Outlander Finale: Why You Should Brace Yourself for All the Horrific Things to Come

Tonight's midseason finale may have ended with a hopeful cliffhanger, but we are very scared of the second half of season one.

Spoiler alert! If you haven't watched the Outlander finale yet, what on earth are you doing here?

Is it April yet?

Tonight's midseason finale of Outlander left us with quite a cliffhanger, though at least it was a mildly optimistic one. As Claire was about to be raped for the second time this episode – this time by the horrendously evil Black Jack Randall – Jamie showed up in the window as a glimmer of hope.

But how much hope can we really have? Barely a few minutes into tonight's episode, it was obvious that the honeymoon was over when Claire was forced to kill an English deserter who was sexually assaulting her. Apparently, the Scottish highlands were highly dangerous for women in the 1700s, especially if there were English soldiers around, and this show is not about to let you forget that.

Outlander is also quick to remind you that Scotland wasn't exactly a safe place for anyone at the time, and assuming that the show follows generally the same path as the books (as it has so far), we'll soon find that Claire is not the only one in constant danger.  If you found the finale shocking, you might want to brace yourself for what's coming next.

In a nutshell, Black Jack Randall's reign of terror is far from over, and the Frasers are his two least favorite people thanks to how they completely refuse to submit to his sadistic whims. However, he's not the only threat in the highlands, especially when people start to notice Claire's knowledge of many futuristic things, like germs and bandages. 

If you were one of those who were turned away by the slow pacing of the first few episodes of the season, make sure you get caught up before the show returns in April. With more than half of the book left to cover, there's a ton of action to keep you interested (and occasionally on the edge of your seat) for twelve more episodes.

While the majority of the episodes so far have stayed almost completely true to the book, all of Frank's scenes in tonight's episode were written entirely for the show and do not appear in the novel. It was an interesting choice, having Frank – who, for the most part, seems harmless – get angry and violent in the search for his wife. While his reaction to the con men was completely plausible and could be seen as sympathetic, it could also be seen a big point for Jamie in the sort of moot competition over who is the better husband.

It will be interesting to see how the show handles some scenes going forward, because, like most well-written characters, Jamie and Claire aren't perfect people, and they're living in a difficult time. That's a perfect partial recipe for telling a compelling story, but if some scenes play out exactly as they did in the book, it could also lead to some divisive conversation.

Now, to lighten the mood, here are are some inappropriate .gifs to help get you through the next few months. 

We even have a gallery filled with butts if you need help dealing with how far away April 4^th is. Hooray!