Episode 11 The Devil’s Mark

Hey everyone! Welcome to the Kiltlander world recap for episode 11. Sorry this has gotten out so late, I’ve had a bunch of work on other things called Real Life I’ve had to do, and also, I wanted to take the time to get the quality up to the standards you have expected of my recaps. That hiatus was so long I forgot how to do them almost. Anyway, just to let you know, I’m back to my regular schedule, and will endeavor to bring these out to you a few days after the show has aired.
So, on with the show, shall we?

1. First off, let me say the acting in this episode was top notch. The main actors were spectacular. During Emmy season I would like to think Lotte, Caitriona, and Sam will all receive a nomination. I think an entire fan base will be very upset if this does not happen.

2. We start with the starlings. Instantly I’m thinking I’m watching the Planet Earth documentary, and I’m waiting for Richard Attenborough to start talking about the majestic bird and how it flies in waves to protect each other from the predators. Oh wait, Claire does that later on in the episode. Never mind. Back to it.

3. Fucking OWWWW! God, have a care, will you? Just throw them down into the hole, watching them bounce on the stones of the thieves hole made my back hurt. I mean, did I hear bones cracking when they landed? WTF dude, just because she’s a witch doesn’t mean she’s not a woman! And I’m really feeling bad for Claire right now. Because this has just been a horrible adventure for her up to this point. And I remember reading the book the first time, “Jesus, can anything go right for this woman? She’s been beaten, almost raped, forced to marry a Scot, fallen in league with a real bona fide witch, thrown into a thieves hole, and arrested for witchcraft. What could possibly be worse? I asked my sister, “Does this book ever stop being this intense?“ she just smiled, said “The worst is yet to come.“ Yeah, I had no idea

4. In the thieves hole, Claire yells out for anyone else, and all she hears is the squeaking of rats says, “Nobody here but us mice!” So what happens when two women are forced to be together in a confined space? Love, acceptance of each other’s emotional state? The commonality of a shared problem and how to solve it? No. instant bickering.
“It’s your fault! I told you to leave!” Claire says.
“You led the wardens to my door. They were looking for you!” Answers Geillis.
“But you murdered your husband!” Claire retorts
“You pissed off a woman who is going to be your arch nemesis for the next seven books!” Geillis says
“Wait, what?” Claire asks.
“Oh nothing,” says Geillis nonchalantly… “Want some bread they threw down here? If you scrape off the dirt it tastes pretty good.”
“What, like bitter almonds? No thank you. I’m not hungry!” Claire growls. “And I didn’t lead them to you. Legwhore did. And you didn’t make it any easier by letting it be common knowledge by dancing around naked in the woods burning effigies.”
“I’m not a witch!” Geillis yells. “They dressed me like this!”
“Your words and your deeds are no kin together!” Claire says, theatrically.

So eventually they calm down, and Geillis says “she had been poisoning Arthur with arsenic a few months ago, hoping he would die before he found out about the pregnancy. But alas, to no avail, the man just kept shitting it out. That’s when I had to use the cyanide. Dougal and I are having a boy.” Then this happened and I laughed my butt off.

5. So Geillis, ever the deluded one, says, “Don’t worry, Dougal will come and save us.” To which Claire, ever the buzz kill, says “Yeah, no. Not gonna happen. See, what you didn’t know, and what I do is that Dougal told Colum about your affair, the baby, the witchcraft stuff in the woods, and all that. So Colum said to get out of the castle, banished him to his wife’s place, and took Jamie with him. To ‘drink and fornicate to their hearts content’ I believe. So there’s that.”
And Geillis looks like, “So we are well and truly fucked.”
“Yep, that’s about the size of it,” Claire answers.
And the look on Geillis’ face here is one of hopelessness and acceptance.
SIDE NOTE: I love Lotte Verbeek’s performance throughout this series, and this episode in particular. She is so good it amazes me the breadth of her ability. It goes to show the casting department got a lot of things right when they put together this ensemble.

