Outlander Season 7 Episode 1 Recap: “A Life Well Lost”
Claire is standing with a noose around her neck as the people of Wilmington look on. She’s then pushed from the platform to her death . Fortunately it’s all a dream and Jamie (Sam Heughan) is woken by Young Ian (John Bell). Jamie feels certain Claire’s still alive even though he’s had no contact with her since she was carted away to jail.
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Claire is alive and she’s made a pal in her alcoholic cellmate, Sadie. Claire is shocked to discover that Sadie has been behind bars for 29 days and still hasn’t had a trial.
Not long after, Redcoat soldiers arrive looking for a “healer” and Claire stands up, but they only allow her to go with them when Sadie stands up and claims to be the murderer among the group. She’s gone by the time Jamie and Young Ian arrive at the prison. They’re annoyed with Thomas Christie (Mark Lewis Jones), who promised not to let Claire out of his sight in Wilmington. However, he didn’t have much of a choice. Mrs. Tolliver, the prison warden and the wife of the local sheriff, doesn’t say much about her whereabouts, neither do the other prisoners.
Claire’s on a ship and she’s been brought to a cabin to see the governor’s wife, Mrs. Josiah Martin, who’s extremely pregnant and pretty ill. Mrs. Martin is pretty skeptical of Claire and makes her swear not to hurt her baby, which Claire assures her would never happen. She drinks the ginger tea Claire prescribes.
Claire begs Mr. Josiah Martin to let her go ashore to go get more supplies in an attempt to escape . However, he tells her to write a list and someone else will get what she needs. As it turns out, she sends the letter to Thomas Christie himself — a smart move because he can now report back Claire’s whereabouts to Jamie.
The governor later finds out that she’s the wife of James Fraser of Fraser’s Ridge, and while Major MacDonald has a go at her , Mr. Martin seems to accept her innocence on the murder charge after a lengthy discussion. However, he’s not so sure about her political leanings and warns her that treason is a serious matter .
Roger and Brianna are off on their holidays as Roger trains to become a minister. They’re blissfully unaware of what’s happened back at Fraser’s Ridge and in Wilmington for now. In the meantime, Bri is helping with the alms while Roger and a fellow reverend offer to pray over a bunch of soldiers traveling through the area.
The soldiers aren’t interested . Then Roger comes out with the Muhammad Ali “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” quote and is recognized as a fellow traveler by Wendigo Donner . He’s currently a prisoner, so he needs some help not only to get free but to get to a traveling place with the gemstone in his possession to get back to his own time. Brianna turns him down , and while Roger is initially inclined to offer assistance, he eventually offers it in the form of prayer.
Not long after the note is handed to Christie, Jamie rows up to the ship to bring the supplies for Mrs. Martin. He and Claire share a passionate kiss on the dock before a young lieutenant tells them to cut it out and he’s taken to see the governor. Jamie asks him to pardon Claire, but the governor isn’t having it . If he wants Claire to be released, Jamie will have to go to the Backcountry, gather at least 200 men, and have them swear to fight for the crown. Jamie solemnly agrees with absolutely no intention of doing so.
Surprisingly it’s Christie who comes to the rescue . He tells Jamie he needs to go see Claire one more time before he confesses to the crime of murder so she can go free. Jamie isn’t interested at first, thinking that Christie is trying to steal his thunder . However, he eventually realizes it’s the only way forward. Jamie then eulogizes Christie at his request, blowing his trumpet a bit .
Claire is none too pleased to hear of the plan either when Christie turns up on the ship to tell her about it . He also reveals that Malva was his niece, the daughter of his brother Edgar, rather than his own daughter. He claims she and her mother were witches. He even admits that Malva tried to kill Claire so she could have Jamie.
Christie admits that he loves Claire. She looks sort of sheepish and says nothing, and thankfully he breaks the silence by handing her his written confession. She tries to rip it up but he admits that he already gave a copy to the newspaper in Wilmington and insists that he wants to take the blame for the murder as his final gesture of love.
Soon after, Claire rows up to shore to a waiting Jamie and she’s again a free woman. They discuss Christie’s willingness to take Claire’s place in prison. Neither believes he was guilty, but they can’t think of who he was covering for.
When she falls asleep, Jamie goes to the room where Richard Brown is staying. Brown insists that if Jamie harms him , his people will hunt down and kill everyone Jamie knows and loves . Young Ian and his friends are already sorting out Brown’s people. Brown then tries to appeal to Jamie’s goodwill, calling him a “good man,” but Jamie says he’s also a “violent man” and that all of the goodness he has is down to Claire. It was Brown who tried to take Claire from him.
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