Outlander: Best Laid Schemes Recap

Synopsis of 2×06: Jamie and Claire use Claire’s medical knowledge to come up with a scheme to stop a deal which could fill the war chest; Claire learns Jamie has gone back on his word.

Rating: ★★★½☆☆

Inevitably, as Claire and Jamie make a deal for Jamie to wait a year before fighting Randall, we find that this episode Jamie has gone back on his word. The episode deals largely with Jamie and Claire’s plan to sabotage St. Germain and Prince Charles’ plans without them knowing. While Charles trusts Jamie explicitly, St. Germain is much more suspicious of the Frasers and has been since the beginning of the season.

With all the talk about white witches and witch hunts in this episode, it’s all harkening back to the witch hunt in Season 1. This time Master Raymond is seemingly in danger. Much of what Claire knows and understands is a product of her being a woman before her time even back in her own time, and while in 1940’s that might make her unique, in the 1740’s that makes her dangerous to people who might not understand her. While characters like Jamie and Murtagh might be understanding, you can also run into enemies who are willing to exploit the superstitions in order to hurt Claire.

Claire uses her knowledge of medicine and herbs to concoct something that appears to be the plague and poisons the wine that Comte and Prince Charles intend to sell for money. With the wine poisoned, the Prince convinces Jaime to store the win so they don’t get into trouble with the harbormaster. Murtagh enacts the second part of the plan in order to prevent the wine from being sold once more and robs St. Germain as highwaymen. Despite their success, they are still a subject of suspicion to St. Germain, even if Jamie saved the Comte’s life (at least that’s what the Comte saw).

Meanwhile, Murtagh leaves for Portugal to resell the wine in secret and Fergus aims to take his place at Jamie’s side. The boy has become trusted by the family and treated like a son by Jamie and Claire. When Jamie is called to Maison Elise to pay Charles’ debt after he gets too drunk, he brings Fergus with him. While Jamie deals with Charles, Fergus is left to wander the halls. He searches doors and checks rooms for open doors before coming upon an empty room with someone’s personal effects. The camera pans to reveal the redcoat that we know is so often associated with Black Jack and there’s definitely dread in heavy in the air.

Claire comes home after spending a night in the hospital to find out that Jamie has gotten into a fight with an Englishman at Maison Elise and gone to duel with them. He leaves her nothing but a note saying: “I am sorry. I must.” Exasperated and enraged, Claire takes a carriage to the dueling location while suffering through some serious abdominal pain. She arrives just in time to see Jamie and Jack begin their duel. Forced to stay silent, afraid her shouting might threaten Jamie’s life, she watches in shock as her stomach continues to cause her pain.

Jamie doesn’t kill Jack, but he does deal a severe blow to Jack’s crotch before the duel is stopped by the authorities. Because of the highly publicized fact that dueling is a serious crime, Jamie and Jack are both dragged away as Claire calls out to him, suffering a serious blood loss. After spending a night at the hospital because of some regular bleeding caused by the pregnancy, this seems very different. She’s rushed to Mother Hildegard as Jamie is carted away.