What’s poppin’, y’all? As die hard fans like myself may already know by now, season 2 of Outlander officially ended a few weeks ago, and we’re officially in the time period known as “Droughtlander.” To be honest though, if I have to endure an entire season of bratty ass Brianna Randall, I’d rather brave the drought! Anyway, despite losing Starz a while back, I was able to catch up on the last couple of episodes (and got royally pissed off at the events of the season finale, namely Claire’s spoiled brat of a daughter), and now I’d like to do a top 10 list of the most memorable moments—good and bad—of the Outlander TV series! Let’s hop to it!
10. Brianna Cusses At Her Mother
In the season finale, 20 years have passed, and a 50 year old Claire and her rotten daughter Brianna travel to Scotland to attend Rev. Wakefield’s funeral. While there, Brianna learns the truth about her father—her real father—and basically tells her mother, “You were just fucking another man behind Dad’s back!” What’s even crazier is that Claire didn’t smack the child silly! Okay, did Brianna have the right to be upset? Sure. Did Claire’s story about traveling to the 18th century sound ludicrous? Yeah. But did she have the right to drop an F bomb at her mother and basically call her a ho? HELL NO!
I’ma need you to have several seats, Brianna.
9. The Spanking
Yep, I went there.
In this scene, Jamie has just rescued Claire from Black Jack’s clutches, but feels the need to punish her since he ordered her to stay with Willie in the woods, but she “wandered off” towards the stones at Craigh Na Du instead, leading to her capture. What does he consider punishment? Puttin’ a belt to her behind. Okay…I know I’m gonna catch holy hell for this one, but as I always say, I have to keep it 100%. I’m a black woman from the south, raised during the ’80s and ’90s. When I got out of line as a child, my mother and grandmother spanked me. Some people look at this scene and see abuse. I see a spanking. Now, did Claire deserve the spanking? Hell no, especially given the fact that she was running back to the stones to go home (which Jamie later learned and deservedly ended up with egg on his face). Do I believe a husband should whup his wife’s booty with a belt? Not unless it’s for kinks. However, I laughed out loud when I first watched this …because Claire whupped Jamie’s ass more than he whupped hers. Homegirl refused to go down without a fight, and she gave him the silent treatment for the next week, to boot. Jamie had no choice but to literally get on his knees and beg for forgiveness.
8. All of Gellis’s Moments
Yes, you read that correctly. All of Gellis Duncan’s moments are memorable. Whether she’s worshiping mother nature, killing both of her husbands, channeling her inner Malcolm X at a Prince Charlie rally, whipping up her potions or announcing that she’s “going to a fucking barbecue,” when Gellis comes on screen, you know it’s about to go down.
7. Angus Dies
In the episode “Prestonpans,” Angus returns from the eponymous battle bruised from a cannon blast that exploded next to him, while Rupert was unconscious and seemingly circling the drain. Ever the faithful best friend, Angus never left his side, and it looked as if he was going to lose his partner in crime. However, it turns out that Angus was the one that was dying. He passed out after bleeding internally for the past few hours from the cannon blast, and all Claire and the others could do was watch in horror as he bled to death. Ironically enough, Rupert woke up the second Angus died. This scene really broke my heart.
6. Black Jack Violates Fergus
Just when we thought that Black Jack couldn’t get any more evil, we learn that Jamie found his ratchet ass raping Fergus, the 10 year old boy Jamie and Claire took under their wing. Hence, Jamie broke his word to Claire about waiting a year to kill Black Jack, and went ahead with their scheduled duel. I cheered when Jamie stabbed his no good ass in the balls towards the end of the fight.
