Episode 303 All Debts Paid

All Debts Paid.

I am loving this season. The writing is top notch, acting is excellent, and I can’t stress enough how delighted I am to be seeing Voyager come to life. I’ve seen crappy TV shows before, and I have to tell you, this one is probably better than 99% of the dreck we see every day. Episode titles are the best so far because they offer up a theme for the week, a narrative thread if you will. This one was perfect, in that Lord John Grey has a debt to pay to Jamie and Frank owes a debt to Claire.

Oh, and let’s have a frank discussion about Frank here. I was all prepared to be in his corner this episode. In the book, there were hints and inferences to his affairs. Most readers thought he did have affairs and Herself said she wanted to infer it, but never show any real evidence so the readers could make up their minds. I like to think during their discussion before he died in the book that he was honorable enough not to consummate any dalliance he may have had. Apparently, the producers decided to go full on Jerk with him and make those affairs a reality. So after this episode, I am no longer in his corner. Especially since they decided to make him a complete cad. Oh, and the fact he wanted to take Bree away from Claire. That pissed me off too, in both iterations. I have personal reasons why that upset me as well and I won’t get into it here. Let’s just say, Claire’s anger is fully justified.

Also, sad to say Tobias is gone from the show now. Maybe we’ll see him in other scenes, flashbacks perhaps where the story demands it, so I can’t say he’s completely gone. However, for the narrative, I don’t expect to see him much in the later episodes. He was a damn fine actor, and he deserves all the awards he gets. One thing though, even though Frank and Black Jack Randall were, in essence, villainous characters, I would hate to see people bash Tobias online for his excellent portrayal of both characters. It has happened before with other actors, and I pray it doesn’t happen to him.

So let’s get to it.

1. Frank is fixing a proper English Breakfast for Claire. It’s several years after the birth of Bree, and he’s horrified that she has asked for Eggo Waffles. (Were they even a thing in the 50’s?) he’s acting like, “Oh my god, she’s so American. I have to give her some culture from her home country. You want to do that, serve her some parritch. Oh wait, we can’t do that because she’s Frank’s daughter. And we can’t mention her real dad anywhere but between the two of us, right Claire?

They’re sitting down to it, and Claire is all, “So let’s go to dinner tonight and maybe we can see a show after?” She’s trying to have a sense of civility between the two of them, but then he’s all, “Nope. Seen both those shows already….” and the “With someone else” hangs heavy in the conversation. I love how these two do more communicating in silence then they do actually speaking. Even though they’re not a truly loving couple, she still seems hurt that he’s sleeping around. Frank, dude, SHE’S FUCKING TRYING! UGH! There are so many times I wanted to reach through the screen and strangle him. Get over your wounded pride and at least try to be a loving husband for God’s sake. He says he’s being discreet. That’s all well and good but you shouldn’t be having affairs TO BEGIN WITH!

I promised myself I wouldn’t get upset. Apparently, that’s impossible this episode.

Bree comes down to eat, with a drawing of something she’s inventing. Probably a particle accelerator or a smartphone or something, who knows. Claire says it’s wonderful, and there’s a silence between Her and Frank that is palpable.

Oh, and just because you agreed to an open marriage, doesn’t mean you should jump through that open door to a fiery pit like you‘ve got wings on your shoes. At least try to be a good guy to your family, I know you have a semblance of honor, Frank.

2. Then we are in Ardsmuir Prison, where Highlanders go to catch rats and get scurvy. There’s a new warden getting shown around and he is one handsome piece of something on a stick. Lord John Grey is a fan favorite, and we finally get to see him in all his glory. And boy can he wear a uniform. Move over Tom Brittney as the reigning English Cutie, because LJG just took hotness to a factor 11.
The old warden is showing him around, telling him about the local booze merchants, the Frenchman’s Gold, and the local civilization. Lord John asks him about local culture, and the Warden scoffs.

Later on, in the cells, the men are talking about the new warden. Jamie is discussing the man with someone out of frame, and as the camera pans over, we see Murtagh, alive and well and living in Ardsmuir. Maybe not well, he’s been plagued with rat bites. But he’s ALIVE! Apparently, #SaveMurtagh worked.

