‘Outlander’ Season 7 Episode 2 Recap: “The Happiest Place on Earth”

After her rather harrowing ordeal of being arrested of and charged with murder, Claire (Caitriona Balfe) is no longer a prisoner and is back home at Fraser’s Ridge as we start Outlander Season 7 Episode 2 (“The Happiest Place On Earth”, now streaming on Starz). However, she’s certainly feeling reflective about Tom Christie’s (Mark Lewis Jones) sacrifice, which has encouraged her to appreciate her life every day as tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. However, she’s quickly pulled from her philosophic reverie when she realizes that Allan Christie (Alexander Vlahos) has turned up for a visit with a pistol in tow.

It soon becomes obvious to Claire that Allan was Malva’s (Jessica Reynolds’) real killer, as he unleashes a verbal diarrhea diatribe in which he insists they were meant for each other and that he couldn’t bear to find out she was sleeping with other men. After all, she was only ever supposed to love him. However, Malva insisted she had to get it on with other dudes because her own brother had gotten her pregnant and that wasn’t going to fly. That’s why Allan devised the plan of accusing Jamie (Sam Heughan) of rape, so that they could avoid Malva having to marry, get some cash, and run away together.

Of course, Malva did actually have a conscience and was quite fond of Claire. She couldn’t bear to hurt Claire by tearing her family apart with her lies about Jamie, so she told Allan that she wouldn’t go through with the accusations, which is when Allan had to kill her. Now, he wants to kill himself. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Claire doesn’t want even more blood on her hands, so she gets the gun off him and tells him to leave and never come back. He doesn’t get the chance, however, as Young Ian (John Bell) shoots him through the chest with an arrow. Nice one. Claire and Ian then bury Allan in the woods, with a bit of assistance from a random old lady who turns up and is basically like, “Eh, he must have deserved it.”

All of a sudden, we seem to have jumped forward in time a bit, as Brianna (Sophie Skelton) is already in labor. She gives birth to a seemingly healthy baby girl, much to her and Roger’s (Richard Rankin) delight. They decide to name her Amanda, which means “she who is loved” in Latin. Was Amanda a name used in the 1700s? Oh, who cares — that’s the least questionable thing on this show.

Of course, nothing is ever truly okay on this show, and it’s not long until Claire discovers that little Amanda has Patent ductus arteriosus, meaning she doesn’t get enough oxygenated blood around the body. She diagnoses this by using an 18th-century version of a stethoscope and a visual assessment of her blue nail beds, which seems super scientific. It’s decided that Brianna and Roger need to try to travel back to modern times as a family so that Amanda can get proper treatment or she’ll die. Claire doesn’t want them to go and wonders if she could perform an operation. Uh, neonatal surgery isn’t really her specialty, so thankfully Jamie shuts her down and says they really can’t do anything about it. Instead, they pray.

In Wilmington, while making preparation for the journey back, Bri runs into Lord John Grey (David Berry) and is overjoyed. He’s with his son, William Henry Ransom, Earl of Ellesmere, who happens to be Bri’s half-brother. For their first meeting, it’s slightly underwhelming. William is all grown up now and seems to be doing well with his military career. He’s hyped about being a Red Coat and can’t wait to go to war, because of course he can’t. Brianna later tells Grey that William should know his true parentage, but Grey says there’s no way in hell that’s happening.

Jamie goes to see Lord Grey later that night, and things seem slightly stilted between them. They do agree that William shouldn’t be told about his true origins, and they then move on to Jamie’s refusal to fight for the crown and stand beside his son. However, the result is that Jamie suggests they “sever all connection between us,” to which Lord Grey responds, “Damn this war.” There’s a lot of homoerotic energy going on in this scene that makes me think for a second we’re about to get a whole different show. However, things stay PG, and Grey gifts Jamie with a jeweled lapel that Jamie once took from an island years ago and tells him to keep it for Brianna. That should come in handy when it comes to traveling back.

Later that night, Bri and Jamie stand in a forest of the worst CGI-generated fireflies I’ve ever seen. There’s a somewhat surreal conversation in which Bri talks to Jamie about Disney Land and tries to explain the concept of Mickey Mouse to him. Yes, really. She then claims that Jamie would be fine in modern times because he could go see Godzilla in theaters. I don’t know why this scene was necessary, but I suppose it’s some good father/daughter bonding time and highlights the dissonance between life in both eras.

Later, Jamie gives Claire the jewel in case she wants to travel back with Brianna, but she throws it out the window and proclaims her undying love for him. The next day, the whole family heads to the stones so that Bri, Roger, and the kids can travel back to modern times. They believe they’re separating forever, but this is Outlander, so that’s likely not the case. It’s an emotional goodbye, for sure — even I felt a slight tinge of emotion. Then, just like that, Brianna, Roger, Jemmy, and Amanda are off through the stones.

At first, they’re unsure if they’ve made it back to current times until they see a plane in the sky and realize that yes, they have made it back to the 20th century.

That night, out of grief-induced horniness, Claire lies restlessly in bed before straddling Jamie and immediately going at it. However, she stops herself after a few seconds and admits that losing half their family is a bit of a soul and a libido killer. The reality that they’re unlikely to see Brianna, Roger, and their grandkids ever again is a heavy one to bear, but Jamie reassures her that those we love are always with us. Jamie holds her as she sobs and promises to be there for her always.

The mini montage that follows reveals that Lizzie (Caitlin O’Ryan) and her twin lovers welcomed their baby and life had gone back to normal at Fraser’s Ridge as best it could. Jamie and Claire decided to count their blessings and find happiness where they could. It’s all rather idyllic and calm, which is much-needed given the trauma they’ve experienced in recent times.

Of course, calmness never bodes well on this show, so it’s unsurprising when Claire gets home one night to an empty house and finds Wendigo Donner (Brennan Martin) in her sitting room asking for help. Turns out, he took a gemstone to the stones and drank a ton of whiskey because he was nervous. When he touched the stone, he passed out and woke up in exactly the same place he was before, just sans gem. Now, he wants Claire to tell him what he did wrong and how he can get back. She’s the only one he can ask, but she just gives him some basic common sense feedback. Don’t drink, focus on someone or somewhere you want to be, and go for it. It’s that simple.

It soon becomes clear that he’s not just there for advice, however. He needs more gemstones from Claire, and he’s brought some extra pals to rob the place before he goes. The thugs go around smashing bottles in Claire’s workshop, and it’s not long before they realize a ton of ether has been broken, filling the place with fumes. For some reason, Wendigo decides it’s a great idea to light a match and Fraser’s Ridge explodes in a fiery blaze. We’re left to wait until next week to find out how Jamie and Claire are going to escape this mess.

Some additional thoughts:

• How is Claire an expert on literally all things medical? The woman is a trained army nurse, fine. But now she’s also a neonatal expert? Given the conditions she’s cured/treated over the years, it’s clear she’s some kind of prodigy.
• We know that in an old episode, Brianna came across an old obituary claiming that Claire and Jamie died in a fire at Fraser’s Ridge. This seems to be that fire, but given that we’ve got the bulk of two seasons left to go, they obviously survive. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.
• Is it just me, or would it be hilarious to see Jamie go through the stones into modern times? For some reason, it’s giving “Enchanted” vibes in my head.

Jennifer Still is a writer and editor from New York who cares too way much about fictional characters and spends her time writing about them.