Want a minute-by-minute recap of Outlander Season 3 episode 5, “Freedom & Whisky” We give all the details….
Do you find yourself gabbing obsessively about Outlander to your friends and family? Wishing your Sunday nights included a living room full of people with whom to watch, discuss, comment, cheers, jeers and well, experience alllllll the feels? Dinna fash, Obsessenach—you are not alone.
Good news—we can get new family and friends pour ourselves a dram and, through the magic of technology, enjoy it together! As we brought to you during Season 2, we’ll be LIVE blogging all the episodes in Season 3. Like the Outlander Cast podcast, it will be SPOILER FREE for non-book readers.
Not into distractions during your visit to the World of Outlander? That’s okay! Our LIVE blogs double as episodic recaps to serve as a trusty viewing companion on your second, third and umpteenth re-watches (hey, we get it).
So get all your post-18th Century gadgets ready and settle in, because the best things in life should be shared with a buddy. Hi, buddy.
Now let the show begin…
[8:03 p.m.] Weekly title card riddle: One could argue that Brianna’s 1st Christmas might have a fresh meaning this year given that it’s her first Christmas knowing the truth. [8:04 p.m.] Great to see Claire in her element and on screen with Dr. Joe, who has had so little screen time thus far this season but who plays a largely important role in Claire’s world. [8:05 p.m.] “Let’s pack her.” For 18th century Scotland? I concur, Doctor. STAT. [8:07 p.m.] What’s changed might be the most loaded question ever asked. Everything, Professor, EVERYTHING. [8:09 p.m.] While there are few among us still shedding tears for Frank, I needed this scene to remind me that it’s not just about us or about Claire’s all-consuming love for Jamie. It’s also about Brianna, who lost her father and will be spending her first Christmas without him amidst a complete identity crisis. [8:11 p.m.] “FUCK FATE.” – Dr. Joe, taking an early lead in the race for my favorite quote of this episode. [8:12 p.m.] Because we’ve established how I love music, this is “Show Me a Man” by Joe Tex. May we always welcome Roger the edible scholar onscreen with a toe-tapping ditty. That would be either the most daft thing the producers could do, or the most brilliant. [8:13 p.m.] Impeccable timing, Roger. No really, IMPECCABLE. I’d say you’re family now – climb into the unfiltered chaos. [8:14 p.m.] “I need a break” – said no Outlander fan ever, with regard to the two-week hiatus we’re about to endure. [8:15 p.m.] “Until she grew out of it… or maybe Frank and I did.” Claire darling, I’d say put it on your tab. You grew out of just about everything when it came to Frank, except your shared love and devotion for Bree. [8:16 p.m.] I just want to take a moment to praise the work of Jon Gary Steele and team for the Boston brownstone interiors. Between the rich woods and textures, crackling fire sounds and warm lighting, I’m getting a TV contact high on the delicious aroma of books, wool, cloves and whisky. [8:17 p.m.] May we all experience something in life that brings us such an elated shock that we make our own Claire “I found him” face. [8:18 p.m.] For those intrigued by the significance of this Robert Burns poem on which the title – “Freedom & Whisky” – is based, we’re publishing a blog post this week by the talented Anne Gavin, digging deeper into its history and significance here. Stay tuned! [8:19 p.m.] Printed by Alexander Malcolm. Is anyone else’s heart palpitating out of their chest? Of course it is. To the beat of their theme in the background, no less. Just to completely do you in. [8:20 p.m.] Claire weighing her parental instincts over her life’s greatest happiness is more than I can bear. It’s not just leaving home to reunite with her partner; it’s leaving time to do so. Gasp. [8:21 p.m.] Roger’s all, “I’ll just leave these right here, just in case. You can clutch them in one hand, pearls in the other while continuing to ponder #ImpossibleChoices.” [8:22 p.m.] It’s the Master Raymond theme! Without spoiling, let me just say that this scene was included for its applicable, later use in a “previously on Outlander” opening. And so my co-editor Janet Reynolds can squeal in satisfied delight. [8:23 p.m.] “They tell all… now what aren’t you telling me about your main in Scotland?” – Joe logging the oddest segue ever, but we’ll take it to get this moving along. [8:24 p.m.] Interrupting this incredibly important “that’s what friends are for” moment to do a little online shopping in a hunt for Claire’s dress. LOVE. [8:25 p.m.] Just when I’d given up hope for a turtlenecked Roger this episode – phew. And now that his Scottish accent has muttered a love for daytime TV, lobster rolls and Boston cream pies, I get Anne Gavin’s wish to roll around naked in every one of Roger’s turtlenecks. And tweedy coats. Me next, me next! [8:27 p.m.] I’m absorbing the enormity of what this dialogue means, how deeper it goes, how it’s propelling the character development forward. And yet, I’m fixated on a need for Bree to get some face-framing layers. I get it, it’s the 1960s, but that hair… [8:28 p.m.] Those two just rambled more words under those arches than we’ve heard from Jamie in 20 years. [8:29 p.m.] Oh