BWW Recap: Pack Your Bagpipes, Plaid, Gaelic Dictionary; OUTLANDER Road Trip

At the end of last week's OUTLANDER, Dougal Mackenzie promised us a road trip, and this week, we got it. Just so you don't get the wrong impression, Dougal's idea of a road trip doesn't include kicking your feet up on the dashboard, singing along to the Spice Girls at an obnoxious volume, or making a McDonald's pit stop on the Jersey Turnpike. The purpose of this trip is very much the journey, not the destination, as Dougal represents the Laird in collecting rent from the residents of surrounding villages. It's a good opportunity for Claire to finally get outside of Castle Leoch and maybe even make a run for it to Craigh na Dun, but as always, the Sassenach must be cautious.

And in case Claire ever forgot that she was a Sassenach, her travel party has no trouble reminding her, excluding her from their bawdy campfire talk by speaking strictly in Gaelic. Well, who wants to hear about your mistress' ample anatomy anyway? When she stumbles upon a relatively friendly group of women waulking wool, she naturally feels inclined to join them. At least they'll talk to her, after all. She joins in their waulking song, a tune so jaunty it even makes hurling a bucket of literal "piss" onto the fabric they're working with seem oddly delightful. Angus eventually storms in to take Claire away, but not before she learns that one of the women had to give up a goat to Dougal and subsequently now has no milk to feed her crying baby. Taking matters into her own hands, as our favorite anachronistic heroine simply loves to do, Claire attempts to bring the goat back to her. Dougal won't allow it, but before too much of a scuffle can break out, a "villager" steps in, and hark, an English accent? Oh, that's certainly interesting, and even Claire seems taken aback. Tension ensues, because, as we've learned, Scots and Brits don't mix. The Englishman departs in a huff-only to quietly slip into his redcoat. Ahem. I'll say that again. His redcoat. Uh oh. Well, guess we'll worry about that later.

Claire soon learns that Dougal employs some dastardly methods to collect money from the villagers-which comes as a major shock because he is seriously such a nice guy. Sarcasm upon sarcasm; dude's shady as a maple tree. He gives an impassioned speech, conveniently in Gaelic so Claire can't understand it. One word sticks out pretty clearly though: Sassenachs. Next thing you know, he's ripping the shirt right off Jamie's back, exposing his scars for everyone to see. Moved by the compelling scene, onlookers turn out their pockets, which Claire immediately deduces had been Dougal's plan all along. This act is repeated several times in the remaining villages, much to Claire's obvious disgust. Jamie tells her not to judge things she doesn't understand, and turns out, maybe that's valid. What Claire had initially pegged for underhanded extortion actually has political significance. During one of Dougal's speeches, she catches the name "Stuart," and recalls one of her history sessions with hubby Frank. In that moment, she realizes that Dougal and his fellow clansmen are rebels with a very real, however futile, cause. He's not stealing money for himself; he's raising money for a Jacobite army, hoping to return the Stuarts to the throne. While this epiphany makes her look at the clansmen with a new sense of respect, she is put into a very precarious situation herself, because, as an educated woman of the 20th century, she knows how all of it will end. Disaster will strike in just three years time on the fields of Culloden, where a very quick, very bloody battle will leave two thousand Jacobite rebels dead. Cue Debbie Downer music.

What else is there for Claire to do but at least try to warn the Mackenzies. Predictably, her concerns fall on deaf ears. She can't very well explain to them how she knows, with complete certainty, that their rebellion will fail. History may record such, but that history doesn't exist yet. Worse even, Claire's warnings to Dougal, who is still pretty convinced that she's a spy of some sort, come across as highly suspicious. And then to top it all off, just as Dougal begins accusing Claire of trying to undermine the cause, who pops up but a red-clad plot twist in the form of Jeremy Foster, aka that British guy from before you knew was going to be important later but almost forgot about. He's joined by quite a few similarly uniformed friends and approaches Claire as a comrade. Brits of a feather flock together, and all that. Under the impression that Claire is possibly with the Mackenzies as a prisoner, he offers assistance. And, bada bing, bada boom, he presents us with the first real cliffhanger of the season:

"Are you here by your own choice?"

Then-boom-credits roll. Oh, okay, it's like that, huh? Great. Just great. And so help me, if we wait a whole week just to hear Claire go, "Well, actually, yeah, mate, I am" and Foster to reply, "Ah, right then, cheerio, our mistake!" I will not be a happy camper. This will be the first time we've seen the Scots and the Brits clash since the series premiere, and with the political implications finally introduced, things are undoubtedly about to get a whole lot more interesting. I say, bring it on.

So, what do you think Claire will say when we return to Scotland next week? Let me know what you think in the comments below.

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