6. So there’s going to be a trial. And right away, we know it’s not going to end well for either of the ladies. Usually witch trials end up with the woman burned at the stake, and throughout history this has been the case. Claire says as much in a VO, but we already know its not going to be good. With the amount of evidence against them, it’ll spell doom for one or the other. And we all know, it ain’t gonna be Claire. In the morning, the ladies are hauled out of the pit and are paraded through town. Chants of “Burn the Witch” are heard on the multitude of townsfolk along the road to the small church where the trial is being held.
There are spectators galore, and we already know this is going to be a dog and pony show. It’s a mock trial just to put some legality to the proceedings. And who do we have coming to the rescue? Ned Gowan, who starts with the defense the minute he walks in the door.

Apparently, there are laws against this sort of thing. And Ned brings them up with a deft display of legal knowledge. But this is a kangaroo court and Mutt and Jeff (Which is what Claire calls them in the book and which I will call them now) don’t want any of it. Judging by the grey haired guy’s face, I can see he isn’t ready to have Ned be their defense attorney but by law he has to let it happen. And Ned’s look after he is given the go ahead is so comforting. I’m almost wishing he can do the best and save them both.

7. The first witness is called, and it is the very lovely but ignorant little scamp Jeanie Hume, the Duncan housekeeper. She’s all, “She sold potions and medicinals to ladies and ill wish charms and all kinds of evil stuff.” And she goes on for over an hour, telling all kinds of heinous deeds done by our dynamic duo. M&J are pleased as punch at this, because it makes their ’Lets Burn The Witch” case all that more easy to adjudicate. “She used to sing unholy songs and talk to her cats.” And the crowd reacts like this is true. Cats have always been associated with witches, and people who like cats, even strange big burly bald guys….

Ned instantly pops up with a “But you wanted to quit a month or so ago and work for Castle Leoch and the Mackenzies, isn’t that true?”
“Yes, but…” she says meekly.
“And didn’t you call Mr. Duncan a Flatulent old scunner?”
“Yes, but…”
“And his wife to be a flibbertigibbet?”
“Not those words exactly, but well, I…. um… well, shit.”
So Ned shreds his first witness, and it’s looking good for #TeamClaire.

8. The next witness, a young woman with the changeling. And already the court is on her side. This is the point when Geillis is in full “I Told You So” mode.

But then the girl attacks Claire yelling and screaming like all mothers do when they have lost their child. But then Ned once again, stops her and says, “Sorry for your loss, but if you saw her, why didn’t you stop her?” and the girl is all like, “I was scared of the woman. She’s a witch. I know, because she has creamy flawless skin and walks around like she can’t get sick or harmed in any way, like she is the main character in a fantasy novel. And how she scored the most charming man in the castle, I don‘t know. Just creepy if you ask me.”
To which Ned once again skewers her testimony and says, that the kid is “safe in Faerie land, living with the imps and LepreCons (which are leprechauns that actually con you out of gold instead of leaving it under rainbows to be found by passing strangers. I mean, who does that?) and newts and pixie folk. So if that were my life, yeah, I think that would be fun. So Claire gave the kid a chance to play in Neverland all his life. Seems a lot better than the reality of this earth, doesn’t it?”
And the whole court nods because yes, anything is better than living in this hell hole apparently.
Score: Ned the Head 2, M&J 0

9. Next up is Allister Duffy, and a trip to CuhRazy town. I mean, pack your bags, folks and get on the Cray Cray bus because this guy is driving us all the way there! He gets up and starts talking and every word out of his mouth is pure unadulterated bullshit. “She was calling down a storm, using Thunder and lightning, and her eyes were alight with unholy flame and she flew as if she had wings and I’ve been on a bender that would make Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend say, “Yeah and I thought I was drunk”. I mean, hell, he’s describing a Marvel Comics mutant, not a witch.

Well, then of course the people believe it and rightly so. I mean who wouldn’t? Here’s a group of people who believe in Faerie Hills, Demonic Possession, witchcraft, the soul, the small of a woman’s back, the hanging curve ball, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self indulgent overrated crap. They believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, opening your presents Christmas day instead of Christmas eve, and long slow, soft, deep, wet kisses that last three days. So why wouldn’t they believe the fairy tale of a woman accused of witchcraft flying about calling down storms?

And all Ned can do is this.

