TV RECAP: Outlander – S5:E1 – The Fiery Cross

This episode opens with a quick recap of what happened last season.  Bree and Roger are handfasted and sleep together, Bree was raped by Captain Bonnet, Bree finds out that she is pregnant.  Murtagh is leading a band of rebels and Jamie is not happy about it at all and tells Murtagh that he cannot join him in his endeavors.  Jamie signs a document that gives him a large amount of land and in exchange, he will answer the call when he is needed.  

The new episode starts off as we see Murtagh telling a young Jamie that his mother is dead.  He tells Jamie that he swore to his mother that he would always guard his back and that he would always be by his side.  Young Jamie seems comforted by that.  Is that the actor that plays Murtagh or is it someone else??!!  

Oh, I love the opening sequence.  The whole choir sound is really pretty and  I love the new scenes that they have added to the old ones.  The new sequence is still just a powerful as the original one. 

Roger is learning how to shave with a straight razor/  He can’t seem to get it and Jamie just does it for him.  I would be so nervous having my soon to be father-in-law shave my neck with a straight razor.  We see large crowds of their neighbors gathering for their wedding.  Claire is getting very weepy with Bree.  She is sad that her mother never got to be present for either of her weddings but is relieved that she can be there for her daughters.  I think it is sweet that Jamie was preparing something borrowed, something new and something blue for Bree’s wedding.  Seeing Jamie chocked up over her wedding is sweet.  He probably thought he would never be there.  Am I the only one that thinks that Jamie and Claire’s house way larger than what I thought based on the books.  That is not what I had imagined.   Jamie gets slightly upset during the wedding and it shows on his face.  He is not happy that the wedding isn’t in Latin nor is it being held by a Catholic priest.  

Jamie is taken off to the side to have a private conversation with the Governor.  Jamie knows that he is about to be called up.  He informs Jamie that he feels robbed by Jamie’s letters.  Thinks that Jamie has wronged him in some way shape or form.  It’s a subtle warning that I think will come to fruition at some point in the series.    The wedding party goes on long into the night.  Singing dancing and drink.  They do tongue twister drinking games.  They even include Lord John in their games.  Lord John pulls Jamie off to one side and tells him in private that Capt. Bonnet has been spotted on the providence.  He survived the explosion at the jailhouse from last season.  Bree overhears this conversation and has flashbacks of her rape.  She is visibly shaken by the news. 

Jocoasta goes out to a cabin and we see Murtagh is waiting for her.  I thought that he wasn’t able to attend the ceremony.  Why is he hiding out in the woods? Boy, they didn’t waste any time with all the sex. It was like a sex montage with three separate couples.  AHHH we have started to weave Lizzie’s romance story.  I think she is one of my favorite side stories I love the craziness that her storyline has.  Jocoasta has informed Roger that she is going to be drawing up a new will and she is leaving River Run and all her money to his son, wee Jemmy.   She goes on to insult Roger about his religious beliefs and tells him she hopes he cares better for his son.  He gets mad and tells her basically to shove it up her ass.   

Jamie runs into the Governor again as he is leaving to head back to New Bern.  He informs Jamie that he needs to gather his mean and track down one Murtagh Fitzgibbons and his men.  He needs to bring him in by any means necessary.  He wants Murtaghs body to hand for all to see in New Bern. He is leaving a soldier with Jamie in order to make sure that he does it.   Roger rushes back to his cabin and declares that he should have done this earlier and proclaims that Jemmy is blood of his blood and bone of his bone.  Jamie tells Claire what he needs to do and what the Governor said.  Jamie tells her that if he wants a Scot then he will give him a Scot.  Jamie comes back into the room later dressed as a Scottish Highland warrior.  He calls all of his men to arms and they all pledge their fealty to him.  He is preparing for the future.  This whole scene is absolutely riveting.  The swelling music and the burning cross only add to the moment.  It is very reminiscent of the same thing in Castle Leoch in season 1. Roger and Fergus all pledge themselves to him.  

As the episode ends we see Jamie telling Murtagh that he is releasing him from his vow that he made his dying mother.  He tells Murtagh that he needs to leave and be very hard to find.   Murtagh touches him one last time and leaves.  Jamie breaks down and cries.  By this point, I am crying myself.  I think it was only fitting that the episode opened with him pledging himself to Jamie and telling him of the vow and it closes with Jamie telling him that he has fulfilled his vow to his mother.   I can’t wait to see what next week brings.  

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