And the fans go wild! Even though we only see him in this episode, there are several storylines that are now opened to be changed by his existence. We’ll have to wait and speculate on when he will arrive in the coming seasons. Maybe that’ll be one of the main talking points during the next Droughtlander on when or where he and his magical eyebrows will pop up next.

Jamie says, “I think I’ve seen him before, but I cannae place him.” Oh, you’ll find out soon enough, Mac Duh, you’ll find out soon enough. “All the muggles look the same, did you take the measure of the man?” Murtagh asks. “He stands tall, with a ramrod up his arse.”

Jamie is giving him medicinal advice, and Murtagh asks, “Where did you learn all that?” and Jamie’s all, “From this awesome lass I used to bed…” and he looks all wistful and teary-eyed. During this whole conversation, Murtagh is fiddling with a small scrap of Fraser tartan which they aren’t supposed to have at all. Murtagh hides it in a safe place and I’m sure we won’t see that little plot device again this episode.

SIDE NOTE: They did film a scene with a lead up to the flogging, but it didn’t make the cut. I don’t know why since I’ve read the sides of it and it would have been a great scene to watch. Ah well, we’ll have to wait till the DVD comes out to see it I guess.

3. Jamie gets called to the new Governor’s office, where he finally gets to meet the man. Lord John offers Jamie the same deal as the previous governor had and Jamie agrees. Another prisoner brings in Lord John’s dinner, and soon after, a rat scurries across the floor. Lord John is horrified that a prison has rats in. “Is there a cat in the prison?” he asks. When the answer is affirmative, he demands one be brought up to his office.

Then he asks Jamie, “Are there rats in the cells?” and Jamie says, “A great many.”

For a second, it looks like John is kind of guilty for eating a fine meal while prisoners are dining on vermin. Then Jamie takes a few steps forward with a foreboding look in his eyes. “I dinna ken what you did to get sent here, but I hope you deserved it.” Then He and the other prisoner get led away while Lord John sits back and sighs.

4. Claire has finally finished Med School and she’s officially a doctor. She is standing with Abernathy while Brianna is taking pictures with a camera she made out of broken transistors, some old wire, a cardboard box, a snowglobe, and one of her mother’s discarded bras. Claire and Abernathy are hugging companionably while Bree snaps a picture.

And then the child asks Mom and Dad to get into frame.

This is a party for Claire and the graduating class of doctors. The party is in full swing, but Frank asks, “When are the reservations for the restaurant? I thought it was at six.” And Claire is all, “Nope, it’s seven o’clock, pay attention, you dolt!” He seems upset, and a few minutes later, we find out why. There’s a knock at the door, and Claire goes to see who it is, all smiles and a warm disposition.

Then she opens the door.

Frank comes into the hallway, and she shoos Bree out of the room. Then, she’s all, “You couldn’t wait for us to leave before you brought your little chippy into the house? I see.” then she goes into the living room, grabs up her purse and tells the rest they’ll go to the restaurant together and sit at the bar till the table is ready because Mama Claire is going to get her drunk on. And I don’t blame her.

And there’s Frank and Blondie standing there while everyone walks past him with looks on their faces like Cersie Lannister walking the path of shame.

5. Then there’s an old man walking down the road somewhere around the prison when a cart of soldiers comes to him. He’s muttering about gold and other gibberish. The redcoats scoop him up and take him to the prison. This is apparently a kinsman to Jamie because Lord John brings Jamie out to the yard to ask for his assistance.

“I need you to decipher what he is saying. He’s speaking Gaelic, French, a smattering of Klingon, and who knows what else. Since you know every language known to man, maybe you could help out, yeah?”
Jamie says “No,” at first, because he’s a prisoner and there’s a conflict of interest. Then Lord John offers him a bargain. “Do it, and I’ll strike your chains.” but Jamie comes back with a counteroffer.

