This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, Outlander being covered here wouldn’t exist. We stand with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA.
We’re back one last time! Outlander 7×08 “Turning Points” works as a well-rounded mid-season finale that plants seeds for the future and advances all the characters amid fast-paced action while closing a particular chapter of the story and opening a new one. All this without losing an iota of the unique magic of this series: the mixture of love, action, and emotion. Ready?
Here we go!
Jamie & Claire Are Destined to Cross Paths in Outlander 7×08 “Turning Points”
Claire already said it in the previous episode, if Jamie didn’t come back to her, she would go looking for him at the end of the world. And she did just that in Outlander 7×08 “Turning Points.” Claire searched for Jamie all night until she finally found him, unconscious and about to be killed.
Claire is not a violent woman. In fact, we believe that at the beginning of the story, she was more violent than she is now. However, if Jamie is in danger, she will not hesitate to kill if necessary. There is no other option for her.
Luckily, Claire doesn’t have to go to that in Outlander 7×08 “Turning Points” to get Jamie rescued. And, when she has him safely in her arms, it’s time to tell him off for all the pain and worry he made her feel.
Claire isn’t mad at Jamie. She knows that circumstances lead him to fight and asking him not to, apart from being impossible, would be like asking him not to be him. She is angry with the world that continually separates them and puts them in danger.
It seems that there is always a war that prevents them from doing what they planned to do. Thirty years ago it was Culloden and now it’s the Revolutionary War.
In Outlander 7×08 “Turning Points,” Claire felt that she came too close to losing Jamie and that made her even more aware that, even if she knows the result of the war, it doesn’t mean her entire family will survive it.
And she hates that she can’t do anything about it.
As for Jamie, seeing Claire like this, screaming at him, so full of life, so…her gives him the encouragement he needed. He loves this amazing woman and is fighting to keep his family together. And he’s just happy to be back with her, that she brought him back to his home.
The War of Broken Promises
But nothing is as easy as staying with his home forever. Another battle is fought in Outlander 7×08 “Turning Points” and, while Jamie is not in mortal danger, he does feel like dying. Trying to avoid killing his relative, Jamie almost kills his own son.
William was in that battle and only fate prevented Jamie from shooting his head off. He was always aware that William was there, fighting on the opposite side of that war. But almost killing him…is another thing entirely.
Suddenly, in Outlander 7×08 “Turning Points,” Jamie is aware that this is the second time he has broken his oath and that if there is a third, what he most fears may happen. And he hates that he can’t do anything about it. Jamie takes refuge in Claire, only Claire understands and comforts him.
However, life sometimes has strange ways of bringing people together. Although Jamie tried to prevent it, Simon Fraser is about to die and since Jamie is his only living relative, he wants to see Jamie. He and Claire go into enemy territory and share a moment with William.
For Claire, it’s so much easier now to be in William’s presence. There is clear respect and genuine affection for him that we see in Outlander 7×08 “Turning Points.” Yes, a small part of her heart still aches to see him but now Claire sees William for himself and no longer sees him just as the symbol of her separation from Jamie.
As for William, even though he knows he should despise Claire for being a rebel and for how things ended the last time he saw her, he can’t. There is strength and courage in her that makes him respect and admire her.
Proud Parents Away in Outlander 7×08 “Turning Points”
And in Outlander 7×08 “Turning Points” the most awaited moment happens: the meeting between father and son. It’s the first time Jamie has seen and talked to William since he was a little boy. The significance of this is so big that there are no words to describe it.
Jamie thought that seeing William and Bree together, in the distance, was a dream and being there, right next to him is…indescribable. And he can give him something, he can make him wear something of his, his hat. He took it from him, it’s only fair that he give him his own, as a sign of respect… and of a love he doesn’t have the right to express.
If nothing else, knowing that William is wearing something of his makes Jamie feel like he and his son are closer than he ever has the right to.
Fortunately, the death of Simon Fraser gave Jamie and Claire a second joy in Outlander 7×08 “Turning Points.” Thanks to this, they fulfill their dreams and their plans to return to Scotland with the certainty that William will be away from the battles for a while.
That means Jamie can breathe easy, knowing that his child won’t lose his life in battle while he’s away, and at the same time, Jamie can return to his land, to his home. In those lands, he was born, grew up, met the love of his life, and planned a life with her.
Now, many years, of joys, and sorrows after that, Jamie and Claire return to the lands that first brought them together, the lands that saw them fall in love. They go back to the beginning, to start a new chapter of their lives together.
