STARZ Outlander season 4, episode 8 recap: Wilmington

Reunions. Heartbreak. Love. And some more heartbreak. That pretty much sums up this week’s episode of Outlander.

Outlander broke our hearts this week. The end. We can all go home now. But seriously, there is so much to discuss about this week’s episode, “Wilmington” that it’s hard to figure out where to start from.

Let’s see. Brianna and Roger reunite in 17th century North Carolina, they get married (umm, ya), Brianna loses her virginity and that’s just scratching the surface. But before I dive deep into the recap, I’d just like to put out a warning that this week’s episode of Outlander had sensitive scenes in it pertaining to sexual assault.

It was definitely a rough episode for Brianna and also gave Sophie Skelton an opportunity to showcase how talented she is. Kudos to her for really bringing her all to “Wilmington”.

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So, we’ve officially reached the point of Outlander where everyone is in the same place. Even Jamie and Claire are in town, unaware that their daughter is very close to them.

Roger arrives in Wilmington with a sketch drawing of Brianna in hand. He has been showing the townspeople in case they may have seen her around. But guess who he ends up showing the picture to? Fergus! The impending reunion inches closer and closer, and while we don’t get the one we’re anticipating, we do get another one.

After walking into a tavern, Roger overhears Brianna’s voice and surprises her with his presence. Honestly, I wanted to really adore this scene but something about Roger turns me off. Like, it’s commendable and sweet he went through time for her, but there’s just something off about him.

He sort of proves my point later on in the episode. But anyway, their reunion turns into a lovemaking session where Brianna loses her virginity.

Remember a few episodes ago when Roger wasn’t about the sex because Bree wasn’t all his. Before things go further, she brings this point up and obviously, he hasn’t changed his mind.

But this time her answer is yes, a million times yes! In order to have sex though, they become handfast. If you don’t know what handfast means, don’t worry, I got you. Basically, they are promised to each other and the ceremony marries them until they get the official seal of approval from the priest. Engaged. Check. Married. Check. Sex–let’s do this.

Although Bree said sex hurt, she’s pleased to know that Roger was into it, and so was she. But unfortunately, this lovey-dovey phase comes to a halt. Roger lets it slip out that he knew about Jamie and Claire dying in the fire. Bree is confused about this because she had just mentioned the obituary to him. Basically, he kept a huge lie from her and now they’re married…so that’s awkward.

And then comes the moment in this Outlander episode where we just want Roger to go away–preferably forever. He implies that because Bree is his wife now, she should listen to what he says. Oh no boy, you didn’t just go there. He threatens to leave and when she tells him to, he does another stupid thing.

He tells Bree that she did the same thing when Frank tried to talk to her before he died. Ugh, not cool, who is this guy, seriously? Eventually, Roger does leave, and Bree is left behind broken hearted. I wish I could say this was as bad as the night was going to get for her, but it’s not.

Credit: STARZ

Defeated and alone, she heads back to the inn where she crosses paths with the horrible, despicable Stephen Bonnet. Of all the places she could go, why did it have to be there? Bree notices that Stephen has Claire’s ring and asks what he wants for it. The price is not worth paying–not at all.

Unfortunately, Bree had no idea what it would cost her, and Stephen isn’t exactly the gentlemen type to have given her a heads up. And then the absolute worst thing happens. Stephen drags Brianna into the room and forces his way with her, while the men outside continue on playing their game. They know Brianna is being raped, but yet they do nothing about it.

The episode didn’t show the scene playing out but instead focused on the people sitting outside acting oblivious to her screams and pleas of help. It’s all very devastating, and even more so when she walks out of the room more defeated than she has ever been. Our hearts went out to her as she walked out of the inn and the episode came to a close.

While this Outlander episode is primarily about Brianna and Roger, we did get some Jamie and Claire action. They’re in Wilmington to attend a play with Lord Tyron. But Jamies comes to learn that the Lord is planning on arresting the leader of the Regulators, aka Murtagh.

Before the play begins, Claire and Jamie meet some very important people–George and Martha Washington. Ahh, Claire’s first encounter with famous historical people! She’s so excited to have met him and tells Jamie all about the things Washington will go on to do.

But wait, back to the alarming info Jamie received from Lord Tyron. He needs a way to get out of there without it being noticed. Earlier in the episode, Lord Tyron introduced Jamie and Claire to a man named Edmund Fanning. He has some medical condition, and even though Claire suggested he get it looked at, no one listened.

Jamie takes advantage of the situation and taps Fanning on the stomach. He screams out in pain and a diversion is created to the point that Claire swoops in to operate. And while she works her healing magic, Jamie makes a quick getaway to ask Fergus to go and warn Murtagh.

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Fergus makes it in time. Claire saves Fanning. Jamie gets back in time before anyone notices. Phew, that was a close one. But he may have hurt Murtagh’s feelings, and I have a feeling Lord Tyron is going to catch sooner rather than later what is going on. Time will tell.

Outlander airs every Sunday on STARZ at 8 PM EST!

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