Outlander: Blood Of My Blood Season 2 Premiere Recap

Hope you enjoy those five minutes of couple time we get at the start of the “Outlander: Blood of My Blood” Season 2 premiere. Because, just like its predecessor, Starz’s “Outlander” prequel wastes no time in finding heartbreaking new challenges for Henry and Julia, and Brian and Ellen.

In a moment, I’ll want to hear what you thought of the season-opener. But first, we’ve got a lot of highland to cover, so let’s get to it. Here’s what went down in Episode 1, “Remembrance Day.”

Let’s start with Julia and Henry. As the show’s preseason trailer let on, Henry went through the stones without his wife and infant son (more on that in a second) and wound up in an Inverness psychiatric hospital in 1924. As we come into the episode, he’s agitated, devastated, and restrained in a straitjacket.

He’s treated by a doctor who is firm in his belief that Henry has created an elaborate fantasy about the 1700s to escape the horrors he witnessed during his service in World War I. So he administers several electroconvulsive therapy treatments… which only serve to addle Henry more, and have the bonus side effect of making him forget key details about his life. Chief among them: that he has a young daughter named Claire. (Sniff!)

Things are looking very bad, indeed, for poor Henry when he’s visited by a local pastor — and it’s Rev. Wakefield! The same man who later will play an important role in the greater Beauchamp/Fraser/MacKenzie saga sits with Henry, trying to offer any sort of solace, but he’s not very successful. That night at the parsonage, the reverend mentions to his housekeeper, Mrs. Graham (!), that he’d felt very badly for the young soldier who claimed to have been in another time. And you KNOW that the tea-leaf-reading, pagan-festival-observing, faerie-loving, stone-circle-dancing housekeeper perks up like, “Another time, ye say?”

By the end of the hour, she’s taken it upon herself to bring Henry some biscuits. Beauchamp is bereft, admitting that he can’t remember the color of Julia’s eyes or how she laughs. “I don’t think I could’ve imagined a love like that,” he says, near tears. And Fiona is convinced. She says thinks he’s telling the truth: “I believe you came through time.”

For the first time all episode, Henry looks less-than-destroyed. It’s a small win, but a win nonetheless. “Then you’ll help me?” he asks. And that’s where The Powers That Be leave us on that front this week.

But how did only one-third of the Beauchamps manage to go through the stones? A brief rewind in the 1700s shows us that the passage didn’t work when all three of them tried. And before they could troubleshoot, Arch Bug and his men showed up to drag Henry back to the Grants’. There was a fight. Henry killed one of the men. Arch dug a blade into Henry’s shoulder. Henry managed to punch Arch, which meant that Bug was laid out for a moment as a dazed Henry reeled back, leaned against the stone for a moment, and then was gone as a faint sound of buzzing filled the air.

So Julia simultaneously is confused, scared, and sad, and on top of that, she’s got to scramble for a cover story that won’t end in a lot of badness for her. Arch helps when he basically says, “That guy was bonkers, amirite?” So she goes along with his assumption that she was kidnapped, thanking him for coming to her rescue. And she returns home, where she manages to settle a drunken Simon — who’d been more worried about the absence of his prophecy baby than anything having to do with Julia — and lays the groundwork for getting him out of the house by reminding him that he’s got to prepare to go to war soon.

By the time she’s in the kitchen, preparing some tea, our girl has had. a. day. Davina finds her sobbing, and when Julia’s giving her the details of what happened, she mentions that Arch found them by Craig na Dun… and Davina just KNOWS. “You’re one of the faerie folk!” she cries, instantly closing her eyes so Julia can’t magick away her soul or something. Davina babbles that she suspected something supernatural was afoot ever since the Brit showed up, because “There’s something rare and remarkable about you.” (Side note: I know it’s not exactly intended a compliment here, but what lovely thing to say to someone, no? I’m going to keep that one in my back pocket.)

Julia calms her friend and then admits that yes, she and Henry are both from another time. “We came by accident through the stones, and we’ve been trying to get back ever since to our beautiful daughter, Claire,” she says, starting to cry in earnest. “I’m going to miss her birthday.” While I’m glad Julia finally has someone in this time who knows the truth of her, there’s no real resolution to her pain. Nice job here, too, by Hermione Corfield.

Now for Brian and Ellen, who are still ensconced in their Bothy Bubble of Lurve. The clan crosses are still burning, which means that Brian has to head home and join the Fraser men preparing for the Jacobite rebellion. Neither of them really want him to go, and they indulge in some fantasizing about the quiet family life they’ll have after he comes home. If war does take Brian’s life, he tells her intently, “If God wills it, I’ll give you a piece of me to carry.” Which is 18th-century speak for: We’re going to have sex against the wall of this rustic hideaway. So they do, and then canoodle after.

These two little lovesick fools (I heart them) are talking about how their souls speak “in a language I think only angels understand” when Murtagh rushes in to announce that MacKenzie men are sniffing about. Honeymoon’s over, kids! Ellen quickly decides that she’ll give herself up to them, because her brothers will take her back, but they’ll kill Brian and Murtagh if they see them. Brian doesn’t like this plan, but Murtagh agrees with the redhead that it’s the only way to go. So the lovers part ways, with Brian reminding his kinda-wife that they’re handfast, and have to say their vows in front of a priest within a year and a day.

Back at Castle Leoch, Malcolm Grant’s uncle is livid that his nephew is dead and no one really knows what happened. Dougal, Colum, and Ned manage to get him to chill out a moment by gin going on the offensive, suggesting that he might’ve engineered the killing so he could become laird of Clan Grant. Later, Uncle Mac finds a grieving Maura wondering why none of the traditional death customs are being observed; he tells her he’s taking her brother’s body back, and agrees there’ll be a proper funeral after the war. He also mentions that they’re searching for Henry, because they need the bladier to make sure everything is kosher, legally, for him to become official head of the clan. (Later, Dougal finds his new wife and seems genuinely worried that she’s so upset. He sits with her in silence, gingerly putting his hand over hers. OH MY GOD I AM ALL IN FOR THEM ALREADY.)

When Ellen arrives home, Colum immediately slaps her — that’s the moment Harriet Stater referred to when we spoke ahead of the premiere — and has her locked up in the chapel. “Why did you leave when you swore to me that you would marry Malcolm?!” he shouts. “The question you should be asking,” she replies smoothly before she’s hauled off, “is why I’ve come back.”

Brian and Murtagh return to Castle Leathers, Fraser is surprised to see Julia back there, too. Simon yells at his son about [waves hands] everything, but Brian stands up to the old man. He’ll fight alongside the Fraser men because he has loyalty to Simon as his laird, Brian says, but not as his father.

Julia sees an opportunity to forward her Get Lovat Outta Here cause and whispers to Simon that he should accompany Brian as he travels to rally men to the cause. Then she consults Davina about whether Maisri, the seer, might know stuff about the standing stones. Davina is sure she does, and they plot how to get in touch with her.

Now it’s your turn. What did you think of the premiere? Grade it via the poll below, then hit the comments with all of your thoughts!