RECAP: ‘Outlander Season 8 Episode 3’ — “Abies Fraseri”

Outlander Season 8 Episode 3, “Abies Fraseri,” moves the action just a little bit, but it feels more like a recap of what we’ve seen in previous episodes. Fanny (Florrie May Wilkinson) and Brianna (Sophie Skelton) shop in the Fraser’s Ridge marketplace. While there, Fanny is approached by two men who make lewd references to Fanny’s past as a child prostitute.

Fanny says she can tell the men are British soldiers by the way they carry themselves, because the enlisted customers at the brothel acted the same way. Brianna offers to confront them, but Fanny turns her down. It’s sweet how eager the Fraser-Mackenzie clan is to make Florrie feel at home in the Ridge, but sad that every scene of hers has to reference her past. Let Fanny carve out a new identity for herself!

Jamie brings Claire a letter from Lord John Grey (David Berry), calling it “a letter from your former husband.” Lord John, still in Savannah, would like Brianna to paint a portrait of his niece by marriage, Amaranthus (Carla Woodcock), and her baby. Claire wants to tell Brianna about Lord John’s request, but Jamie initiates an argument. He’s still upset about, you know, that tiny little detail from Season 7: Lord John and Claire getting married and sleeping together! Claire points out that at the time, Jamie had been mistakenly declared dead, and she only married Lord John for protection when she was accused of being a spy.

Outlander Season 8 Episode 3 proves Jamie can’t seem to catch a break. 

Poor Jamie’s really going through it – first a book from Claire’s dead first husband, now a letter from her third, very-much-alive husband, also formerly Jamie’s best friend. Lord John, you may recall, has also been in love with Jamie for their entire friendship AND once proposed to Brianna to protect her from a difficult situation in Season 4. It is, like most things with Outlander, a complicated situation. Jamie storms off, with Claire calling him a “pigheaded Scot.”

Claire delivers Lord John’s request to Brianna and ends up telling her about their brief marriage (Brianna spent Season 7 in the 1980s). Brianna asks if that’s why Jamie’s mad at Claire, then jokes that “it’s not like you and [Lord John] slept together.” Claire has no poker face for this, and Brianna laughs, asking if she’ll have to refer to Lord John as her dad now. “Do not joke about that in front of your father,” Claire grins. It’s a cute bonding moment for mother and daughter here in Outlander Season 8 Episode 3.

Outlander Season 8 Episode 3 continues William’s quest to find out what happened to Ben. In Savannah, William’s still in sleuth mode, convinced his cousin Ben is really alive. He and Lord John secure an invitation to a celebration for Major General Leslie (Nicholas Tizzard). The Major General asks William to write to the Colonial Office about the conditions of the camp where Ben supposedly died as a prisoner.

The Major General mentions in passing that Lord John was once governor of the prisoner in Ardsmuir, Scotland, which is news to William. Yet another reference to the past, as Ardsmuir is where Jamie and Lord John met in Season 3. What is Season 8, if not a trip down memory lane every five seconds?

Meanwhile, Lord John is seated by Percy Beauchamp (Michael Lindall), who’s trying to get intel on Claudel Fraser…aka Fergus (César Domboy). Lord John’s not keen on connecting a redcoat with Jamie’s adopted son, but says he’ll help if Percy can find Captain Richardson (Ben Lambert). Remember Captain Richardson? He’s the guy who almost got Claire arrested for espionage in Season 7, which was the whole reason Claire married Lord John!

William gets to know Amaranthus better. He gives her Ben’s items, which he’d picked up from the prison camp, and Amaranthus puts them in a drawer of Ben’s things. William glimpses the drawer and sees the tin soldier from the previous episode. Amaranthus explains Ben gave her the tin soldier as a keepsake for their son. This is enough explanation for William to accept that Ben is truly dead, because Amaranthus kisses him. Nothing says romance like kissing your dead cousin’s wife, am I right?

References to the past abound in Outlander Season 8 Episode 3, but how much retreading is too much?

There’s trouble on the Ridge in Outlander Season 8 Episode 3, but isn’t there always trouble on the Ridge? Jamie meets the two officers who taunted Fanny. Captain Cunningham (Kieran Bew) explains they’re friends of his dead son, returning his belongings. Their presence brings the war closer to the Ridge, and Jamie points out that distance from the war is why he and the Captain were both drawn to it. Captain Cunningham has nothing to say to this, except that he doubts the officers will come back to the Ridge. “I will not tolerate actions that threaten the Ridge,” Jamie says.