So the court dismisses for the day and as they start taking away #TeamClaire to the Thief’s Hole again, Ned comes up and says that they are in grave danger. When asked by Claire if Colum knows, he answers, “Well, he’s the one who set the whole thing up and told me to stay away. But I decided to go into private practice again and you are now my start client. So don’t screw this up for me, because I will burn you along with the people in this court room.” she stares at him a second.
“Naw, just kidding. Here, have this flask because I know how you like your alcohol and it isna likely you’ll get anymore before they burn you on that pyre they’re making outside.” He hands her a flask and Claire and Geillis are once again thrown down the rabbit hole. Only there’s no Cheshire cat and crazy bunny rabbits waiting for them on the other side. Just rats. And if rats could talk, hoo boy….

10. Back down in the thieves hole, the gals are having a much more civil conversation. They’re bonding over the whisky that Ned gave them, and just chatting like gals do who are about to go to their deaths at the hands of a raving mob of psychotic ignoramuses that still believe in faerie hills and witches and ghosts and that the Cubs are ever going to win the World Series. Turns out, Geillis is a Jacobite, and wanted to marry Dougal because they both want prince Charlie on the throne of England. Claire is all like, “Dude’s a womanizer, you know that right?“ and Geillis answers, “Yeah, so what? I just want his money and power and influence. I don’t care who he sleeps with.“ and she goes on about Scotland this, and Scotland that. Then Claire says, “I regret that I have but one life to give for my country” which is something that wasn’t said until 1755 by Nathan Hale.
“Nice Sentiment,” says Geillis, who instantly knows she is from the future but still doesn’t say anything.

11. So they wake up the next morning and Claire is talking about starlings. And here is our Expository Educational Moment for the episode. Basically, the starlings fly in waves to protect each other, safety in numbers style, which is a metaphor for an incident later on in the episode when the ladies have to do the same thing, protect each other by sticking together.
They are once again drug through town and the pyre is looking a lot bigger today then it was yesterday. Trust me, when a group of folks puts together a witch baking recipe, they gotta make sure they’re doing it right. You don’t want that witch to be partially burned because somebody didn’t put the right amount of wood on the front end.
SIDE NOTE: I love the touches of emotion that happen between Claire and Geillis. The second day after they’ve had this harrowing experience, and they are bonding like best friends. It’s a shared commonality between them, and Geillis knows it, even though Claire doesn’t. and we’ll see how this plays out the rest of the episode because Geillis does something amazing later on that redeems her in my eyes. (to a certain degree, I’ll reserve judgment in case of spoilers).

***************VULGARITY ALERT************************

12. You might want to skip this next part because I am going to use a metric ton of vulgarity to describe the next witness. And for good reason. Leoghaire Mackenzie (Henceforth known as Legwhore) is probably one of the most evil despicable black hearted FUCKING women know to man. The things she does to Claire are beyond fucking reprehensible. I have no kind words to say about her. I mean, hell, this is how super villains are made. Throw in Jilted Lover, with a touch of Jealous Twit, and add to that mixture a heaping helping of Immature Slag, and you have Legwhore, the Scourge of Leoch. This kid is a devil. Played aptly by Nell Rose Hudson, she makes all the cast of Mean Girls go, “Whoa, calm it down, kiddo, take it easy. Revenge comes slow, not all at once like a club over the head.”
Long story short, she accuses Claire of witchcraft, by brewing a fake love potion and using a real one on poor Jamie. Claire is not having any of this. And then, the little bitch says, “She even hit me!” and is all tears and playing it up for the judges and about ten times during this scene I wanted to climb into the TV and hit her over the head with a baseball bat just to shut her miserable fucking mouth. Sorry, it’s a testament to Ms. Hudson that she can get so many people to hate such a miserable and absolutely repellent creature such as she.
So Ned gets up and says, she’s a jilted lover, and how Jamie never promised, and that he was there and the marriage was arranged, and now Jamie loves Claire. There was never any chance. Because, frankly, girl he’s not that into you. Yeah, kissing in the alcove is one thing, but a full on marriage with the horizontal shuffle is totes different. But it doesn’t matter because the stupid slag turns on the fucking waterworks and the crowd is all like Aww…. Then it’s all more of the same, Burn the Witch and cries of death and murder of the two lovely ladies like what’s been happening after every witness.

