The episode where Jamie loses his virginity
And gets married. In order to prevent sending Claire back into the hands of Black Jack Randall and the Red Coat English, Claire is persuaded into becoming a full Scotswoman. However, the way to do that is for her to marry a Scotsman. And the one that she has to marry? Well, my header says it all: Jamie. The man who has been in her debt and protected her since she arrived in this old time period. And it can't only just be a marriage on paper, it has to be consummated.
The episode begins with a sweet moment between Claire and Frank in the 1940s or probably late 1930s before the war. It shows Claire and Frank on their way to meeting Frank's parents until Frank stops in front of a registration office. There we see a newly wed couple having their picture taken. Seeing this, Frank decides that both of them should marry now at that moment before he introduces her to his parents. This spontaneous moment and the sheer amount of happiness on Claire's face was a painful reminder of her life before becoming an unwilling time traveller. So much joy can be read from Claire, and it is a testament to the chemistry between their actors, Caitroina Balfe and Tobias Menzies, that they can make you truly believe Claire and Frank are in love. All that tenderness comes to an when we get back to where the last episode left off.
Claire is now married to Jamie Fraser, the Scotsman who has been a part of her life in this time period since she first dropped into it. It shows the "you may kiss the bride" moment of the ceremony first then immediately goes to the after party. Claire has hold herself up in the room that is to be her's and Jamie's, drinking her sorrows away. At this moment we see that Claire is extremely bothered by the entire ordeal, even if it means she doesn't have to go back to the English. Probably the one who feels the most awkward about this whole ordeal is Jamie. This is really when we get to see Sam Heughan stand out (pun intended immensely) in a brilliant performance as Jamie. Despite being the object of desire for many young women in Castle Leoch, he is still a virgin and is a little frightened knowing that Claire isn't one. The build up to their first time is handled nicely, especially with how Claire stalls the moment by asking questions of Jamie's family in order to get to know him better. And when the moment comes... it is really quick. And really confusing for Jamie.
That could've easily have been the end of the episode, but it isn't. In fact it was just the beginning. The remainder of the episode deals with Jamie describing what the ceremony meant to him. On one hand it was meant to protect Claire's life from the ruthless English red coats and Captain Black Jack Randall. But on the other hand, it was an important moment for him. We learn throughout the rest of the episode that he would only agree to do the wedding under three conditions. The first one being that it be a proper church wedding. The second, that a key to something in his possession be used to forge into the wedding ring. And finally that Claire gets the perfect wedding dress. And at that point we automatically know that Jamie is a romantic. But not only that, his attraction for Claire has been a lot more than a physical one. He wanted everything to be perfect for the wedding, even if it is just to keep Claire in Scotland and away from the Red Coats. But the amount of care that he went into making this something he'll remember.
All these actions and his honest nature really move Claire so much that they pretty much continued to have sex the remainder of the episode. Jamie learns a lot of things from this experience. But one thing we also learn is that Dougal MacKenzie, Jamie's uncle, also desires Claire very much. I say desire, because it is pretty ambiguous as to what his words mean. We've seen him try to rape her before, yet we've also seen him treating her with kindness and extreme protection. Even in the last episode when she thought the idea of marriage was intended for her to marry him, he laughed at the idea. Yet for some reason now we can see that he kind of regrets not being the one she has to marry. But in the end, all this revelation does is drive Claire back into Jamie's bedroom to show him another sex position that he'll enjoy.
The episode ends on a bittersweet note when she finds the wedding ring of her husband from the 1940s in her current wedding dress. With the exception of the beginning of the episode, Claire seems genuinely happy to be with Jamie. But the ending once again brings that beginning full circle. She still loves her real husband. And it was all handled beautifully. Not as thrilling as the previous one, but given that this episode was suppose to be a bittersweet romance, it achieved it tenfold.
SCORE: 9/10 - A terrific episode for a bittersweet romance
STATUS: Continue to Watch - I gotta see where this goes
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