Outlander Recap: Everything You Need to Know for Season 3

Less than a week left of Droughtlander, so we’re here to catch you up with all the details!

Previously on Outlander – In case you’ve haven’t watched Starz’ adaptation of Diana Gabaldon’s series of the same name, where have you been? But dinna fash. It’s not too late to catch up! Starz is marathoning the episodes ahead of the Season 3 premiere like a champion. Or you could just read this ultra-quick recap and get the gist! Let’s do this!
Our main character is Claire Randall, a sass talking WWII nurse on a second honeymoon with her husband Frank in Scotland after the war is over. Unfortunately for their plan to reconnect, Claire falls through a crack in time at some standing stones roughly two hundred years earlier before the second Jacobite rebellion. She realizes she’s not in some elaborate costumed recreation when she meets the ancestor of her husband Frank, Jonathan “Black Jack” Randall, who unfortunately for everyone is kind of a dick.

She’s rescued by a gallant group of Highlanders from the Mackenzie clan including one outlaw Jamie Fraser, who is red haired and hot as can be. There’s a whole bunch of fish out of water stuff to be played out and everyone thinks Claire is a spy, both the English and the Scots. To prevent her from being “questioned” by Black Jack, the Highlanders marry her to Jamie. Though this is an intriguing moral dilemma for Claire as Frank is still searching for her back in the 20th century, she goes through with it. Before she falls madly in love with him, however, she causes Jamie an endless amount of trouble, including bringing him face to face with Black Jack Randall, who has a heck of a lot of history with him. She also is almost burned as a witch with a woman named Geillis Duncan- who she finds out just before she’s carted away is also a time traveler.

Throughout the hijinks Claire falls in love with Jamie, confesses she’s a time traveler, and chooses to stay with him instead of going back. But before Jamie and Claire settle into a life of perfect happiness, he’s arrested and carted away to jail to be hanged. Claire attempts a rescue but gets herself caught by Black Jack Randall, prompting Jamie to trade his body for Claire’s release. Claire manages to free Jamie and they escape to France, but Jamie is pretty damaged mentally and physically. Nevertheless, Claire brings him back from the brink and at the end of season 1 Claire is pregnant and they’re sailing to France to stop that Jacobite rebellion we mentioned earlier and change the future.

Season 2 begins with Claire back in the 20th century discovering her and Jamie weren’t able to change history and was one long flashback of the two of them in Paris trying to prevent Bonnie Prince Charlie from starting the rebellion, and when he does trying to help him win back in Scotland. Unfortunately we learned from the first episode they failed, so. Season 2 was a little… Uneven. It did bring Black Jack Randall back into the mix after we thought he was dead season 1 and that was entertaining.

Season 2 ended with Jamie sending Claire back through the stones and Claire flashing forward twenty years with her adult redhaired daughter Briana back in Scotland showing her around. They meet a handsome history professor named Roger, discover Jamie’s grave where it shouldn’t be and Claire confesses her time travelling past to her daughter. She’s not thrilled and doesn’t really believe it until her and Roger witness Claire’s buddy Geillis from season 1 going back through the stones herself. Now that they’re believers, Roger and Bree discover Jamie didn’t die in Culloden as Claire had assumed twenty years ago. We end on a sunrise against the standing stones as Claire declares: “I have to go back!”

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The Main Cast

• Claire Elizabeth Beauchamp Randall Fraser (Caitriona Balfe): Our heroine. She’s been living in Boston since she returned to the future, and our sassy time-travelling heroine has to search the past to find her soulmate in the past since she left him all those years ago. Nice job, Claire.
• James Alexander Malcolm Mackenzie Fraser (Sam Heughan): The hero of our story. Since he didn’t die at Culloden, how did he survive? And what’s he been getting up to for the past twenty years?
• Frank Randall (Tobias Menzies): Claire’s “future” husband. Frank is a controversial character in the novels because some people love him, and some hate him. He’s still controversial in the show for the same reasons. An urbane history professor, Frank said that whatever Claire did, he’d always love her, but does that including marrying another man from the past, falling in love with him and returning pregnant with his baby? We’ll see!
• Brianna Randall (Sophie Skelton): Claire’s daughter with Jamie who has been raised by Frank. Her relationship seems a little strained with her mother. We’re looking forward to some flashbacks to find out why!
• Roger Mackenzie Wakefield (Richard Rankin): A professor of history who as a little boy knew the Randalls, Roger is the adopted son of Rev. Wakefield. He has the hots for Brianna and will help Claire on her mission to find Jamie in the past.

