Outlander saved the most powerful episode of this powerful fifth season for the last, the season 5 finale just on tonight.
The kidnapping of Claire, and the beating and rape of her by Lionel and his brutal, vicious men, would have been powerful in any context. But in this final episode of the season, it provided a context and counterpoint for an equally powerful, thankfully non-violent development we saw the beginning of, last week. Roger and Brianna did not get back to the present they sought, their present, when they disappeared with Jemmy in the stones. Ian sees nothing for a moment, which made me think last week that the family had at least instantly traveled somewhere (or somewhen, to be precise). But tonight we find out that Ian saw them a split second later, which means ... they didn't time travel anywhere or anywhen at all.
And so Claire's kidnapping and all that happened to her, including her rescue by Jamie and Roger, serves as context for the lack of what happened with the stones. Powerful thread upon powerful thread. Brianna and Roger had their future, their back to their present, rudely stolen. And Claire suffered the tears, from the beating, and worse, as she sought refuge in her own imagination of what her life and the lives of her family could have been like, with the Association playing on vinyl. But believing she would never see her daughter and grandson and son-in-law again, she imagines them killed in this future. Just as we learn that, in fact, they never did leave the time that Claire and Jamie inhabit. So strong a juxtaposition, that we barely missed what the underlying most powerful unanswered question certainly is: why didn't the stones with the gems in hand not work?
Here I'll mention again that I haven't read the novels. I haven't a clue why the American stones didn't work for Brianna and her family - possibly only one person can go through at a time (I don't think we've previously seen any couples or more go through together) - but another element introduced tonight will no doubt provide more than a clue as to what's going on: the guy from the future, who neither hurts nor helps Claire, merely tells her that he, too, is from the future, which no doubt will be some major help to Claire and her family in the next or subsequent seasons.
Good thing that he was not among those killed by Jamie and his party. And good thing, too, that we'll no doubt get more answers when Season 6 is on the air. I'll see you back here then.
See also Outlander 5.1: Father of the Bride ... Outlander 5.2: Antibiotics and Time Travel ... Outlander 5.3: Misery ... Outlander 5.4: Accidental Information and the Future ... Outlander 5.5: Lessons in Penicillin and Locusts ... Outlander 5.6: Locusts, Jocasta, and Bonnet ... Outlander 5.7: The Paradoxical Spark ... Outlander 5.8: Breaking Out of the Silence ... Outlander 5.9: Buffalo, Snake, Tooth ... Outlander 5.10: Finally! ... Outlander 5.11: The Ballpoint Pen
And see also Outlander 4.1: The American Dream ... Outlander 4.2: Slavery ...Outlander 4.3: The Silver Filling ... Outlander 4.4: Bears and Worse and the Remedy ... Outlander 4.5: Chickens Coming Home to Roost ... Outlander 4.6: Jamie's Son ... Outlander 4.7: Brianna's Journey and Daddy ... Outlander 4.8: Ecstasy and Agony ... Outlander 4.9: Reunions ... Outlander 4.10: American Stone ... Outlander 4.11: Meets Pride and Prejudice ... Outlander 4.12: "Through Time and Space" ... Outlander Season 4 Finale: Fair Trade
And see also Outlander Season 3 Debut: A Tale of Two Times and Places ...Outlander 3.2: Whole Lot of Loving, But ... Outlander 3.3: Free and Sad ... Outlander 3.4: Love Me Tender and Dylan ... Outlander 3.5: The 1960s and the Past ... Outlander 3.6: Reunion ... Outlander 3.7: The Other Wife ... Outlander 3.8: Pirates! ... Outlander 3.9: The Seas ...Outlander 3.10: Typhoid Story ... Outlander 3.11: Claire Crusoe ...Outlander 3.12: Geillis and Benjamin Button ... Outlander 3.13: Triple Ending
And see also Outlander 2.1: Split Hour ... Outlander 2.2: The King and the Forest ... Outlander 2.3: Mother and Dr. Dog ... Outlander 2.5: The Unappreciated Paradox ... Outlander 2.6: The Duel and the Offspring ...Outlander 2.7: Further into the Future ... Outlander 2.8: The Conversation ... Outlander 2.9: Flashbacks of the Future ... Outlander 2.10: One True Prediction and Counting ... Outlander 2.11: London Not Falling ... Outlander 2.12: Stubborn Fate and Scotland On and Off Screen ... Outlander Season 2 Finale: Decades
And see also Outlander 1.1-3: The Hope of Time Travel ... Outlander 1.6: Outstanding ... Outlander 1.7: Tender Intertemporal Polygamy ...Outlander 1.8: The Other Side ... Outlander 1.9: Spanking Good ... Outlander 1.10: A Glimmer of Paradox ... Outlander 1.11: Vaccination and Time Travel ... Outlander 1.12: Black Jack's Progeny ...Outlander 1.13: Mother's Day ... Outlander 1.14: All That Jazz ... Outlander Season 1 Finale: Let's Change History
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