The Beginning of a Great Love
While the prospect of returning to Scotland is a joy for Jamie and Claire, it’s less so for Ian, and not just because he’s afraid of his parents’ reaction when they see the man he’s become. Ian had already begun to advance his relationship with Rachel in Outlander 7×08 “Turning Points.”
That passionate kiss they shared had been simmering for a long time. They were finally beginning to unleash their feelings. Until then, Ian had been too scared to do it. Scared of Arch Bug’s revenge and scared of being too violent and complicated for someone as nice and sweet as Rachel.
And to Rachel, the fact that Ian is not a Friend and that he is very capable of killing when he has to do it made her doubt. Ian is a violent man and although she has strong feelings for him, she is aware that they are opposites and she was unsure if anything between them could work. But in Outlander 7×08 “Turning Points” all those doubts end.
They stop fearing and only listen to their heart. However, life had other plans. As they move on, Ian must go to Scotland and Rachel must follow her lead in the army. This could have been the end of something that has only just begun… but it is not.
In Outlander 7×08 “Turning Points,” Ian leaves Rachel in Rollo’s care as a promise that he will return to her side. It’s a promise to share a future. And she knows it…as does Arch Bug.
He was waiting for just this, for Ian to find the love of his life, for him to be happy with her… to snatch her away. And he’s going to be watching for the perfect timing, which makes us very nervous.
The Strength of a Fraser in Outlander 7×08 “Turning Points”
Meanwhile, in the future seen in Outlander 7×08 “Turning Points,” Roger, Brianna, and Buck set out to find Jem. Roger wastes no time and decides to cross the stones with Buck.
Buck knows that he can die but it’s the least he can do, Roger is his relative and, despite everything he did to him in the past, he helped him. He’s not going to leave him alone now.
Brianna, for her part, wants nothing more than to go with Roger to find Jem but she must stay with Mandy. She must be strong, for Mandy, for Jem, for Roger, for her family. She must stay whole even though she is breaking inside. This is not the time to falter now and get carried away by despair, she must be the pillar that holds them all together.
And it’s precisely that strength that Brianna takes from where she doesn’t have, that strength that makes her stand up despite everything, that ends up breaking our hearts.
Other Stuff in Outlander 7×08 “Turning Points”
- Seeing Claire scold Jamie with that rage and that strength…I loved it! It reminded me of season 1.
- Jamie & Claire’s scenes are TOP.
- And the words of love that are confessed between whispers, through their eyes, their caresses… but the way they are vulnerable to each other is what has us stuck.
- I love that they have created a bond between Claire and William that has made them know each other, interact, and respect each other. They are seeds for the future.
- It’s a gift to us and to Jamie…who also had his significant, emotional, and beautiful moment with his son.
- Listening to Jamie remember his childhood and speak Gaelic to Simon Fraser brought tears to my eyes.
- The chat between Denzell and Claire is perfect. They are doctors but seeing so much death and so much blood on both sides makes them wonder if any of it is worth it, if they can get ahead after all. But they have to because if they don’t, they can’t help their next patient.
- Finally, the action we wanted to see in this war is here!
- I breathed a sigh of relief when Jamie got up.
- Claire defending Jamie with such fierceness! That’s my girl!
- And helping Jamie in medical mode…chef’s kiss!
- Brianna’s strength has me in awe. She fights to stay together for her family. And I admire her for it.
- Ian and Rachel are super cute! But it worries me a lot that Arch is watching her…
- I’m a William fan!
- Benedict Arnold and Claire…I loved it!
- I knew that gold was going to bring trouble…
- Fraser family jokes make me smile.
- But I smiled much more when I saw Scotland and the smiles of Jamie and Claire in a clear callback to season 2. Their joined hands, their eyes full of joy, their smiles…they finally returned home.
- Seeing the Highlands again, hearing that music, and seeing Jamie & Claire together brought tears to my eyes and a smile to my face. It’s like coming home, where it all began. The Frasers are ready to start a new chapter in their lives together!
- Overall, this season ends one important chapter in the Frasers’ lives and begins another. This first part of the season focuses on a less dynamic part of the story and, overall, they managed to make it enjoyable and entertaining.
- Season 7 is not a season intended, in principle, to be cut in half because it’s clear that the self-conclusive end of the season’s story will occur in its 16th episode, but the cut of this mid-season finale manages to culminate the slow story on a high note, making you want to see so much more knowing the best is yet to come.
- We can’t wait to live with the Frasers and their new adventures in Scotland!
Outlander season 7 aired Fridays at 8PM ET on STARZ.
It’s a more like 31 years from 1746 to 1777.
You’re right! I’ve fixed it, thank you for letting me know 🙂
We so waiting for it to come back on Netflix. Please when will that be happening?