Outlander officially left Scotland last week, as Claire and Jamie took to the high seas in an effort to find Young Ian, whose kidnappers were reportedly bound for Jamaica. Things got complicated when a large ship boarded their smaller vessel looking for a surgeon to deal with an epidemic on board. Claire, never one to refuse a chance to do something noble, volunteered. The final scene saw her looking back at The Artemis as The Porpoise pulled away, separating her from Jamie yet again.
This week's episode, "Heaven and Earth," picks up just before the other one left off, this time from Jamie's perspective, rather than Claire's.
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Fergus, bless him, has made a custom pot-pourri for Marsali, and is telling Jamie about it when he spies The Porpoise setting sail, with his wife on board. In distress, Jamie orders the sailors to follow. The captain, who is more and more unlikeable, belays the command, informing Jamie that he and Captain Leonard already had a heart to heart, and Claire will meet them in Jamaica. A scuffle ensues, and Jamie is restrained and taken below.
Meanwhile, on The Porpoise, nearly everyone continues to be dead or dying. Claire is facing an uphill battle explaining basic hygiene to a crew of men used to living in abject conditions. Her assistant, 14-year-old Elias Pound, catches on quickly though, and finds a way for her to obtain pure alcohol to use as a disinfectant. Eventually, Claire tracks down the Typhoid Mary of the Porpoise, a man named Joe Howard who was transferred to kitchen duty after all his carpenter colleagues died. (Isn't eighteenth century medicine fun?!) He is eventually removed, but Claire better watch her back because the cook isn't too pleased about losing his last galley hand.
Back on Jamie's ship, more vomiting! With no acupuncture to soothe him in captivity, Jamie's seasickness has returned in full force. Despite all this, he has a plan: Fergus has to set him free and incite a mutiny. Then, they'll dump Jared's wine and somehow catch up to The Porpoise, which is already a day ahead. Fergus is no dummy though, and refuses, which causes Jamie to lash out that he was right to withhold his blessing. "Until you risk all, you cannot speak of love." he says. "Get me those keys." In exchange, he'll let Fergus marry Marsali. (Not cool, Jamie.)
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More gross eighteenth century customs: when burying a man at sea, the last stitch in the canvas shroud must go through his NOSE, to make sure he's dead. Surely, there must be another way to do that. Maybe a poke? A prod? A good shake?
Because of the many dead, The Porpoise hosts a mass funeral. Poor Elias Pound — could it be that man was more than a friend from home? Ugh, I have a feeling things will not end well for him, and it's already killing me. Impressed with Claire's ability to remain so cool, calm, and collected, Pound gifts her a rabbit's foot that his own mother gave to him as a child — for luck. Aside from the fact that it's A) a dead rabbit's foot, and B) probably crawling with germs, it's a very sweet gesture.
As if there wasn't enough to worry about, Claire also now has to fret about men drinking the alcohol from the still, which is toxic. On one such occasion, she meets Annicke Johannson, the wife of one of the soldiers onboard, whose job it is to tend to the goats that provide milk for the ship.
While Claire is down in the hull, she spies a Portuguese flag bunched up in the corner. Remembering that Young Ian was taken by a Portuguese vessel, The Bruja, she asks one of the sailor where they obtained it. Apparently, The Porpoise boarded a ship a couple of weeks back in search of a surgeon. The sailor didn't remember the name of the ship, so Claire goes off in search of Captain Leonard. When she finds his cabin empty, Claire can't resist the urge to snoop (same). The log lists the name of the frigate as Cascador, meaning it's unlikely Young Ian was on it. What she does find out, however, is far more serious: the captain knows Jamie's real identity. Claire is just wrapping her head around this when the surly cook enters, and demands to know what she's doing. He threatens her, but she counters by reminding him that all she has to do is cry rape, and he'll be arrested. He backs off.
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On the Artemis, Fergus and Marsali share a truly intimate moment when she washes his amputation wound before covering it with the fake hand. I'm rooting for those two! Marsali, a truly modern woman, tries to convince him to have sex since Claire is gone, and Jamie is captive. Fergus is too honourable though, and says they have to wait until they're married. Judging by those kisses though, I think it's safe to say we're in for a good sex scene once they are. Jamie is eventually let out peacefully, thanks to their efforts, and gives them his blessing, because duh.
Claire susses out the man who told Captain Leonard about Jamie's identity and confronts him. His name is Harry Tomkins, and he's the same man who confronted Young Ian in the print shop before it burned down. He tells Claire that there's a warrant out for Jamie's arrest for high treason and murder — they found the exciseman hidden in the cask of creme de menthe. The captain will write a report as soon as they make land.
The good news is that it seems like the epidemic has finally stopped spreading like wildfire. The bad news is that Elias Pound has still managed to fall victim to it. He dies (I knew it!) and Claire (a friend) puts in the final stitch through his nose.
Still, Claire doesn't have time to dwell. The Porpoise stops at Grand Turk Island to replenish its stores of drinking water, and after enlisting Annicke Johansson's help, she has a plan to escape to warn Jamie of his impending doom. Under the pretence of gathering grass for the goats, the two set off on the island, and Claire runs off — straight into Captain Leonard, who had wisely gone patrolling for deserters. He knows she knows about Jamie, and he can't let her warn him. That doesn't deter her for long though. Clever Annicke brings her up on deck later that night and shows her a makeshift raft she's made. They're not to far from shore; if Claire jumps now, the current will carry her to land. After some hesitation and a "Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ!" she does.
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