5. Dougal Gets Killed
Another reason this season 2 finale pissed me off. After realizing that crazy ass “Bonny” Prince Charles is going to send the Scots to their death no matter what, Claire suggests killing him via poison. Dougal overhears this plot, goes into a murderous rage and lashes at Jamie, with Claire presumably to be next. Jamie and Dougal fight, and Jamie eventually gets the upper hand with Dougal’s knife aimed at his chest. Dougal’s a tough SOB, and he struggles to keep the dagger from piercing his body, so Claire, being the ride or die chick she is, bears her weight down on Jamie, causing to knife to enter Dougal’s chest. Let’s face it, Dougal McKenzie was a bastard. He cheated on his sick (and supposedly lonely) wife, 90% of the time he was out for self, he knocked up Gellis and forgot about her, and he tried to hook up with his nephew’s wife on his wedding day! In spite of all that though, I liked Dougal. Really, really deep down, he had a good heart, and his love and loyalty to Scotland were very commendable. He also cared a great deal about Claire as well as Colum, although he had a shitty way of showing it. That’s why it broke my heart that Claire and Jamie had to kill him, especially given the fact that Dougal went out of his way to save Claire’s life previously (which makes it even more hurtful, considering that Claire is the one that sealed his death warrant). Hell, he’s the reason they’re a married couple in the first place. I hated that his last thoughts of Jamie and Claire were that they were a couple of traitorous bitches.
4. Claire Loses Faith
“Faith” was the most powerful episode of season 2, hands down. As previously mentioned, Jamie breaks his word to leave Black Jack alone for an entire year, and as a result, a very pregnant Claire goes into distress upon seeing him fight the no-good Englishman. Claire goes into labor immediately after the duel, and the baby is stillborn. Naturally, Claire is depressed and when the nuns allow her to see the baby, she holds the child for the remainder of the day. In what’s possibly the most thoughtful and selfless act of her life, Claire’s friend, Louise de Rohan, convinces her to let the baby go for good. If this episode didn’t pull at your heartstrings, I don’t know what will. I wish the baby had lived and Claire and Jamie raised her. I’d trade Faith for Brianna any day (it’s okay to say that about TV characters).
3. The Duke of Sandringham Loses His Head
We all knew that the Duke of Sandringham was an asshole, but in the episode “Vengeance Is Mine, ” we learned that the duke was damn near evil incarnate. It’s revealed that he was the one that orchestrated Claire and Mary’s attack in Paris, and to add insult to injury, we also learn that Mary was the Duke’s own goddaughter, and he still allowed the attack! Apparently, St. Germain (aka TFF) wanted Claire dead, but Sandringham suggested rape, because it “wasn’t as bad.” WTF!? After finding out about the duke’s evil deed, Murtagh, who promised Claire he would lay vengeance at her feet for what happened to her and Mary, promptly buries an ax into the Duke’s skull and proceeds to chop off his head. He then lays the head at Claire and Mary’s feet and lets them know that he fulfilled his vow. Go ‘head Murtagh. I cheered at this scene, too.
2. Wentworth Prison
Jamie’s torture scenes in Wentworth Prison are stomach turning, to say the least. Black Jack promised he would break Jamie…and he does just that, and makes the viewing audience cringe in fear and disgust in the process. His tactics are enough to make Jeffrey Dahmer shiver: brutal and multiple rapes, molestation, mutilation, and psychological games, all ending with a “mercy kill” that thankfully never happened, thanks to Claire and Murtagh. When the founding fathers of America outlawed “cruel and unusual punishment” in the Bill of Rights, I believe they were thinking about Black Jack Randall (psych). Seriously, I can hardly watch these scenes now, but you best believe they stayed burned in my mind.
1. All the Times Claire and Jamie Hooked Up
Real talk, we all love the drama and action Outlander brings, but what we all salivate over is Claire and Jamie’s sex scenes. Whether they’re consummating their marriage, having a sizzling make up session, or Claire letting Jamie give her a “good morning kiss,” we live to see these two hook up. Claire and Jamie have explosive chemistry, and together, they’ve had some of the hottest love scenes I’ve seen in ages. So much so, that everybody and their mama was beggin’ to see Claire and Jamie get it on in season 2. Unfortunately, they only had two measly hot scenes together this season (and one of them was a quickie). Boo! Maybe they’ll get together a little bit more next season after their 20 year separation (God, I hate that storyline), but it begs the question…do we really wanna see middle aged folks get their freak on?
Oh, yeah…honorable mention:
“I’ll thank you to take your hands off my wife.” I love it!
—Written by Nadiya
So tell me, what’s your favorite Outlander moment? Did you agree with the list, or did you have a different opinion? Let me know in the comments section!