 

 

6. Frank arrives home to a woman who is about to give no quarter. She’s smoking, in the house. And she’s had a few too many drinks. So has he, by the looks of him. This can’t be good. Well, it’s a right angry stramash between the both of them. Frank humiliated Claire in front of her friends. He knew how important this day was for her, but he invited the blonde harlot over anyway.

So they calm down for a few minutes and she says, “Let’s stop the pretense. I’ll grant you a divorce and you’ll have your freedom.” Then he says, “Yes, Jerry divorced Millie and he gained his freedom. But he hardly sees the kids anymore. And all I’m thinking is “Wait, Millie and Jerry got divorced? How did this happen? They seemed like a loving couple. Aww, come on! If anyone could have lasted, it was those two. Weren’t they kissing and having googly eyes together at dinner the last episode? This is totally unfair!”

Anyway, he’s not going to file for divorce. He wants to do it in a few more years when it will hurt Claire more. Because he’s a SOB like that. He’s going through another “Wounded Pride” moment and its pissing all of us off. Oh, and when a woman asks if you’ve had your chippy little harlot in your bedroom, the answer is “No!” You don’t hem and haw and offer up the lame excuse like “I think our bedroom is crowded enough as it is.” because that’s a “Yes.”

7. Jamie is led into the room where they’re keeping Duncan Kerr. He tells the guy that he’ll have to tell the English about what he says. So the man goes on about the gold, how it’s cursed, Ellen Mackenzie, selkies by the sea, and a whole lot of other nonsense that Jamie can’t make out. Lord John at one point gets impatient and wants to hurry it up.

Then the man says “Beware the white witch,” and this catches Jamie’s attention. “What was that?” and the man says, “She’s looking for a Mackenzie. She will come for you…” and dies.

Lord John asks what the man said, but Jamie only gives him the basics of “White witches and selkies.” John thinks he is holding back, but Jamie says he always keeps his word. It’s an interesting scene here because it shows these two playing a power game. Jamie is in control here, and Lord John can’t do anything about it. Even when he threatens pain upon Jamie, it doesn’t work.

“I’ve had all kinds of pain done to me, sir. Try if you must.” Basically saying, “Dude, I’ve had so much shit happen to me, there’s nothing you could do that would make me talk. Oh, you could try, but I don’t think you’ve got the grapes.”

 

8. Claire and Frank are singing a birthday song for Brianna and talking about wishes. Claire says not to wish for a car, because that idea is right out, unless that wish is for Frank to be in said car, and said car goes flying over a cliff in a fiery crash. Frank is all, “Don’t’ be so sure.” Well, Bree blows out the candles, and while it is supposed to be a happy event, I get the sense from the both of them that this is all about going through the motions for the kid. And I know far too many marriages are probably like that. Which is sad, really.

9. Then we go back to Murtagh drinking something out of a cup and he’s complaining about it. “This is worse than the crap you gave me last time. And Jamie’s all, “Dude, I’m no Claire, give me a break. I’m going off of memory here, and most of my memories involve beds and shifts dropping to the floor.”

He asks what happened with the babbling man and Jamie’s all, “It was a mad rant. He didn’t say anything much about the gold. All I could decipher was he talked about a White Witch looking for a Mackenzie. “And you think it’s her?” Murtagh says. Jamie replies that he doesn’t know. Then they reminisce about Claire and the bairn. Jamie says he tries not to think about it. But Jamie, that’s impossible. How do you forget your one true love and the kid you have in another timeline? You don’t, that’s what.

Then Jamie is summoned away to Lord John’s office again. When he gets there, John says he’d like to keep the same dinner arrangement with Jamie as did the former warden. Jamie is hesitant because this is, to him, another way to get information about the Frenchman’s Gold and what the old man said. So he’s not buying it.

Jamie has a few other requests. One, he’d like to arrange a hunt so the men can have whatever meat they catch. John scoffs at this notion. He’s not going to let them have weapons. Jamie’s all, “Dude, not weapons. Let them prepare snares and stuff with string and twigs. Oh, one more thing. We can get watercress to eat.”

