'Outlander' Season 2, Episode 1 Recap: 'Through A Glass, Darkly'

Just like that, the show shifts back to the 1740s as Claire, Jamie and Murtagh prepare to disembark from the ship we saw them on in the Season 1 finale. Bonjour, France! 

Immediately, Jamie’s longtime companion and beloved friend Murtagh expresses his distaste for the place. “France — reeks of frogs. Just as I remember it,” he grumpily says as he gets off the ship, before promising to find them all some lodging. 

As night falls, Jamie sits and tries to get comfortable on the bed. His hand is still a mangled mess after what Black Jack did to it in Season 1. He’s glad to be off the high seas (Jamie gets verra seasick), but the English Dragoons Captain still haunts him. “Sometimes I feel his touch, like he’s here,” Jamie says. Claire reminds him her face is the one he’s looking at and then quickly gets him talking about what they have to do – stop the Jacobite rebellion. 

Jamie’s a Scot though, so can’t they try and win it instead, he asks. Her limited historical knowledge doesn’t extend to British battle strategy, so Claire tells Jamie they have to infiltrate the Jacobite movement and “find a way to disrupt their plans.” Perhaps Jamie’s cousin, Jared, a Jacobite who lives in Paris, can make introductions for them, she suggests. Although Jamie is concerned that lying and scheming isn’t honorable, he knows saving tens of thousands of lives, and the Highland culture (if they’re successful) is a noble goal. He has just one reservation – what they are going to tell Murtagh? 

“So that’s all you’ll tell me, nothing more?” Murtagh says on the docks later when the pair tells him the goal. Stopping the Jacobite rebellion is the “purpose” he notes, not the “reason.” Not ready to tell her time traveling story, Claire says she can’t explain it. Jamie though, knows he owes Murtagh an explanation. “I vow to you, I’ll tell you everything that has happened and why. At the proper time,” he tells his longtime companion. Murtagh looks down, then up and into Jamie’s eyes. “Aye,” he responds, reaching out to clutch Jamie’s good hand. “That’ll do,” Murtagh adds before walking off.