Recap of Outlander
Season 2, Episode 5:
Untimely Resurrection
Jamie and Claire have to deal with the fallout from their chaotic dinner party. With Frank's future existence now at risk, Claire intervenes in a budding relationship. Meanwhile, having been invited by the Duke to examine horses, Claire and Jamie get a brutal surprise when Black Jack comes to French Court.
Tropes
- Abuse Mistake: Alex is held in jail on charges of rape
- Always a Bigger Fish: Captain Randall has grown accustomed to menacing the Frasers at will. He attempts to do so at Versaille only to get a reminder that he is not an apex predator in France, which is beyond his military jurisdiction. King Louis, who has taken a liking to the Frasers, immediately cottons to the tension between Claire and Randall and spends the rest of the scene mocking Randall who can do nothing but stand silently while he's insulted by the King.
- Blaming the Victim: After being raped, Mary is labeled "soiled goods" and the agreement for her arranged marriage is scrapped. Her uncle has confined her to the house and she's to be shipped back home to England once she heals from her injuries.
- The Bus Came Back: Supposedly convalescing in England after an injury "in the line of duty", Jack Randall has come to help his younger brother who has run into legal trouble.
- Break the Haughty; Mild but still there as within five minutes of meeting the King, Randall is forced to get on his knees, laughed at and mocked on his uniform. Seeing the usually arrogant Black Jack get a dose of his own medicine is priceless.
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Claire insists that Jamie can't kill Black Jack until he takes a wife so that Frank can be born.
- Conflicting Loyalty: Claire struggles between supporting Jamie's desire for revenge and protecting Frank's right to exist.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Despite being a generally despicable person, Randall says he has come to France on an errand of mercy, hoping to help his younger brother regain his footing. As he arrives in his military regalia, he appears prepared to use his own good standing to make arrangements.
- False Rape Accusation: Mary's uncle swears out a complaint saying he personally witnessed Alex sexually assaulting Mary.
- Framing the Guilty Party: To put off the duel, Claire accuses Randall of being the one who attacked her in the previous episode. She knows it won't last but just needs time to talk Jamie down from killing Randall yet.
- Gossip Evolution: Jamie claims that he is married to a white witch who would damn his soul if he was unfaithful. This evolves in to the street thugs running away in fear of La Dame Blanche who can judge a man's soul with a single look in the eyes and condemn their soul to hell if she glimpsed any hint of evil.
- Heroic Vow:
- Inverted. Claire uses Jamie's honor against him by making him swear to spare Jack Randall's life for one year.
- Murtagh swears to Jamie that he will find Mary's rapist and bring the man to justice on pain of having his soul damned to hell if he fails to do so.
- Immediate Sequel: This episode picks up in the aftermath of the previous episode's brawl. The servants are still cleaning up the mess.
- Incurable Cough of Death: Alex's sickly cough is getting noticeably worse, now requiring him to rest after coughing bouts.
- It's Personal: Bent on avenging the rape he describes a destruction of his very soul, Jamie literally takes the stance that he refuses to live in a world where Jack Randall is allowed to live.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Alex is regretfully willing to forego marrying Mary so as not to doom her to a life of poverty.
- Language Fluency Denial: Played with. St Germain and Jamie both speak French and English. However, they refuse to speak each other's dominant language as a way of blatantly snubbing the other's culture. This results in conversations where, despite sharing two common languages, Jamie only speaks to St Germain in English and St Germain will only respond in French.
- Maternity Crisis: The stress of Jamie and Jack Randall dueling sends Claire into premature labor.
- Meaningful Echo: Claire declares that Jamie owes her a life for all the times she has saved his life. This echoes Jamie and Randall's phrase "You owe me a death" and "I owe you a death."
- My Greatest Failure: Murtaugh is really upset about his failure to keep Mary and Claire safe
- Precision F-Strike: Jack tells Claire that fighting before the King is a punishable offense but Claire simply hisses "fuck the King."
- Present Company Excluded: Taking an immediate dislike to Captain Randall, King Louis remarks on how oafish the English are and how much difficulty they generally have with the French language. He does make sure to tell Claire that this generalization does not include her, as she is lovely as are her language skills.
- Rape and Revenge: Jamie is determined to kill Jack Randall for raping him.
- Right Behind Me: When Jack says to Claire, "the King," she assumes he's just referring to where they are and curses him. It's only when Jack makes a large bow that Claire realizes the King is behind them.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Jamie and Murtagh are freed from the Bastille after Duvernay, the French Minister of Finance, ordered the Captain of the Guards to release them immediately.
- Smug Snake: For once, Jamie is able to turn this on Randall when the King forces the soldier to get on his knees to ask a favor, then laughs "I didn't mean now."
- This Is Unforgivable!: Jamie is outraged that Claire is using the times she saved his life as a bargaining chip to save the life of Jack Randall, the man who brutally tortured and raped him, in order to ensure that her future husband, Frank, will be born. After he agrees, he viciously rebuffs her attempts to sooth him.
- The Time Traveller's Dilemma: After indicating that she plans to marry Alex Randall, Mary gives Claire a letter to deliver to the prison which will free Alex from accusations of raping her. Claire considers burning the letter because Frank's family bible indicates that Mary is fated to marry Jack Randall. Burning the letter and leaving Alex to die of consumption in prison might be the best way to ensure Frank's existence but it would be at the cost of the life of an innocent man.
- Unexplained Recovery: Captain Randall was last seen lying on the floor, bleeding from his head, after being knocked down and trampled by nearly two dozen cattle. In a time where internal surgery was rare and brain injuries were inherently fatal, his survival with no more than chronic back pain is nigh inexplicable.
- Vengeance Denied: Jamie is ecstatic that the time has finally come that he can get kill Black Jack Randall. But as he is preparing, Claire arrives and makes Jamie swear that Randall be spared for one year so Frank's ancestor has time to be conceived.