13. Father Bain. I knew in the book he was going to get up there and talk about the incident with the dogs, and how they bit him and he was cursed with sepsis. But this one was different because he brought up the whole, Exorcism thing fro episode 3. Here it is eight episodes later and the guy still holds a grudge. She saved the kid with devil magic, and he’s now sorry he can’t be the priest of Crainsmuir any more. And she has driven spirit out of me with her science and medicine. And at first you think he’s up there to exonerate her and say good things, but then somebody in the stands

Yeah, that guy! Fuck that guy! That guy’s a dick! Anyway, the court forbids him from leaving the parish and says he must stay to lead the flock. Then Bain stands up and the court has heard enough. They are going to make a decision. Ned steps up and asks for a recess, which is granted. And then Father Bain does this.

***************END OF VULGARITY ALERT***************
14. Ned takes the girls into another part of the church and has to hold the door closed to keep out the crowd because they want burnt witch stew right quick. They’re both like, “We thought you were supposed to defend us!” and he’s all, “I can only save one of you. And we all know who that is, because she isn’t a main character.” Ned says that in order to save Claire, she has to give up Geillis and turn against her and say she was bewitched by the pointy hat wearing naked moon dancer. Then he leaves to let the ladies talk about it.
At this point, Geillis, who knows it is up for her, asks Claire, Where did you come from? Why are you here? And finally gets an answer, “I didn’t come here for any reason. I have no political agenda, I’ve been thrown from pillar to post since I got here, and it was an accident.” Well this is all Geillis needs to know what her suspicions told her a long time ago. I get the sense that her whole world collapsed at that point. Here she went through all kinds of things to go through the stones (Book readers will understand) with the agenda to put Charlie on the throne. And here’s this girl who just walks through without any kind of idea on what the hell she was doing. Ned comes back in and says he can’t keep the crowd back any more, and Geillis says the Line of The Episode, “Well, looks like I’m going to a fucking barbeque!” and storms out.

15. Back in the courtroom, the judges are about to pronounce sentence. Ned stands up and says, “Hey, Claire has something to say. Don’t you?” wink wink. And Claire stands up and says nothing. She isn’t going to rat out her friend. Just sits back down. Then the judges get up and pronounce sentence. Ned pulls a gun, it’s bedlam, he’s shouting and the crowd is going crazy. Then we have a short conversation between the two girls.
Geillis says, “Do you want to go back?”
Claire answers, “Can you?”
“1968.”
Then the gun goes off and snaps them back to reality. The crowd picks up Ned and throws him over the railing, the crowd rushes the stand and the crowd grabs Claire and starts beating her with a whip.

They are just tearing into her and we all know this hurts like hell. And Legwhore comes up and says “I will have fun dancing on your ashes.“

Then, Jamie AllPerfect MoonyEye Machunkington Fraser comes in to save the damsel in distress. Because why get there early when Just In The Nick of Time Does Just as Nicely? So he comes down to get her, pulls out his sword and dirk and says, “The next man comes for her will be put down! I am sworn to protect this woman with my life!” and he fucking means it.

And this is when I see Sam become Jamie Fraser. The process is complete. From no on in this episode and this series, he will no longer be Sam Heughan. This was a stellar performance. Really, kudos, man. Great Job!

15. Just about that time, Geillis, not to be out done, stands up and says, “Don’t punish her! I take the blame! I’m the one I’m a witch! I confess to everything! Murder, selling potions, hate crimes against the Faeries, flying in the sky like a superhero, dancing naked in the moonlight while burning effigies of my husband, treason, whatever you want, put it on me! I did it!” and then she screams, and laughs giddily while tearing her clothes off. “I have the devil’s mark, and the child of Beelzebub in my stomach!” Claire sees the vaccination scar and everything hits her. Oh my god, she’s a traveler too? She came back in time from 1968, ok. No wonder she dressed up crazy all the time. Fashions must be really weird in the sixties. And then Claire and Jamie run out, while the crowd carries the screaming laughing mad Geillis to the burn pile. They’re watching the whole process and decide at the Sam point, “Yeah, let’s blow this joint. Shit got real all the sudden and we need to bounce.”