“What on earth for?” John says. Jamie’s says, “So they won’t get scurvy. I know it sounds crazy but my wife told me about it and I don’t have scurvy yet so there’s that, yeah.” John looks like, oh darn, he’s married. But all hope is not lost for John when Jamie says, “She’s gone.“ Lord John pauses and then says, “I shall take your requests under consideration. Shall we begin?”

So they sit down to dinner of Roast Pheasant and wine. Jamie tears into it like a man dying of hunger. Later on, he regales the men in the cells with what he ate, how it tasted, and what wine he had to drink. And this is what passes for entertainment in Ardsmuir Prison. I’m suddenly sad for all of them all over again.

10. Later, we see the men going through a hunt. There are a few guards watching with weapons, but when they turn their backs, Jamie and a couple of other men make a well-timed escape by jumping into a ditch and having the men put bushes over his body.

Oh, and one guy caught a rabbit. So he’s eating high on the hog tonight.

Well, naturally the escape doesn’t sit well with Lord John because he’s lost his favorite Scottish prisoner. The search brings them to an island with a ruined chapel on it. And I’m thinking, “Who builds a chapel on an island off the Scottish coast that’s surrounded by deep water, treacherous tides, and bull selkies that could eat you with extremely large tusks? No wonder it’s a ruin!”

Then we find Lord John peeing outside the prison for some reason and Jamie comes up behind him all stealthy like and grabs him from behind. “That’s how it’s done Lord John Grey, second son of Vicount Melton.” and Johnny boy is all, “Dude, you remember?”

They go back to that night where Lord John tried to capture Jamie and got tied to a tree for his troubles. “It brought incredible shame to me and my family, and I regret it to this day,” John says.

“And your brother was a very honorable gentleman. So that debt is discharged.” Jamie answers. “But I also remember your promise.”

John looks horrified by this because what he said back then holds no bearing now because he likes our ginger-haired hero as much as we all do. Jamie puts the sword in the dirt, kneels down and says, “Well, here I am.”

But John just goes up and grabs the sword, puts it up against Jamie’s neck, and then puts it back in his scabbard. “I’m not going to kill an unarmed prisoner.”

11. Jamie and John are out of earshot of the prison, and Jamie tells him about the escape and why. “My wife was a white witch. I thought he was talking about her so I had to go see for myself.”

“But what about the gold?” John answers. “There is none. It’s all a myth.” Jamie says.

But as evidence that he’s telling the truth, Jamie produces a sapphire and hands it over. “I was holding on to this just in case she was there, and we could go and live happily ever after somewhere.” and Lord john replies, “Oh, Jamie, you’re so cute. You do know this is a Diana Gabaldon novel, there is no ‘Happily Ever After’.”
A guy can dream, can’t he?

12. It’s graduation day! Wow, this kid grew up fast. Wasn’t it last episode she was crawling around inventing new ways to get out of a crib? Now she’s going up and getting her diploma at high school. She’s eighteen and leaving school.

And there’s the proud parents of the teen, acting all normal and praising her like perfectly normal happy parents do. Watching Frank here, he’s like, “Finally, I can get out of this loveless marriage.” The way he looks at her makes me angry and sad at the same time.

13. And then Murtagh gets a doctor. He’s going to live to see another season. Woohoo! And I know they are just keeping him around so they can give him a really awesome and heroic death where he saves Jamie and Claire at some point in future. And it’s going to be sad and tug at our heartstrings. But right now we can be happy he’s still up and moving those fabulous eyebrows around again.

John and Jamie are playing chess, talking about the loves they lost. Lord John lost someone special to him at Culloden. Jamie did too, but he doesn’t know if she’s dead or not. (Psst, Jamie, she’s alive, and looking for you) he tells John that he met her, that night they first met.

“I knew you were honorable that night. What you did for the woman you didn’t know, giving your life so she could be free, that was a brilliant move. And I respect that.”

John reaches over and touches Jamie’s hand, a little too formally for just friendship. Jamie looks at him with a different look.

