RECAP: ‘Outlander: Blood of My Blood’ Season 2 Episode 1 – “Remembrance Day”

Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 Episode 1 picks up almost exactly where Season 1 left off, feeling reminiscent of Outlander Season 2 in the process. Primarily following Henry (Jeremy Irvine) and Julia’s (Hermione Corfield) love story, now separated by centuries, Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 Episode 1 largely leaves Brian (Jamie Roy) and Ellen’s (Harriet Slater) romance on the sidelines.

It’s the 20th century, not the 18th, as a bewildered Henry awakes in Inverness Lunatic Asylum. He’s addressed by a Dr. Perryman (Alasdair Harvey), who explains that Henry was found injured and delirious near the stones at Craigh na Dun, and looking as though he’d just come out of a historical battle on the Highlands. Dr. Perryman, believing Henry to have lost his mind, says it’s 1924. Henry calls out for Julia, who is nowhere to be found.

Julia’s still in 1715. It is here where Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 Episode 1 feels vividly reminiscent of Outlander‘s own Season 2 opening, when Claire (Caitríona Balfe) awoke in 1940s Scotland after going through the stones at Craigh na Dun. The action shifts to Henry’s final moments in 1715. Julia holds their baby son, William, in one arm while her other hand presses against the standing stone, with Henry’s hand gripping her wrist. But nothing happens, and their efforts to return back to five-year-old Claire (Tuesday Roberts, Mae Roberts) in the 1920s fail.

Hermione Corfield is heartbreaking as Julia in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 Episode 1.

As they try to figure out why they can’t time travel, Arch Bug (Terence Rae), with some of the Grants’ men in tow, comes across them. Henry acts as though he’s captured Julia and William, and pretends to threaten them as Arch approaches. A fight ensues, and Arch wounds Henry in the shoulder. Henry, stumbling around while injured, presses his hand against the stone and, to Julia’s horror, vanishes.

Julia sobs, which Arch interprets as relief that Julia’s now free of her supposed captor. Arch, confirming Julia is married to Lovat (Tony Curran), offers to take her back to her husband. Hermione Corfield turns in a heart-wrenching performance in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 Episode 1, as Julia grapples with the dual grief of being separated from Henry and returning to Lovat’s abusive clutches.

Elsewhere, Brian and Ellen treasure a quiet moment, knowing Ellen’s brothers and their men are out looking for her. They reaffirm their love, and share their dreams of living a quiet life, owning land and raising children. They have sex before being found by Murtagh (Rory Alexander), who warns them that the Mackenzies are nearby. Though it’s meant to be a tense moment, the tension isn’t terribly palpable, perhaps because we know from Outlander that they do eventually earn their happy ending.

Henry and Julia have more suspense baked into their storyline since their fates are unknown. 

By contrast, little is known about Henry and Julia, save that they died in an accident (or so we’ve been told) long before the events of Outlander. Knowing where Brian and Ellen’s story leads takes away the suspense out of their plotline.

Ellen suggests Brian report to his father, Lovat, since Lovat is his laird. Despite Brian’s disdain for his father, Ellen believes Brian to be a man of honor. Brian promises to marry Ellen within a year, per the terms of their handfast. Ellen surrenders herself to the Mackenzies to be taken back to her brothers at Castle Leoch. Murtagh sympathetically tells a forlorn Brian that it’s for the best.

At Castle Leach, Ellen’s brothers, Dougal (Sam Retford) and Colum (Séamus McLean Ross) offer their condolences to Uncle Mac (Simon Merrells) about Malcolm’s (Jhon Lumsden) death. Uncle Mac blames Ellen for Malcolm’s death, which Colum refutes. Dougal notes that, now that Malcolm is dead, Uncle Mac can be named the Grants’ laird.

The Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 premiere shifts through time.

Malcolm’s sister Maura (Bobby Rainsbury) corners Uncle Mac, suspicious that Malcolm isn’t being mourned properly. Uncle Mac promises that the Mackenzies will “get what they deserve,” and asks her to keep a watchful eye out while at Castle Leoch. Later, Dougal tells Maura that her brother deserved a better fate. Maura scoffs that she didn’t want to marry Dougal any more than he wanted to marry her. Dougal, seeing an opportunity to be more sensitive towards his wife, offers to sit with her, and takes her hand.