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The Villains

• Black Jack Randall (Tobias Menzies): He’s obsessed with Jamie to the point of sexually assaulting him for power over him. He’s one sick dude. He’s also “come back to life” once, so this dude is tricky.
• Laoghaire Mackenzie (Nell Hudson): Pronounced “Leery”, she’s a young Scottish lassie who had her eyes on Jamie and tried to have Claire burned as a witch so she could have him for herself. She also tried to make him cheat on Claire. Boo, hiss!
• Comte St. Germaine (Stanley Weber): Claire had his expensive cargo burned, and in season 2 he’s bent on revenge. Joke is on him, though- he dies in season 2 in an elaborate magic/poison scheme

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Returning Cast

• Jenny & Ian (Laura Donnelly and Steven Cree): Jamie’s sister and her husband. Fiercely loyal to Jamie.
• Fergus (Romann Berrux): A young boy, Jamie found him in a Paris brothel and paid him to steal mail to subvert the rebellion. He becomes like a surrogate son to Jamie and Claire over the course of the season.
• Murtagh Fraser (Duncan Lacroix): Jamie’s Godfather and right hand man. When Jamie needs something, Murtagh is there.
• Rupert Mackenzie (Grant O’Rourke): One half of the show’s comedy duo, Rupert is a member of clan Mackenzie and fiercely loyal.
• Bonnie Prince Charlie (Andrew Gower): The leader of the doomed rebellion, the Bonnie Prince leads the rebellion that ultimately separates Jamie and Claire.

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Major deaths… Major sadness

• Dougal Mackenzie (Graham McTavish): Jamie’s relationship with his Uncle Dougal Mackenzie is… complicated, to say the least. He wanted to marry Claire himself to get her away from Black Jack, but was already married. And when Jamie is arrested and almost hanged, Dougal makes his play for Claire. When he comes across Claire and Jamie potentially plotting to kill Bonnie Prince Charlie in a last ditch effort to stop the rebellion in season 2, Dougal overhears and tries to kill Claire. This leads Jamie to tussle with his uncle for the last time- he kills him before the final battle.
• Angus Mackenzie (Stephen Walters): The other half of the Rupert & Angus show, after a big battle in the Jacobite rebellion you think it’s Rupert who is destined to meet the big man in the sky but SURPRISE! It ends up being Angus who was bleeding internally and kicks off.

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Outlander Newbies

• Lord John Grey (David Berry): This isn’t QUITE right, as we DID meet John Grey briefly in season 2, the young soldier who tried to “save” Claire from Jamie. Jamie let him go. And he’ll be glad he did in season 3.
• Adult Fergus (César Domboy): Kids grow up, and Cesar plays the grown up version of Fergus.
• Mr. Willoughby (Gary Young): In the books, Mr. Willoughby wasn’t our favorite characterization. Here’s hoping they’ve made some tweaks for the show.
• Captain Thomas Leonard (Charlie Hiett): A small role with major repercussions, Captain Leonard doesn’t start out a captain, but when everyone in line in front of him dies he finds himself in the hot seat and needing Claire to care for the sick people on his ship.
• Marsali (Lauren Lyle): Marsali is Laoghaire’s daughter. Now you know this is going to be complicated.
• Geneva Dunsanay (Hannah James): Another controversial character from the book, Geneva is the daughter of an English Lord who is asked to take Jamie to serve out the remainder of his sentence in the English countryside. Finding herself betrothed to a much older man, Geneva decides she’d rather spend her first night with Jamie. …Hijinks ensue.
• Joe Abernathy (Wil Johnson): This is a new character for Claire’s 1950’s Boston world. Both doctors at a time when their colleagues wish they weren’t, Claire and Joe bond and form a fierce friendship.
• Young Ian Murray (John Bell): Young Ian is the son of Jenny and Ian, and from the moment of his birth his life is pretty dramatic. Sweet, daring and with a penchant for trouble, Young Ian sets the Frasers on their course for America (but we won’t spoil how).

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So what’s next for Jamie and Claire?

From Starz:

Season 3 of “Outlander” picks up with Jamie and Claire, separated by continents and centuries, as they attempt life apart, each haunted by their lost love. Can they find their way back to each other?

Outlander returns to Starz on Sunday, September 10th, 2017 at 8/7c.

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