RECAP: ‘Outlander Season 8 Episode 4’ — “Muskets, Liberty, and Sauerkraut”

No one on this show ever really stays put, and Outlander Season 8 Episode 4, “Muskets, Liberty, and Sauerkraut,” is no exception. Brianna (Sophie Skelton) and Roger (Richard Rankin) pack up for a multipurpose trip to Savannah: Brianna’s painting a portrait of the Greys, and Roger’s looking for muskets to arm Jamie’s (Sam Heughan) Patriot militia. Jamie tells Roger that Lieutenant Colonel Francis Marion (Mark Huberman) is with the Continental Army in Savannah, and that he’s previously supplied other militias.

In Savannah, Brianna and Roger meet with Fergus (César Domboy) and Marsali (Lauren Lyle). Fergus tells them Percy Beauchamp (Michael Lindall) has contacted him. Brianna, pointing out that “Beauchamp” was Claire’s maiden name, wonders if there’s a connection. It’s sweet to watch the group interact, especially since Fergus and Marsali were offscreen last season.

It’s very Fast and Furious to say so, but Outlander really is all about family. Remember when Fergus and Marsali married in Season 3, and it was sort of weird, because Jamie is kind of both of their dads, but it’s okay, because logic doesn’t really apply to Outlander? Good times.

Outlander Season 8 Episode 4 finally gives the final season the push it needs forward.

Fergus and Marsali promise to hide Brianna and Roger’s stash of gold, which will be used for collateral in getting muskets for the militia. Brianna and Roger smuggled the gold in through barrels of sauerkraut, which is to no one’s liking, and Fergus is glad to close the barrels to suffocate the scent. See? Has there ever been a more fitting title than that of Outlander Season 8 Episode 4?

Anyway, it’s nice to see Fergus and Marsali again, but not everyone shares that sentiment. Someone throws a brick through the window. The brick damages Fergus’ “Fergus Fraser & Sons Printmakers” sign. Marsali says it’s not the first time they’ve been targeted.

Roger wonders if Fergus is being targeted for distributing secret Patriot paraphernalia. As Roger heads off to the Continental camp, Fergus and Marsali warn him not to linger. “With any luck, I’ll see you both soon,” Roger replies. Totally not ominous at all! Surely by Outlander Season 8 Episode 4 people can say things that and not have things go terribly wrong.

Jamie takes Young Ian (John Bell) and Josiah (Paul Gorman) to recruit men for their militia. The residents of Fraser’s Ridge are either loyal to the Crown or too scared to join the Patriots, so they’ve had to go beyond the Ridge for recruits. Along the way, Young Ian meets a Scotsman who’s been looking for the Ridge and claims to know Brianna and Roger. Jamie’s worried it’s Rob Cameron, who’d kidnapped Brianna and Roger’s son the previous season. Can Jamie deal with any more bad news?

But for once, it’s not bad news at all. It’s Jamie’s time-traveling cousin Buck (Diarmaid Murtagh), who spent much of Season 7 with Brianna and Roger. It’s the first time he and Jamie have met, which feels wild considering Buck’s parents, Dougal and Geillis, were so central to Outlander’s early days. No time like Outlander Season 8 Episode 4 to meet! Buck has a leatherbound book to return to Roger, and says he’s taken care of Cameron, but doesn’t elaborate. Jamie tells Buck he reminds him of his father. Hopefully not a bad thing, since Jamie and Dougal didn’t have the best relationship!

Back on the Ridge, Claire and Fanny (Florrie May Wilkinson) hold down the fort on a windy night. The wind makes the house creak, spooking Fanny, who wonders aloud if houses can be “alive.” Claire tells her that houses can impact the people who live in them, and maybe the reverse is true–that people can have an effect on the house, especially after they die. Fanny, mourning her sister Jane (who died last season), is eager to talk about her.

Jamie and Buck finally meet, which is long overdue.

Claire tenderly speaks to Fanny, which sidenote,  is Balfe ever better than when playing Claire at her most tender? The woman should have a million Emmy nominations. Claire tells her that speaking about dead people helps them live on in the memories of the living. Fanny says Jane used to call her “ma cherie,” which their dead mother had in turn called Jane. The mention of Fanny’s mother rattles Claire. Note: we still haven’t figured out if Fanny’s mother was Claire’s presumed-dead daughter Faith! Tune in next week for more Days of Our Lives: Outlander!

Mrs. Cunningham (Frances Tomelty) comes to Claire’s apothecary to fix a dislocated shoulder. The procedure is simple but painful, and Mrs. Cunningham swears in the process. There’s something endearing about “grass-combing son of a buggering sod” being treated like vile language. Fanny’s amused by Mrs. Cunningham’s vocabulary. Mrs. Cunningham asks Fanny how she knows how to swear, and Fanny points-blank tells her she was raised in a brothel. Remember when Claire told Fanny not to tell people that? Mrs. Cunningham isn’t shaken by this revelation, but advises Claire that Fanny should keep that quiet. Girl, she’s trying!

Captain Cunningham (Kieran Bew) comes to get his mother and is amused that there are no men around the house while Jamie’s away. Claire asserts that she can take care of herself. Captain Cunningham is butthurt that Jamie would leave town despite wanting to meet with him about the Patriot/Crown conflict. Get this man out of here already!

