Outlander Review: “Hail Mary”

Death once again finds itself at the center of an Outlander plot. While the impending doom of Culloden Moor hangs over “Hail Mary,” two other people die. Claire tries to help them both, but the end result is the same. I’m starting to wonder who will be left at the end of this season.

That said, I really wish Black Jack Randall was dead. But Outlander is just one more example of the fact that good people seem to die easy, while bad people seem to be indestructible. 

No matter how hard they’ve tried, Culloden Moor is happening. While Jamie keeps up hope, and actively tries to talk Charles Stuart out of his plans for attack, the date is set for April 16. The same day as it happens in the history books, and Claire, Murtaugh, and Jamie know things are bound to be awful.

But before impending doom, Claire decides to fortify their medical supplies, and makes a trip to Inverness. However, instead of just getting supplies to help people on the battlefield, she runs into an angry Mary Hawkins.

Yes—that Mary Hawkins. As in, the same Mary who helped save her, and now hates her, because she found out that Claire ruined her relationship with Alex Randall. Not only that, the rape she suffered in the street did result in a pregnancy, and she explains to Claire that Alex will still have her, even though she is no longer a virgin and is having an evil man’s baby.

And once again, Claire must deal with death and all of his friends.

Alex has consumption, and now the illness has taken him down to his death bed. Claire must work to make him comfortable—there is no saving him and this young man of course, wants to live.The other complication is that it’s too late for him to be married to Mary. Yes, Claire was right that he would not be able to take care of Mary, but they could have been happy for a while, and you can feel some of the regret, but Claire definitely still has Frank close in her mind.

This is even more true when Black Jack Randall walks in, and we find out that he has been paying all the expenses for this young would be couple, and for his relation, Alex.

Claire then uses Alex’s impending doom to bribe Jack into giving her details about the location of British troops.

It’s a complicated relationship: She hates this man. She uses this man. She can’t escape him. She chooses him because of Frank. You would think that this evil man having Frank’s face would put her off, but somehow it doesn’t. Rather, it almost seems to bring Frank to the forefront of her mind again.

So Murtaugh offers to make young pregnant Mary his wife, she once again chooses Frank. Murtaugh would have been a good spouse, but she decides she will marry her off to Jack instead. 

While she is dealing with the death of this boy, she also has the death of Patriarch Colum MacKenzie to deal with. His wasting disease has also gotten the better of him, and he is on his death bed as well. He’s tired and asks Claire to help him die, and she reluctantly agrees, offering him a peaceful death, and the two make amends.

Before Colum takes his yellow jasmine and falls into a permanent sleep, he confronts Dougal and Jamie, and tells them that he is naming Jamie the head of the MacKenzie Clan, which was everyone’s concern last season.

Now, the very thing they feared and the thing Colum tried to prevent will be come the reality, and Dougal is not happy. But he also can’t guarantee that he would choose the Mackenzie Clan’s people over the Scottish cause.

Dougal and Colum’s  son Hamish will eventually inherit of course, but until then, Jamie will be the controlling voice.

That is, if Jamie survives next week.