16. So they get into the woods outside of Crainsmuir. Jamie is wiping the scourge marks off her back and it’s a tender scene. Then he says, “Hey, be honest with me, that is all I’m asking.” because he sees the same scar he saw on Geillis. So she just says, ok. I’ll be honest.
“I’m a time traveler actually. I came through these stones, I’m from the future, I’m an army nurse from 1945, and (Insert Exposition Vomit here)” And Sam just sits there and listens, he walks around, listening to her tell her story about Frank, the war, Culloden, the stones, all of it. And I’m sure telling her secret after all this time is liberating. He believes her, but says, “It would have been easier if you were a witch.” Sorry, Jamie, I’ll take time traveler any day over somebody who is going to be going through hell waiting for the next angry mob and a burn pyre. Then he says, “So you were trying to get back to the stones, when you ran off, and I beat you for it.” Yeah, how do you feel now, ass? Pretty bad about yourself, huh. Yeah, I thought so.
But in the end he accepts it, and since they are still in Flee Mode they get on Donas and high tail it for the next Riding the Horse Montage while Claire does a VO and says they travel for a week. She thinks he’s taking her to Lallybroch because that’s all he’s talked about since Episode 8, but they get to a campsite one night and have a very tender moment.
SIDE NOTE: I hear a lot of people complaining about the sex scenes in the show. All I’m going to say is that it’s Outlander. There is Sex in the books. A lot of sex. It’s a romance novel, the sex goes along with it. I understand some scenes may be unnecessary, but this one was needed and I’ll tell you why. This is the last time he is going to see her. He wants to pleasure her one last time before she goes. Just so she remembers something from him. She wants him, but he declines because that’s a big thing for a guy. There’s a connection that goes beyond just physical. They have an emotional connection and if he does the full Monty with her, it will be that much harder. And he knows it. So he pleasures her because in a few hours he is going to have to let her go. He knows she doesn’t belong here, and it would be selfish of him to take her for his own pleasure knowing he has to say goodbye. That is where his honor shows through.

17. So in the morning he takes her up to the stones and says, “You don’t belong here, go back.” and she knows she can, because all the same things are happening. The buzzing, the wind, the scarf on the ground. (I told you to pick that up 10 recaps ago, hon, why don’t you listen to me?!) They have a brief tender moment, and he doesn’t want her to leave. But then, he finally resigns himself to it. He tells her, I’ll stay at the campsite til nightfall. Then walks down the hill and disappears.
Then, she turns, and looks at her rings, and looks behind her, and the transition makes it look like she waited for a while. It’s a big decision. Stay with Jamie, where it’s going to be dangerous and hard to live, or go back to frank where everything is a lot more easy. It’s the same decision she will have to make a little alter on in life as well, but right now, I think there has been enough time she figured Frank has gotten used to her being gone, and here’s this fabulous ginger haired Scottish guy who risks his life for you and the sex is amaze balls.

And she truly does love the big lug, I mean what’s not to love. He’s just such a good noble honorable handsome dude. Bookish Frank never really had a chance, and also there’s the whole “Your ancestor is a fucking reprehensible bastard who likes to rape people and scourge their back to oblivion so there’s that.” and she makes up her decision.

18. “On your feet, soldier.” Jamie tear. Aww… “Take me to Lallybroch.”
Credits.

So next week we have Lallybroch. There’s rumors of full frontal, and those pictures have leaked out there, so who knows. There may or may not be. I’m not worried. After this episode I trust everyone on this staff and have no complaints at all. I love this show more each week. Holy hell, they packed a lot into this one, and I loved it. Every minute. All the acting, the extras, everything. I am working on a video for you folks in the coming weeks that will put the Monty Python Witch Trial audio with selected scenes from this one. And again, I’m sorry this one was late, I have had a huge amount of stuff to do lately, so my production schedule has been interrupted by real life. I also wanted to do this one justice.

And as always, your Jamie Moonyeye pic of the week.