For years, Outlander thrilled fans with its blend of action, drama, and romance. Its prequel spinoff, Blood of my Blood, offers the same.
It jumps to the past following two couples — Henry Beauchamp (Jeremy Irvine) and Julia Moriston (Hermione Corfield), parents of Clair, and Brian Fraser (Jamie Roy) and Ellen McKenzie (Harriet Slater), parents of Jamie.
The first season of Outlander: Blood of My Blood ended with Henry and Julia finally reunited and on the cusp of returning to their time. Meanwhile, Ellen and Brian finally ended up together and made their way out. But there aren’t happy endings for these four — at least not that quickly. The season 2 premier, “Remembrance Day,” makes that abundantly clear.
Back in the present
As we pick up, Henry is back in the present. Actually, it’s the future for him. He’s in Scotland in 1924. He was found with a wound and taken to the hospital, where his story makes him sound crazy. So, he’s been placed in an asylum for treatment. The theory is that his time in the war has ruined his mind — which is only partially true.
Quickly, we flashback to where the season ended. Henry and Julia were at the stones, but before they could escape, they were found by Grant men. In the fight that ensued, Henry took a blade to the shoulder and slipped through the stone back home. Claire, meanwhile, is caught with the baby. While it’s assumed she was kidnapped by Henry, who had gone mad with grief, she is returned to Lord Lovat (Tony Curran) with little hope of rescue.
Henry, meanwhile, is trapped in 1924. And with no one believing his story, he’s subjected to “modern medicine.” That means some electro-shock therapy. That does little to help his condition but rather forces him to relive the struggles of war and all he survived. He’s a shell of himself by the end, trapped with the painful memories of the war and beginning to lose the plot of where Julia and his son are back in 1715.
Another couple parted
Meanwhile, it’s not a happy ending for Brian and Ellen, either. With the McKenzie men approaching, Brian is ready to fight. But Ellen believes caution is the better part of valor, sending Brian and Murtagh (Rory Alexander) away for their own protection, but not before Brian promises that they’ll be officially wed within the year.
Ellen, meanwhile, gives herself over to her family’s men and is returned to the castle. Her brother Colum (Seamus McLean Ross) is none too pleased. After she left, they had to quickly marry her brother Dougal (Sam Retford) to Maura Grant (Bobby Rainsbury). It’s a quick wedding, and not one that either wants, but it ensures the bond between the families.
Still, that bond is severely challenged now that Malcolm Grant is dead. It leaves them all scrambling for how to move forward and what the leadership of the clan will be. For the time being, Uncle Mac (Simon Merrells) is in charge. And he’s not sure he wants to honor the commitment to war.
Dougal has long supported the conflict. He’s ready to go and he’s determined to hold the Grants and his brother to that commitment. Meanwhile, though he didn’t plan his marriage to Maura, there is something between them. There is a spark that seems to indicate it might not be the worst match. Could they end up finding love and a partnership after all?
Meanwhile, Julia is doing all she can to stay away from Lord Lovett, which means encouraging him to commit to the coming battle, too. She encourages him to lead his forces from the front rather than leaving it to Brian. She is hoping to buy more time to figure out a plan to get away and get back to Henry and her own time.
It’s nice to be back into the world of the show. We spent all of the first season working to get our couples together only to have them separated quickly in this premier. That makes sense for dramatic purposes, but it leaves us back to trying to figure out how to get to the happy ending that we know is coming.
Outlander: Blood of My Blood airs Fridays on Starz. Check back next week as we recap the action of the season right here.
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