Outlander fans have waited more than a year for Claire to realize she can go back to see Jamie. In the season 3 premiere viewers witnessed the two of them figuring out life without each other.
The premiere opened up in 1746 with Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) after the battle of Culloden Moor with an unknown British soldier on top of him. He slowly remembered what happened through flashbacks.
Once Jamie saw his nemesis, the infamous Black Jack Randall (Tobias Menzies), it was clear Jamie wanted only to kill him as revenge for his torture. After almost everyone was dead, the two were still fighting despite wounding each other. Black Jack ended up reaching out and embracing Jamie before they both fell to the ground, which seemed a bit odd considering their hatred for each other.
At this point, Jamie had come back from his flashback but was hallucinating after he pushed Black Jack’s body off of his own. He saw Claire (Caitriona Balfe), his wife, walking through the battleground toward him asking if he was alive. It was obvious that it pained Jamie because Claire was sent back through the stones at Craigh Na Dun. Jamie realized it was his friend and cousin, Rupert MacKenzie (Grant O'Rourke) and not Claire. Jamie asks Rupert to leave him be so he can die because Claire is gone.
The show transitioned to Boston in 1948 with Claire after she went back through the stones at Craigh na Dun months before. Claire and her first husband, Frank Randall, looked for a house, but Claire was nervous about returning to a more modern domestic life after living the lifestyle of an 18th-century Scottish highlander. It was clear there was tension between the two after Frank learned what really happened to Claire and how she fell in love with someone else.
Later, Claire met Frank’s boss at Harvard University, who believed women should have a domestic role. Frank’s boss belittled Claire by saying she merely pitched in while serving as a combat nurse during the second World War. He also tried to tell Frank he needed to keep better watch over his wife. Claire clearly struggled to not say something snarky back, considering her outspoken personality. Frank didn’t help Claire where as Jamie would have after he vowed himself to her and you can see in Claire that she struggled with Frank even more.
Jamie had been taken to a shelter with other Scottish men that survived the battle. Jamie asked where Murtagh (Duncan Lacroix), his friend and godfather, was but no one knew. Jamie was clearly distraught considering Murtagh was the one person other than Claire that he was closest to.
After Claire prepared breakfast for her and Frank, she decided she wanted to apply to be a U.S. citizen to give her baby a real home. She recoiled when Frank tried to touch her stomach to feel the baby after he called the baby “our child”. Frank got frustrated that Claire struggled to let Frank really be a father because it isn’t even his child.They ended up getting in a fight about Claire being stuck in the past and Frank wanting her to let him in. This part was a big moment where Claire admitted she was clearly still very much in love with Jamie and that Frank didn’t stand a chance.
While attempting to sleep on the couch, Frank got up and decided to write a letter to his longtime friend, the Rev. Reginald Wakefield, to get more information about Jamie. He asked Claire to leave Jamie in the past but she couldn’t. Claire interrupted him by saying she has gone into labor.
Returning to 1746, the British had started executing Scottish soldiers. Jamie volunteered to go so he could finally die and after giving his full name, James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser, a British officer recognized him as “Red Jamie.” The British officer realized Jamie spared his younger brother’s life and in return, his younger brother, John Grey, said he owed Jamie a life. Jamie pleaded to die because he only wanted to see Claire again.
Claire was in the hospital with Frank, ready to give birth to her and Jamie’s child, when Frank professed his love for Claire, but she didn’t respond, showing how she was still thinking about the past with Jamie.
Jamie returned to his home of Lallybroch and was greeted by his sister Jenny (Laura Donnelly) and brother-in-law Ian (Steven Cree). Jamie and his sister embrace and Jenny shows how glad she is to have him home after all of his time away.
In her joy of her child being born, Claire apologized to Frank for “being horrid.” He claimed the baby, Brianna, is a new beginning. The ended up kissing multiple times which showed how Claire is beginning to struggle to live in the present but remember the past. A nurse came in and asked where the baby girl got the red hair, causing an awkward moment between Frank and Claire.
Outlander airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on STARZ
