge into the clearing, leading the viewer to think Claire is making a break for Inverness. However, it turns out she is playing a game of tag with some of the kids from the castle. The men are on watch and return to simply watching once they identify that the ruckus is innocuous.
- Big Beautiful Woman: Claire distracts Rupert and Angus by suggesting a woman across the courtyard is eyeing them. The woman would be considered heavy set and possibly homely by modern standards but in the 1740s, a woman having a thick build indicated that she was financially stable to have more than enough food and likely a good cook as well, making her very attractive to potential suitors. Angus even calls her a "real pie eater" and says he prefers hens with "a bit of extra meat" in a tone of voice that clearly indicates that it's a compliment.
- Catchphrase: When Claire trips over Jamie, causing her to fall, she yelps "Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ" as she often does when she's startled. Jamie replies, "No, Sassenach. Just me."
- Comfort the Dying: Dougal and Claire do this for Geordi once they realize he can't be save. Dougal assures the man he'll stay with him to the end and Claire asks him to describe his home so that his final thoughts are of family and safety.
- Conflicting Loyalty: Despite Colum being his uncle, Jamie can not swear fealty to Clan MacKenzie because he is part of Clan Fraser through his father's line.
- Creator Cameo: Diana Galbadon cameos as Iona who snarks off with Mrs. Fitz. Iona gives a backhanded compliment about the state of the castle and Mrs. Fitz replies with a backhanded compliment, telling that her dress is just as lovely as when she wore it the last time they all gathered.
- The Darkness Before Death: Geordi's vision fades to black as he's dying and he calls out for Dougal who assures the man he's still there with him.
- Didn't Think This Through: Jamie points out that the flaw in Claire's plan is that it's based on intel gathered on a normal day. With all the family gathered, there are more sentries than usual on duty and in different locations, every fighting man the clan has is available on hand including their best trackers, and Claire's attempting to escape at night on an unfamiliar horse. She's sure to be caught.
- Exact Words: When Geillis asks about Claire's husband, Claire once again tries to answer with "He's not alive." But Geillis presses and specifically asks "So, he's dead?" forcing Claire to lie and specifically say that her husband is dead.
- The Grand Hunt: The gathering ends with the men going on a boar hunt. Claire initially think it's stupid how heavily armed they are until she is nearly charged by a boar, one member of the party is maimed and another is killed.
- Ironic Nickname: Claire is concerned to hear that her horse is named Brimstone, but the stable hand assures her that it's like calling a tall man "wee", the horse is actually very gentle.
- I Warned You: Claire is told early in the episode that Jamie would not be around during the gathering and that it was best he be left to his own devices until it was over. When her escape attempt gets Jamie dragged to the carpet and she realizes that his life is now at risk, she tells Murtagh it's all her fault. Murtagh simply agrees that, yes, this is her fault.
- Love Hungry: Laoghaire approaches Claire to request a love potion to make Jamie fall in love with her. Claire tries to tell her that she doesn't make potions, but decides it's harmless and gives her dried, powdered horse dung and tells her to sprinkle it on Jamie's threshhold.
- Mercy Kill: When it becomes clear that Geordi won't survive his injuries, Dougal loosens the tourniquet Claire had initially fastened, allowing him to bleed out quickly rather than malingering for days as his gruesome stomach wound becomes infected and fatal.
- Mistaken for Pregnant: Inverted. Geillis doesn't truly believe Claire is pregnant. She's trying to shock her into admitting more than Claire wants to since a pregnancy rumor for an unmarried woman like Claire would be ruinous.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: To make sure she doesn't get accosted by any drunkards, Jamie accompanies Claire back to the castle after her failed escape attempt. He is caught by some of his fellow clans men who force him to dress for and attend the oath swearing ceremony. Jamie had been avoiding the ceremony as he cannot swear fealty to Laird Colum.
- Nosy Neighbor: Claire returns to the surgery only to find Geillis there, looking around and asking questions about Claire's plans for the next few days.
- Reality Has No Subtitles: The gathering is held in Gaelic. The audience is not clued in until Murtagh begins translating for Claire.
- Sadistic Choice: Jamie is avoiding the oath-taking ceremony for multiple reasons. First, he is related to the MacKenzies through his mother's line, but as Laird of another clan on his father's side, he cannot swear fealty to another. Second, if he swears fealty, that would put him in the line of succession for Leoch, which Dougal would kill him before allowing. However, if he doesn't swear fealty, he'll be killed by the MacKenzie clan for offending their Laird on his own property.
- Shout-Out: Claire tells Laoghaire to spread the "love potion" on Jamie's threshold, stand outside the door, and tap her heels together three times while reciting "there's no place like love".
- Suggestive Collision: A very mild version. Not realizing Jamie is sleeping in the barn, Claire trips over his sleeping body as she makes her way to her getaway horse. She falls and lands right next to him. They can now say they've had a roll in the hay!
- Take a Third Option: When forced to attend the oath-taking ceremony, Jamie acknowledges that he can not swear fealty to Clan MacKenzie because he is already sworn to his father's clan. However, he swears obedience to Colum as long as he resides on MacKenzie land. This is enough to satisfy Colum.
- Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier: Played with. Although Claire and Angus both speak English, Claire is using medical terminology from the 20th century that he has no way of recognizes and mistakes for Spanish. It's fair play given how often the men use Gaelic to exclude Claire from the jokes and information.Claire: (describing the spiked wine) It's a sedative.Angus: Is that Spanish?
- Too Injured to Save: Geordi's stomach wound is too severe to remedy, even with Claire's knowledge of twentieth century medicine.
- Trail of Bread Crumbs: While playing in the forest with the children, Claire surreptitiously uses her ribbons, bows, and trinkets to mark the best path to the castle perimeter.
- Unnecessary Roughness: Upset about Geordi's death during the hunt, Dougal joins the game of field hockey. The game flips from easy fun to being filled with brutal bodychecks that would make the average NHL player wince. Dougal manages a handful of shots on Jamie before Jamie has had enough and flips Dougal over his back, slamming him to the ground, bringing the game to a conclusion.
- We Need a Distraction: Claire slips her guards by distracting them with women and wine.
- What Did I Do Last Night?: Jamie is pretty sure Dougal probably drank too much to remember Claire hitting him with a stool.
