#Outlander, epi 407 re-cap: Yowling Bookreaders,#SophieSkelton Brings It and Roger’s Hot AF Even In His Much Maligned Culottes!

I heard the yowls of a few book readers, mine included, while watching this episode.  Lucky for me, I keep my Outlandermantra handy for episodes similar to this and kept chanting throughout the hour:  ‘The book is the book, the show is the show’ as my husband pleaded with me to stop from the safety of his La-Z-Boy.

Having said that, let me preface my mini-cap with this:  I LOVE Sophie Skelton and practically wanted to marry the girl after watching this episode.  She’s the real deal.  MEGA talented actress, a glint of steal in her eyes and the looks of a tiny supermodel.  I also think Nell Hudson is extremely talented too and Bonus Points, I can tell the difference between Nell and her character.

Recap begins here:

Brianna is walking(!) a zillion miles to Lallybroch, her ease in reading a map impressing me almost as much as her ability to withstand the freezing Scottish weather in a thin Gunne Sax.  Her excitement gets the best of her and she trips, falls down a hill and twists her ankle. 

Fiona drives Roger to Cragh Na Dun and I want his car.  As in I want to teleport to Scotland, get inside, and teleport back.  They walk to the top of the hill and the buzzing starts…he goes through the Stones.

Briana limps through the woods (still without a stick!!) and finally collapses on the ground.  She wakes up in the home of a kind and benevolent stranger.  Just kidding it’s Laoghaire’s house. L shows us her good side until Ian, Sr. arrives minus the full amount of  Jamie’s Fraser-mony. Next day, Brianna limps out to the garden and has a nice talk with Joanie about absentee dads.  It’s nice to see Laoghaire behave like a normal person for a change instead of frothing at the mouth. 

In the 1960’s, Brianna visits Frank at his office and he’s down in the dumps cuz he’s just received a news clipping from Reverend Wakefield confirming that Claire went back to Jamie and PS they died in a fire.  

Roger has found his way to the port and asks Stephen Bonnet if he’ll take him on as a crew member. After a wee bit of back and forth, Bonnet tosses a coin and allows Roger to join the crew.  

Brianna mentions her mother’s name and Laoghaire morphs into Leghair.  At first she tries to keep a grip on her sanity but her natural cray cray takes over and she turns into a loon and locks Bree in her room and gallops into town to turn her in for witchcraft.   

In the 1960’s, Frank is waiting for Bree at the side of the road.  She hops in his car and he tells her he’s getting a divorce and wants her to leave her mother and go with him to University in England.   

Onboard the ship, Bonnett decides a child has small pox and grabs her and throws her overboard.  Her mother jumps in after her and they both die.  Roger steps in and hides a mother named Morag MacKenzie and her baby Jem who’s teething because Bonnett seems to enjoy hurting people just for the fun of it.

Joanie frees Bree from the room and whisks her over to Lallybroch.  I wish Joanie could go with her to America.  At Lallybroch, Ian welcomes Bree into the bosom of his family explaining the absence of his wife due to attending the birth of a grandchild (and not due to appearing in a play in NYC).  Ian gives her money for her passage and tells her to ask directions to Jocasta at River Run.  He also gives her a trunk of Claire’s clothing including her gorgeous fur collared number that was sewn by the castle mice in Season One.

Bonnett (hearby known as ) Pyscho Pirate finds Roger with Morag and baby Jem and rambles on trying to explain his mental illness with a story about how he lived through a coin toss.  #ImNotMoved He tosses it and Roger lives to see another day.

Brianna and Ian are at the port.  #IHeartIan  Inside a man named  Joseph Weymuss asks Bree to take his daughter on as a maid since she will be sold as a concubine if he can’t get her the hell out of there stat.  Bree rescues her.  As they walk past the passengers to board the ship, Lizzie turns to smile at her father and Brianna sees Frank standing there and they smile and nod and he’s gone.  And apparently my allergies are acting up again, as suddenly there are tears in my eyes.   

Post Scriptum:  Husband liked the episode and wanted to know why I wasn’t as happy with it as I’m normally outlandishly verklempt after each episode.  I explained that the beginning and the end were accurate, but there was SO much information left out that was in the books and it drove me nutz.  Having said that, I think the addition of Frank and Brianna’s backstory was beautifully done and I also liked seeing Leghair in her natural environment. 

But if it was up to me, I wish we could’ve stuck to the original story and I explained it to him like this.  It’s as though I asked directions to a location in the northeast corner of my town and the person giving directions told me to head south for 50 miles, then drive west for 30.  Once I arrive, I should turn my car around and head northeast until I reach my destination.  We finally got there, but we went through a lot of unnecessary travel when we could have just driven on the correct path.