“Remove your hand, or I will kill you,” he says evenly, making no bones about how serious he is about that. Lord John does, saying nothing in the process. Jamie gets up and leaves the room.

14. Frank tells Claire that he wants to take Brianna to England with him. She’s eighteen now and she will have better opportunities there with regards to colleges. In fact, Frank still has some pull with Oxford. Well, this is a blindside to Claire. He also wants a divorce. So basically, he wants to divorce Claire and take her daughter to a foreign country where she will barely ever see her mother. Claire doesn’t exactly jump at this notion for obvious reasons. I mean, come on, Frank. In what world does this make sense? I understand you are upset with her, but this is a total douchebag move. Oh, and he wants to marry Blonde harlot.

“Okay, so let me get this straight. You want to divorce me, take my child to another country, and marry some whore you’ve been sleeping with for the past ten years. Is that right?” Claire says, “And you’ve been biding your time. We talked about this a long time ago. Sure, I’ll give you a divorce, but you are not taking MY daughter. With the emphasis on MINE!”

Frank Randall, you lived up to the book. You could have had the best woman ever, but you ruined it. All because of your stupid honorable pride and selfishness. Sorry, I am no longer in your corner.

Frank says, “I thought you would have forgotten about him given enough time.”

“That amount of time doesn’t exist,” is her only reply. And my heart is crushed. And so is Frank’s. So he turns and leaves the house.

The phone rings as he leaves. There’s someone who needs Doctor Claire Randall, PhD.

15. The prisoners are being marched into Ardsmuir square. They are going to be sent to the colonies for 14-year stints as indentured servants for the crown. A couple of guards come to Jamie and drag him away to be hooked up to Lord John. Apparently, he isn’t going to the colonies with Murtagh. Darn it all to hell! So they share a wordless goodbye as Jamie is being pulled by a rope behind John’s horse.

“Where are you taking me?” Jamie finally asks. It seems like a few days, maybe an afternoon, who knows. It’s a traveling montage so we can never really tell. Then they come to a stop. John tells him they’re going to Helwater, the estate of Lord Dunsany and his family. Since Jamie hasn’t been released to go to the colonies, this is the best Lord John can do. He will check in every quarter to make sure he’s doing okay, but he can’t do anything else for him until the Crown deems it so.

“Why are you doing this for me?” Jamie asks. “You owe me nothing. Your brother already paid your debt to me.”

John is so cool here. One of the reasons I love him. “My brother released the family debt to you. I now release the debt I owe to you.” He takes the rope off of Jamie’s wrists and tells him “Shall we go? By the way, they’re not too disposed to the Stuart cause, so don’t tell them you’re a Jacobite. You’ll be a groom until such a time as you’re pardoned.”

16. Back at the hospital, Claire is telling a family member that the person she just helped is fine, and she’ll be on the mend soon. It’s a happy moment for about a flat minute until Abernathy comes in.

“What’s up?” she asks. Abernathy says gravely, “It’s Frank. There’s been an accident.”

“Well it’s about time…” is what her face says. She runs to the morgue because apparently, theirs is the only hospital around. She sees Frank on the slab, starts to cry, puts her hands on his face, and says, “If you are still close enough to hear me, I always loved you. You were my first love.” then she kisses him with tears in her eyes.

Aww. See Frank? You didn’t need to be an adulterous jerk after all. Come on! Haven’t you ever heard the phrase “If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with.” She was everything to you, and all you had to do was lose the pride. Now, look where it’s got you. A wife who misses her husband, that’s what.

All in all a pretty solid episode. There was a lot of stuff at Ardsmuir Prison that could have stretched to another episode, but I understand why it seems they are flying through things. They have 13 episodes to keep to the main arc of the story so they have to rush. I get it. Maybe once they get the two of them together it will slow down a bit. And to be honest, the search part of the novel was a bit dry, so I was really fast-forwarding to the Jamie bits on the second reading. His story seemed a much more interesting than Claire’s. Once they get to the past though, things may speed up like they do in the book. We’ll see.

 

Until next week I’ll leave you with the Jamie Mooney Eye pic of the week.