Recap of Outlander
Season 7, Episode 2:
The Happiest Place On Earth
Tropes
- Asshole Victim:
- Allan Christie. Everyone around him has suffered because of his despicable behavior. Malva and her unborn baby have died. Claire and Jamie were attacked and nearly killed. Tom has turned himself in for murder. Richard Brown and his crew (whom Allan called to the Ridge) have all been violently dispatched. And it's all because Allan couldn't accept that his sister didn't want to marry him or have anyone know that he'd impregnated her.
- Wendigo and his crew. They break into the Frasers' home, start demanding jewels, and begin breaking things when the Frasers insist they don't have any. Wendigo and his friends' malicious ransacking of Claire's cabinets knocks over a container of ether and then their stupidity of lighting a match seals their fate.
- Breaking the Fellowship: Jamie and Lord John mutually agree that it is no longer safe for them to have contact with one another. After expressing that they consider each other true friends and that they hope to renew their friendship at the war's conclusion, they part ways.
- Brother–Sister Incest: Allan reveals that he and Malva have been having sex for quite a while. Based on her body language and facial expressions during the flashbacks, it was not at all consensual.
- The Bus Came Back: William returns on-screen for the first time since season 4's "Blood of my Blood". Lord John returns for the first time since Season 6's "Give me Liberty."
- Call-Back:
- When Lord John tries to convince Jamie to fight for the Crown, Jamie invokes Murtaugh's death in Season 5 at the Battle of Alamance. Jamie tells John that as he carried Murtaugh's body from the battlefield, he swore he would never fight for the Crown again.
- While saying goodbye to Brianna, Claire comforts her by saying that she too had to go through the stones to save her baby, calling back to the events of the Season 2 finale.
- Chekhov's Time Travel: The MacKenzies have been considering returning to the 20th century since about midway through season 5. However, Amanda's heart condition that is completely fatal in the 18th century but can be fairly easily treated with modern medicine forces their hand, requiring them to travel through the stones to save her life.
- Conflicting Loyalty: Jamie makes it clear that he is going to side with the rebels while Lord John tells Jamie that there's no way he, a lifelong British soldier, could ever take up arms against the King.
- Due to the Dead: Averted. Allan is buried in secret with no ceremony. Fitting since that is what he and Tom wanted to do to Malva for being pregnant out of wedlock.
- Fetch Quest: The family spends a chunk of the episode trying to secure four jewels so all four of the MacKenzies can time travel.
- Friendship Trinket: Lord John's sapphire trinket that he carries as a reminder of Jamie.
- Heel–Face Turn: Mrs. Bug was one of the primary gossip mongers casting aspersions against the Frasers. After Tom's confession is published in the paper and the Frasers have returned home, she finds Claire and Young Ian burying Allan Christie. She helps and says that she never trusted the Christies.
- If I Can't Have You…: Allan beat Malva when he found out she'd slept with other men and then murdered her to keep her from being with anyone else after she refused to run away with him and pretend to be husband and wife.
- If Only You Knew:
- William speaks of his desire to go to Boston, the heart of the revolution, and help put down the rebels by force. Brianna, who knows the British are destined to lose, points out that there are more diplomatic ways to settle agreements. But William, a young soldier, can't imagine any reason why a massive show of force is not the proper response.
- Lord John quotes the British Parliament which describes the American colonists as "son[s] who [have] dishonored [their] father. And we must teach [them] a lesson." However, Jamie knows from his time-traveling family that Parliament is overly confident in their ability to put the Americans in their "proper" place. Later, John asks if Jamie seriously thinks that they can oppose the Crown and win. Jamie knows for a fact that the answer is "yes."
- Ignorant About Fire: Wendigo ignores Claire's warning not to light a match in a room full of ether gas. This results in him and crew dying in massive explosion.
- Incest-ant Admirer: Allan wanted Malva to be his always, but she wanted to marry any man who would have her as long as it would get her away from Allan.
- Kick the Dog: Wendigo's men are shown maliciously destroying extremely valuable and hard-to-procure medical supplies because they are upset they can't find the jewels they insistently believe the Frasers are hiding.
- Killed Mid-Sentence: Allan is gearing up for another rant about how he can't live without Malva or with what he did to her, when Young Ian obliges him with an arrow in the back.
- Manly Tears: Lord John and Jamie are both visibly blinking back tears after reluctantly agreeing to end their decades long friendship.
- Memento MacGuffin: Lord John's sapphire trinket that he's had since season 3 as a reminder of his friendship with Jamie. Unbeknownst to him, it is needed to help the MacKenzies through the stones.
- Murder-Suicide: Averted. Allan killed Malva then returns to grieve over her grave. After a sickening rant about how much he enjoyed sleeping with his sister and how she should have always been his and his alone, he attempts to take his own life. Claire stops him and tries to convince him to go somewhere else to start over, but he is instead shot from behind by Ian.
- Oh, Crap!: Subverted. Lord John is visibly panicked to see Brianna approach as William is by his side. He's also scanning to see if Jamie is in the area. But after a few moments, he is able to gather his bearings and make proper introductions.
- Rape and Revenge: Young Ian kills Allan after hearing him confess to repeatedly raping, beating, and eventually murdering Malva.
- The Reveal: The mystery of who murdered Malva is finally resolved. Allan admits that he murdered her because she refused to marry him after becoming pregnant with his child. She then began sleeping with several other men to cover up the shame of being pregnant with her brother's child.
- Screaming Birth: The opening scene after the cold open is of Brianna giving birth to baby Mandy.
- Secret-Keeper: Lord John says there are only five people who know the truth of William's paternity, two of whom have taken the secret to their grave.
- Sex for Solace: Averted. Clearly sad, Claire starts to have sex with Jamie, but soon stops and begins sobbing. She tells him that she feels like they've lost everyone and may never get them back. Instead of having sex, they end up cuddling while Claire cries out her grief.
- Shout-Out: To Disneyland and Mickey Mouse.
- Sibling Murder: Allan is revealed to be the true murderer of Malva.
- Smug Snake: Wendigo is super smarmy when he thinks he has the upperhand on the Frasers.
- Time-Shifted Actor: 18 year old William is now played by adult actor Charles Vandervaart. The character was previously portrayed as a newborn by an unnamed actor (season 3), as roughly 6 years old by Clark Butler (season 3), and roughly 13 years old (season 4) by Oliver Finnigan.
- Unknown Relative: Brianna and William finally meet. However, only Brianna knows that they are related. William has not yet learned the truth of his parentage.