Brianna arrives at Lord John Grey’s (David Berry) house. She and William (Charles Vandervaart) have a frosty reunion. To be fair, would you react well if you found out you were the illegitimate son of a fugitive and had an older half-sister who didn’t tell you about your parentage when she had the chance? Poor William. Put the kid in therapy! Amaranthus (Carla Woodcock) is cold to Brianna.

Brianna correctly susses out Lord John’s motives for having her paint a portrait: it was an excuse to get her to come to town and help William out. William’s been a bit adrift. Why not have his own sister give him some direction? Lord John guesses that Roger is headed to the Continental camp after Brianna evades a question about his whereabouts.

Lord John’s not particularly shaken by the sound of cannons in the distance, comforting a disturbed Brianna. He explains the cannons are from a French ship, and they’re too far out of range for the house to be hit. Berry’s performance in this episode is a particular delight, as Lord John awkwardly, diplomatically tries to facilitate pleasantries between Brianna and William.

A misunderstanding erupts surrounding Brianna and William’s relationship.

Amaranthus is convinced Brianna and William have a history and that William led her on after their kiss in the last episode. What is Outlander without a misunderstanding, right? William tells her that Brianna is his sister and that he is illegitimate. “Your father must have been a very striking gentleman,” Amaranthus quips. They have a cute exchange about how titles, like William being Earl of Ellesmere, which means nothing compared to a person’s actual character.

William says he’d like to give up his title, and Amaranthus suggests they marry and William can pass the title on to their firstborn. What a proposal! At the speedy rate at which things tend to happen on Outlander, it’s almost surprising it took until Outlander Season 8 Episode 4 for them to get engaged. Cute, even though Amaranthus used to be married to William’s cousin!

Fergus meets Percy, which feels like a terrible idea. Percy isn’t French, but married a Frenchwoman whose older sister, Amélie, had a tryst with Le Comte de St. Germain and ran away, never to be seen again. What a throwback–Le Comte de St. Germain hasn’t been seen or heard from since Season 2! Amélie was the name of a prostitute in the brothel in which Fergus was raised. Percy claims St. Germain and Amélie married in secret, and Fergus is their son.

If true, this legitimizes Fergus and gives him a claim to a huge stake in land in North America. If Fergus goes public with his parentage, Percy’s associates are willing to offer a ton of money for the land to build a French colony. Domboy’s performance here is great–Fergus hasn’t been dragged into a dramatic plot in a long time, and he’s visibly shaken here in Outlander Season 8 Episode 4.

Fergus tells Marsali everything. Amélie, he says, was particularly cold to him when he was a child, but told him to “be a good boy” on her deathbed. Marsali asks Fergus what he plans to do. He says that Percy told him he was the son of a great man, but Fergus already feels he is the son of a great man, and wants to respect being Jamie’s adopted son. He doesn’t feel right selling the land to France. “We’re not fighting to be free of a British king just to become servants of a French one,” he says.

On the Ridge, Rachel (Izzy Meikle-Small) sees a newspaper with a headline about a massacre on the Susquehanna. When Young Ian returns, she shows him the newspaper, since the Mohawk community he was part of in Seasons 4-5 is on the massacre route. Even though he has no contact with his first wife and his son, who are part of the tribe, Young Ian resolves to find out what happened to them.

A cliffhanger happens, but it doesn’t involve Jamie this time! A surprise!

Despite Claire’s protests, Rachel insists she and baby Oggy will join him. “Would you let thy husband travel 700 miles to find his first wife?” Rachel responds, hoping her presence will help Young Ian remember he has a new life with her on the Ridge now. Their route will take them through Philadelphia, and Jamie asks them to stop in at the brothel Fanny was raised in, in case there’s information about Fanny’s parents there. Young Ian quips that there’s enough to be done on this trip already, but agrees.

Roger makes his way to the Continental camp and meets Lt. Col. Marion. Marion’s willing to help arm Roger’s militia until he finds out Jamie’s involved. The Continental army is none too happy with Jamie ditching a battle to attend to a wounded Claire and for resigning from the army by signing a letter on the back of a corporal. Season 7 throwback!

Marion says that Jamie ought to have been court-martialed and even hanged. He won’t let Roger leave camp until an impending battle is over, and he can either wait it out or fight. Roger says he’s no good with a rifle, but would fight if he could get a sword. After two episodes of ominous endings involving Jamie, it’s interesting to see a cliffhanger happen to someone else!

Outlander Season 8 Episode 4 moves the action in a way that Season 8 has badly needed. The callbacks feel necessary rather than shoehorned, and the relationships are returning (and growing) in ways they need to. There’s cute levity here, too: Lizzie (Caitlin O’Ryan) is puzzled by Brianna’s kids’ use of the word “sleepover,” while Young Ian says “mo chridhe” and “dinna fash,” just like Jamie used to at least 500 times per episode in the early days.

With six episodes left in the series, there’s a lot to wrap up, but maybe the coming episodes will move as smoothly as Outlander Season 8 Episode 4.

Outlander Season 8 Episodes 1-4 are now streaming on Starz, with new episodes dropping every Friday.

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