SNAP! Welcome back, Sandy Candy! And by welcome back, I mean – MOVING ON. [8:31 p.m.] Excuse me, waiter – I believe there’s been a mix-up. I didn’t order a side of Sandy Candy’s grief-fueled guilt. Please take it off my bill. And this episode, ASAP. For the limited exposition we get in these episodes, I don’t need this. Thank you kindly. [8:33 p.m.] If you’ve experienced the life-changing joy of becoming a parent – no matter how it came to pass – then I imagine Claire’s note about holding her baby for the first time, nursing her, etc. has left you in the same weepy, knowing state as me. [8:34 p.m] Annnnd, the weepy turns to ugly girl whimpering at the “I love you but I don’t need you…. Not the way I did when I was little” admission. In raising a child, this is what every parent strives for, and dreads… in equal proportions. [8:35 p.m.] Joe Abernathy is to Claire as Morgan Freeman’s Red was to Tim Robbins’ Andy in The Shawshank Redemption – that trusted pal who always spews quotable wisdom via a distinct, measured voice. [8:36 p.m.] “White Roses of Scotland” is one of my favorite Bear McCreary tracks from the Outlander Season 2 soundtrack. [8:38 p.m.] “You gave Jamie up for me, now I have to give him back to you.” – Bree now out in front for my favorite line of the night, and also doing her level best to diminish Claire’s #ImpossibleChoices. [8:39 p.m.] “You’re a skinny white broad with too much hair but a great ass. He’ll be in heaven when he sees you, Lady Jane.” Nope, Joe’s back in the lead. Dear God, may we all have a friend like Joe at our side as we age gracefully. [8:40 p.m.] Is too early to put up Christmas decorations? Asking for a friend. This episode is putting said friend in the holiday spirit. [8:41 p.m.] Dinna fash – all our time-traveling packing woes will be solved in a new blog post from the hilarious Nikki Gastineau. Stay tuned! [8:42 p.m] That damn Singer and the distracting, hokey inclusion of this Batman theme are all that stand between us and this frigging reunion – sew Claire, sew like the wind! [8:44 p.m.] Girl, I’d prioritize my roots too. But if she’s worried about a long-term plan for grays, Claire better bring her pal Clairol in one of those pockets. [8:46 p.m.] Keys to the kingdom, bank accounts, final instructions… this is so much adulting for a 20-YEAR OLD. (Thank you, Bruce, for correcting my goof on her age!) [8:48 p.m.] Ahh, I see Roger subscribes to the same pre-flight protocol as Nikki: a wee nip before the road. Make it a double if that “road” involves long stints in a commercial airliner. [8:49 p.m.] Between their freedom-and-whisky toast and their theme building to a crescendo in the background… I might pass out before she ever steps foot on The Royal Mile. Legit. [8:51 p.m.] Well played, Rodge. And that longing stare – swoon! In love, we should all strive to be on the receiving end of The Dickens Glare. [8:52 p.m.] YESSSSSSSSSS! Be still my hyperventilating heart, that was a PERFECT transition. Like the outstretched hands in the Season 2 opener, the poetic use of puddles was a smart way to show the passage of time. We know about the stones. We’ve been there. We get it. We don’t need them here. Brilliant choice! [8:53 p.m.] Pass the paper bag, STAT! I canna breathe. I canna breathe. I canna breathe. THIS IS HAPPENING. [8:54 p.m.] Fondle the sign, but then keep moving. There are much better options inside for fondling. [8:55 p.m.] And I thought hearing Murtagh’s voice from around the corner in that prison did me in……………………….. [8:57 p.m.] I’m assuming our collective reaction mirrored Jamie’s, no? Still struggling for air, grasping the wine like it’s oxygen. [9:00 p.m.] Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ, those last 10 minutes did me in! I long suspected that they were going to cut the episode off at the ding of that doorbell, and I’ve never been more satisfied to be so wrong. Because while waiting two weeks to see more should be punishable by flogging, they gave us just enough. Just enough to whet our anticipation. Just enough to satiate our palate for what’s to come. Just enough to know what Claire was feeling, to experience in real-time what Jamie was feeling. As a TV watcher, you might be wondering how did Jamie end up a printer? Why Edinburgh? What’d we miss? Let me assure you, who cares. It doesn’t matter. In the way that “Of Lost Things” was for Jamie, we needed this episode for Claire. And I LOVE that we, like, Claire had to experience the heart-stopping anticipation in waiting until the final moments to lay eyes on Jamie. And now we all take up the duty of basically talking about nothing but this extended episode (let’s just call it, “The Wedding 2.0”) for the next two weeks until it airs. You can thank the programming powers that be for that one, family.Thank you, friends, as always for joining me. And like I always say, my husband thanks you too, as I’ve found an appropriate place for my episodic outbursts. If you’ve missed any of our episode recaps, you can spend the next two weeks re-watching to your heart’s content and catching up with them here:
Episode 3.01: “The Battle Joined“
Episode 3.02: “Surrender“
Episode 3.03: “All Debts Paid“
Episode 3.04: “Of Lost Things“
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