Brianna agrees to go to Savannah to paint the portrait of Amaranthus. Roger (Richard Rankin) will join her, saying they’ll pick up guns while there, as the war is getting closer to the Ridge, whether Jamie likes it or not. Jamie tells Claire it’s a terrible idea, but when do people actually listen to each other on this show? They have another fraught conversation about Lord John, but Claire assures Jamie she would never have been knowingly unfaithful. If there’s one constant on Outlander, it’s Jamie and Claire having make-up sex, so of course, they do. No argument necessary!

In the morning, Jamie finds Claire reading Frank’s (Tobias Menzies) book. “We go to bed fighting about your third husband, and I wake to find you gazing at a book written by your first,” Jamie says. “Lucky for you, I’m only in love with my second,” Claire smiles. They wonder aloud if Frank ever meant for Claire to read the book, and if Frank was cunning enough to put Jamie in the book as proof for Claire that he’d survived the Battle of Culloden (Season 3 reference!).

Claire says she once tormented Black Jack Randall (also Menzies) by telling him the date of his death, which proved correct, and wonders if that means Jamie’s death day in Frank’s book is real. As with last week’s episode, Jamie still hears Frank’s voice in his head: “You know it’s real.”

Later on in Claire is approached by a young girl, Agnes Whitaker (Annelle Olaleye), whose mother Susannah (Estella Daniels) is in the middle of a difficult labor. Susannah’s husband Aaron (Tomisin Ajani) is reluctant to get Claire’s help, as the Whitakers are a free Black family. Jamie welcomes the Whitakers to the house, but Aaron is skeptical about trusting white men.

Jamie promises he won’t ask any questions or ever tell anyone the Whitakers came to the Frasers’ house. Agnes delivers twins, but the second baby, a girl, is unresponsive. Claire tries to revive the girl, then hears Master Raymond’s (Dominique Pinon) voice in her head. She imagines a blue light coming out from her, and the baby girl begins to cry. Jamie hands the baby to her relieved parents.

Cleveland’s actions keep intensifying, and the threat of violence only grows with each attack.

That night, Claire says the last time she felt that way was after Faith was stillborn, back in Season 2. She says that she saw a pale blue light when Master Raymond put his hands on her back then, and it felt like it burned, but it healed her from an infection post-delivery. Jamie’s not sure he understands any of this, but he could tell Claire was thinking of Faith when reviving Susannah’s daughter. Claire says Master Raymond was banished from France – where might he have gone?

Jamie takes Fanny to see the cairns in the woods. He’s made one for Fanny’s deceased sister Jane, and hopes she’ll visit the cairn whenever she likes. Fanny’s touched, but this sweet moment is interrupted by the arrival of Benjamin Cleveland (Turlough Convery).

Just like he threatened last week, Cleveland continues to torture and execute British officers – now, apparently, including the two officers who taunted Fanny at the market. Cleveland claims the officers were smuggling guns onto the Ridge and is keeping them for himself. Jamie discovers a letter for Captain Cunningham on one officer’s body. It seems like nonsense, as it’s mostly about trees (including a species called “Abies Fraseri,” which is the title of this episode) and arms.

Towards the end of Outlander Season 8 Episode 3, Jamie confronts Captain Cunningham and realizes the letter is a coded message from Cunningham’s commanding officer. So, the Captain wasn’t retired after all! His commanding officer is gathering arms and needs recruits from Fraser’s Ridge to take up the British cause in North Carolina. While Jamie and Claire were away last season, Captain Cunningham has found some on the Ridge who are more loyal to the king than to their landlord, Jamie himself.

It seems as if the only way to protect the Ridge is for Jamie to join the Loyalist cause, despite his opposition to them. Frank’s ominous voice haunts Jamie again, reminding him that each day brings him closer to his death date as mentioned in Frank’s book. Everything’s pointing to Frank’s version of history being true.

Outlander Season 8 Episode 3, like its predecessors, isn’t shy about letting you know this is the final season of Outlander. In some ways, this episode feels like an hour-long “previously on Outlander” recap, with bits and pieces of the future along the way (Claire’s magic! Lord John searching for Captain Richardson!). Bringing in Frank via voiceover is a great touch for reminding Jamie and the audience of his looming death. If there’s one great constant about Outlander, it’s that it’ll always want you leaving more.

Outlander Season 8 Episodes 1-6 are now streaming on Starz, with new episodes dropping every Friday.

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