When Ellen arrives at Castle Leoch, Colum slaps her and scolds her for leaving when she said she’d marry Malcolm. Ellen insists she has to tell him something he’ll want to hear, but Colum orders her to be locked up in the chapel at Castle Leoch.

Back in 1924, Dr. Perryman concludes Henry might be suffering from delusions based on trauma sustained in the trenches in World War I. He offers electrode-based treatment, in which Henry is asked to ruminate on his memories. Henry reflects on his time with Julia and Claire, and how time spent with them kept him living in the present rather than dwelling on the war. But memories from Scotland keep seeping in, disrupting his sense of reality.

Julia has to play the game in order to survive. 

Julia and William return to Castle Leathers. Lovat is overjoyed to be reunited with William, whom he still believes to be his son and heir, and lewdly insinuates that Julia would be defiled if Henry had “had his way” with her. Corfield continues to be the MVP of Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 Episode 1 by portraying Julia’s quickness on her feet. One wrong word or move and Lovat will know Henry is Julia’s husband, not her kidnapper, and that William is Henry’s son. Hermione Corfield’s expressions, equally resourceful and devastating, solidifies that she’s the standout.

With Lovat having joined the Jacobite cause, Julia suggests he declare himself a military leader to gain the Fraser clan’s support. Later, Julia emotionally tells Davina (Sara Vickers) about what happened to Henry, and explains that she and Henry are time travelers. Weeping as she talks about likely missing Claire’s upcoming birthday in the 1920s, Julia worries that “A part of my heart is missing, and I’m afraid it always will be.”

Brian returns to Castle Leathers, and Lovat orders him to gather men for the military campaign. Brian, taking Ellen’s lead, promises to fight for Lovat out of the oath he swore to Lovat at his laird, but makes it clear that he shares no love for his father. Lovat scoffs, thinking Brian too weak to truly be his son. Julia, still searching for a means of escape, suggests that Lovat leave with Brian to recruit men and “show him how a Fraser of Lovat should properly conduct himself.”

“Remembrance Day” reintroduces all of the major players.

A chaplain (Tom Ashley), visits Henry in the asylum. The chaplain introduces himself as Reverend Wakefield, whom Outlander fans will remember is later Roger’s (Richard Rankin) adoptive father. Reverend Wakefield gives Henry a St. Anthony medal that had been recovered at Craigh na Dun.

Henry, having been weakened by the electrodes, asks Reverend Wakefield to take down a few notes for him. Henry’s muttering, from “Julia” to “Fraser” to a near-incomprehensible comment about how Lovat believes William is “next in line,” leads the Reverend to put down his pen, but he promises to return.

Reverend Wakefield tells his housekeeper, Mrs. Graham (Emma Hartley-Miller) about Henry, from being at the standing stones to babbling about a wife no one has been able to find. Mrs. Graham thinks there’s some truth to the stories of people disappearing at Craigh na Dun, but Reverend Wakefield dismisses the idea.

Julia and Davina discuss methods of determining the future. Julia wonders if Maisri (Katharine O’Donnelly), the seer, would be able to help her. Davina suggests it’s worth a try, and they devise a plan to bring Maisri to the house without Lovat finding out.

A welcoming familiarity shepherds in Season 2. 

Mrs. Graham visits Henry, and asks him if he’s lost his wife as well as everything else. “I’m afraid that I’m starting to,” Henry says, mournfully, worrying that he’s forgetting details about Julia, but insistent he could never have made up a love like that. Mrs. Graham tells him she believes his story about time travel, and the episode closes as Henry wonders if Mrs. Graham will help him.

Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 Episode 1 brings a familiar yet compelling edge to Henry and Julia’s story. That familiarity isn’t unwelcome, but rather, brings shades of one of Outlander‘s best seasons, its second, to the shows own sophomore effort. Irvine and Corfield turn in series-best performances as their characters grapple with the devastation of being separated by time. Henry and Julia, whose lives are largely a mystery in Outlander lore, spell a grippingly promising future.

The same can’t be said of creating an inherent sense of suspense for Brian and Ellen, whose dreams for the future have, we know, come to pass. But Roy and Slater rise above the thin material of their minimal screen time, and if Outlander precedent is anything to go by, there will be plenty of twists and turns ahead before their fate arrives. That’s the beauty of Outlander, and where the real suspense lies. Anything can happen before the future is at your feet.

Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 Episode 1 premieres September 18 on Starz.