Caitriona Balfe

Outlander has had its fair share of horrifying moments, many of them having to do with sexual violence. “Wentworth Prison” is an hour of sustained sadistic terror at the hands of Jack Randall, and it is incredibly defeating and deflating. Jack is grotesquely obsessed with Jamie, with breaking him and with manipulating him and those close to him, and he finally is able to do whatever he wishes. As a villain, he is remarkably effective, and this episode works overtime to make him as horrifying as possible. It can feel exhausting and grueling, confined to these small spaces of abuse, but thankfully it is told compellingly and with purpose.

“Love forces a person to choose,” Jenny tells Claire after she tortures a redcoat for information on Jamie. “You do things you never imagined you could do before.” This feels like an inarguable truism, and a kind of thematic basepoint for the episode (and, really, the series). It’s so effective because it is so cheesy on its surface, but is always treated with narrative respect and significance. Claire’s passion is absolutely believable, and she carries the weight of that love on her own this week. She certainly has some experience with love forcing some drastic decisions, not least of which was the choice to stay in this time when she could’ve returned to Frank. She made that choice, and she has been dealing with the consequences since.

The threat is never gone. Jamie thought that he and Claire would be safe once they returned to his home, to Lallybroch, but he should have known that as a wanted man, he can’t hide. McCory and his men of The Watch, who provided us with last week’s cliffhanger, turn out to be scoundrels who offer protection to Lallybroch for a price. As such, we are treated to an episode that is compelling in the moment, but leaves one feeling relatively unfulfilled.