Frickin' finally.
After what feels like the longest wait in the world, Outlander's Claire and Jamie have officially reunited. It certainly wasn't what Claire was expecting, and as book fans, it was most of the things we were expecting. It was sexy, it was awkward, it was more awkward and less sexy than we would have liked, but we get it. 20 years is a long damn time, and you can't just jump right back into most things.
We first saw a bit of Jamie's morning leading up to the shock of his life, but it was mostly a madame telling him he needed a woman's touch, and then he went off to print some propaganda with his coworker Geordie.
Once he recovered from his fainting, the first thing he said to Claire was, "You're real," and then once he realized he fell on an ale pot, he promptly (OK, cautiously and shyly) took off his pants. What a great start we were off to!
Even the buildup to their second first kiss felt like the longest wait ever. It was like they were both middle schoolers who don't know how to do this and, you know, adults who have only seen ghosts and dreams of each other for 20 years. It w as some good kissin' though.
Unfortunately for all of us, the really sexy stuff had to wait. Geordie returned, and upon finding his boss canoodling pantsless with some lady before it was even noon, he felt the need to quit. Jamie didn't seem too concerned, but he also didn't seem too fond of Geordie.
"It's very fine to see you again, Claire," Jamie said as he pulled on some new pants. Seemed like kind of a casual thing to say in this situation, but before we had time to ponder it, Jamie suddenly remembered the bairn. Claire handed over a little photo album (to a man who's never seen a photo before), and he had to pull out the most adorable reading glasses in the world in order to see it.
He thought Brianna was a terrible name, was shocked at Brianna wearing something called a bikini next to a boy, and suddenly he got all weird because he had something to confess. He's got a son!
Of course we knew this, but we didn't know he was going to tell her so soon. In the book, it's not even Jamie who tells her, and that's not until much later in the story. We'll get to that major change in a minute, but first there's some stuff to do.
For one, Claire had to reunite with Fergus, who's now like 30 and wants to know where Claire has been for 20 years (er, she went to live with relatives when she thought everyone was dead), and then we had to meet Mr. Willoughby. Mr. Willoughby (not his real name) is Jamie's Chinese friend who gets into a lot of trouble in bars because he likes to lick womens' elbows.
Then Jamie took Claire to a brothel, where he's got a room on hold, but not in that way. He just kind of lives there sometimes because there's food, a bed, and privacy, and it's better than his cot at the printshop. Jamie warned Claire that they hardly knew each other now, but he still wanted her if she wanted him. And of course she wanted him (because what a waste that trip would have been if she didn't), and things almost got sexy until they were interrupted...again...by dinner at the door.
So they sat down to talk to each other about their lives, and then finally, when no one could take it anymore, they began undressing each other in slow motion. The slowest motion. A collar undone over here. A neck scarf over there. Take off a jacket. Undo your hair.
After what felt like ages, the pants came off. Claire's very historically incorrect zipper was unzipped. "Christ," Jamie said upon the sight of Claire's body. Soon they were both standing there naked, talking about how scared they were. It was...so much.
After some awkward nose-hitting and some laughter, it was time to shut the windows to spare the neighbors.
Claire and Jamie lazed around in bed for quite a while, talking about Jamie's smuggling business and other important bits of their lives. The next morning, they were a little too busy for breakfast, so while Jamie had some things to deal with, Claire found breakfast with the women who worked in the brothel. The Madame eventually found her and sent her back up to Jamie's room, where she found a scary man waiting for her.
He called her a whore, and of course the episode ended just as he attacked her. Super cool. Always love a cliffhanger with Claire in danger!
While we worry a lot (because we don't yet have a screener for the next episode!), scroll on down to get the scoop on that major change from the books.
Outlander airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on Starz.