‘Outlander’ Season 7 Episode 1 Recap: “A Life Well Lost”

The last time we got a new episode of Outlander was way back in May of 2022, but thankfully, the patience that all of us Heughligans exhibited over the last 13 months is finally about to pay off. Season 6 ended with Claire (Caitriona Balfe) being framed for the murder of Malva Christie (Jessica Reynolds) and her unborn child after they were found dead in her garden. The B-plot was all about Brianna (Sophie Skelton) and Roger (Richard Rankin) committing to raising their son Jemmie (Andrew and Matthew Adair) in 1700s colonial America while finding out they’re expecting a second child. Luckily for all of us with poor memories, Outlander Season 7 kicks off with a quick but thorough enough recap and picks up pretty much right where we left off. Let’s get to it, shall we?

This episode (“A Life Well Lost”) opens with Claire standing with a noose around her neck as the people of Wilmington look on. She’s then pushed from the platform to her death, with the sound of her neck snapping the last thing that’s heard… before Jamie (Sam Heughan) is pulled out of his reverie by Young Ian (John Bell). A voiceover informs us that Jamie is certain Claire’s still alive even though he’s had no contact with her since she was carted away to jail.

As it turns out, Claire is still alive and (sort of) well, and she’s made a pal in her alcoholic cellmate, Sadie. Hilariously, Claire is shocked to discover that Sadie has been behind bars for 29 days and still hasn’t had a trial. Good thing she can’t travel to the 21st century, eh?

Not long after, Redcoat soldiers arrive looking for a “healer” and Claire stands up, but they only allow her to go with them when Sadie stands up and claims to be the murderer among the group. She’s gone by the time Jamie and Young Ian arrive at the prison. They’re none too pleased with Thomas Christie (Mark Lewis Jones), who promised not to let Claire out of his sight in Wilmington. However, it’s not like he had much of a choice. Mrs. Tolliver, the prison warden and the wife of the local sheriff, isn’t very forthcoming when it comes to details of her whereabouts, nor are the other prisoners.

As it turns out, Claire’s on a ship and she’s been brought to a cabin to see the governor’s wife, Mrs. Josiah Martin, who’s extremely pregnant and pretty ill. Mrs. Martin is pretty skeptical of Claire and makes her swear not to hurt her baby, which Claire assures her would never happen. It’s not like Mrs. Martin has much of a choice, so she drinks the ginger tea Claire prescribes.

Claire begs Mr. Josiah Martin to let her go ashore to go get more supplies (i.e. go on the run). However, he tells her to write a list and someone else will get what she needs. As it turns out, she sends the letter to none other than Thomas Christie himself — a smart move because he can now report back Claire’s whereabouts to Jamie.

The governor later finds out that she’s the wife of James Fraser of Fraser’s Ridge, and while Major MacDonald tries to throw her under the bus, Mr. Martin seems to accept her innocence on the murder charge after a lengthy discussion. However, he’s not so sure about her political leanings and warns her that treason is a whole other ball game.

Meanwhile, Roger and Bri are off on their holidays as Roger trains to become a minister. They’re blissfully unaware of what’s happened back at Fraser’s Ridge/in Wilmington for now. In the meantime, Bri is helping with the alms while Roger and a fellow reverend offer to pray over a bunch of soldiers traveling through the area.

The soldiers aren’t having it as they don’t believe religious men have any worthwhile advice. That’s when Roger busts out the ol’ Muhammad Ali “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” quote and is recognized as a fellow traveler by Wendigo Donner (Brennan Martin). He’s currently a prisoner, meaning he needs some help not only to get free but to get to a traveling place with the gemstone in his possession to get back to his own time. It’s a no from Bri on that one, and while Roger is initially inclined to offer assistance, he eventually offers it in the form of prayer.

Not long after the note is handed to Christie, Jamie rows up to the ship to bring the supplies for Mrs. Martin. He and Claire share a passionate kiss on the dock before a young lieutenant tells them to knock it off and he’s taken to see the governor. Jamie asks him to pardon Claire, but the governor isn’t here to do favors. If he wants Claire to be released, Jamie will have to go to the Backcountry, gather at least 200 men, and have them swear to fight for the crown. He agrees but obviously has no intention of doing so.

Luckily, Christie comes to the rescue here. He tells Jamie he needs to go see Claire one more time before he confesses to the crime of murder so she can go free. Jamie isn’t interested at first, thinking that Christie is trying to steal his thunder as the eternal hero. However, he eventually realizes it’s the only way forward. Jamie then eulogizes Christie at his request, blowing his trumpet a bit because hey, it’s the least you can do for a guy who’s about to let himself be hanged for your wife.

Claire is none too pleased to hear of the plan either when Christie turns up on the ship to tell her his plan. He also reveals that Malva was his niece, the daughter of his brother Edgar, rather than his own daughter. Oh, and she and her mother were witches. He even admits that Malva tried to kill Claire so she could have Jamie.

However, the biggest “OMG, dude, no!” moment comes when Christie admits that he loves Claire. She looks sort of sheepish and says nothing, and thankfully he breaks the silence by handing her his written confession. She tries to rip it up but he admits that he already gave a copy to the newspaper in Wilmington and insists that he wants to take the rap for the murder as his final gesture of love.

Soon after, Claire rows up to shore to a waiting Jamie and she’s again a free woman. At this point, there are seven minutes left in the episode, which is plenty of time for them to get it on. Instead, they lie in bed fully clothed and discuss Christie’s willingness to take Claire’s place in prison. Neither believes he was guilty, but they can’t think of who he was covering for.

When she falls asleep, Jamie goes to the room where Richard Brown (Chris Larkin) is staying. Brown insists that if Jamie harms a hair on his head, his people will hunt down and kill everyone Jamie knows and loves, but alas… Young Ian and his friends are already sorting out Brown’s people. Brown then tries to appeal to Jamie’s goodwill, calling him a “good man,” but Jamie says he’s also a “violent man” and that all of the goodness he has is down to Claire. Since Brown tried to take Claire from him, he’s done for… or is he? We’ll have to wait until next week to find out, it seems.

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.