BWW Recap: 'The Search' for Jamie Begins on Tonight's OUTLANDER

Tonight's episode of OUTLANDER was, in a word, different. Yeah, I already know what you're thinking. "Different." That's like what you say when your friend shows you her terrible new haircut. Oh! It's...different! Get that idea out of your head, because that's not what I mean. It was just different. A little kooky, a little--dare I say--funny, and, okay, a little uneven. I might even go so far as to label it a filler episode, which pains me slightly, because that "f" word has such a negative connotation in TV world, doesn't it? But with only two episodes left in the season, I guess it was inevitable. That being said, however, filler or not, different or uneven, "The Search" was definitely entertaining.

Alright, let's backtrack quickly: Jamie's missing. There. See. Told you it'd be quick. Claire being the plucky 20th century gal that she is, naturally, sets out to find him. Ian offers to go with her, before remembering that he only has one leg and might not be much help. Instead, Claire is joined by Jenny, which is an awesome girl power moment. Jamie's come to Claire's rescue enough times; it's a nice change of pace. Conveniently, Jenny is a great tracker, and comes prepared, weapons and all. With her expertise, the dynamic duo eventually come across a gaggle of Redcoats, who have MacQuarrie in custody, but no Jamie. They manage to trick one unlucky Brit, tying him up and questioning him about Jamie's whereabouts, to no avail. Jenny resorts to torture, which is shocking to Claire, for obvious reasons. It's such a good cop/bad cop situation, I couldn't help but laugh a little, to be honest. Finally the Redcoat admits that he's just a courier, and before Jenny can do much more damage, Claire finds his sack of messages--one of which is an undelivered dispatch detailing Jamie's escape and ordering a search. Jenny and Claire immediately destroy the message. Before continuing in their Jamie hunt, Jenny tells Claire that they have to kill the courier. And maybe it's only because I just finished binging 'Sons of Anarchy' twice in a row, but, um, duh! Of course you do! Claire, who has clearly never seen a FX drama in her life, is appalled, but before she can put up much of an argument a wild Murtagh appears, and down the Redcoat goes.

For the remainder of the episode, Murtagh serves as Jenny's understudy of sorts, with the new mom getting back on her horse and heading back to Lallybroch-and when I say "new mom," I really mean it, like she literally had a baby ten minutes ago, remember? This is when things start getting...what was the word I used before...kooky. It gets a little kooky. Murtagh has a brilliant plan to locate Jamie: let him come to them. Have Claire draw a lot of attention to herself and earn a reputation as a healer throughout the villages until it reaches Jamie's ear. You're a genius, Murtagh! The two are able to travel in the open, stopping at towns across the Highlands to...dance and read fortunes. Yeah, ha, guess who does which. Shockingly, Murtagh takes care of the dancing, to a rather unappreciative crowd, he would probably add. Claire does some bogus palm-reading, and is obviously frustrated with Murtagh's plan. It's just not working fast enough. She thinks Murtagh needs to do more, while he argues just the opposite. Somehow, don't ask me how, but his solution has Claire dressing in drag and singing Highland ditties to the tune of 'Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.' Yeah. It's kind of weird. Or kind of spectacular, I'm still debating. Either way, it's pretty funny, especially initially because Claire is just so awkward, and the crowd still loves her. Go figure.

Things seem to be looking up, with Claire's new single delighting Highlanders far and wide--until they discover that a group of gypsies has been peddling their same routine! Where are copyright laws when you need them, am I right? Claire begs them to cut it out, but Murtagh thinks it's already too late. And then there's a nice sort of random moment between the two in this cute little beachside cave, where Murtagh admits to Claire that he had been in love with Jamie's mother. Hmph. Who would have guessed. He's as determined to find that strapping redhead as Claire is because he sees him as a son. How sweet. And again, it brings up the unintentionally hilarious--to me, anyway--dichotomy that just seems to be Jamie's lot in life: so many people love him, and yet he's always in trouble. Just when Claire and Murtagh's luck seems to have officially run out, the head gypsy finds them and delivers a message that appears to include Jamie's whereabouts. Finally. Except, womp womp womp, it's just Dougal. Is anyone ever really happy to see Dougal? Probably not. And Claire certainly isn't, especially when he tells her to give up on Jamie, who, as it turns out, has been recaptured by the British, taken to Wentworth Prison, and sentenced to hang. All this while Murtagh and Claire were merrily cèilidh-ing about the Scottish countryside--and I'm sorry, but if you don't find that even the tiniest bit funny, well then, I don't know what to say to you. To make things even worse, Dougal tries to convince Claire to marry him, to, y'know, um, protect her. Yeah, that's it, protect her. Psht. Okay, Dougal. You're a creep. It's basically the worst marriage proposal ever, so it's shocking that Claire actually accepts--well only if she can't save Jamie, of course. Dougal's all like, ha, good luck with that, but Claire pays him no mind. Haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. She rallies some familiar faces, including Rupert, Angus, and Willie, and the episode ends with her leading the charge to Wentworth.

So overall, this still felt like a filler episode. But at least it was a fun one. And if nothing else, at least it succeeded in getting 'Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy' stuck in all of our heads, and that's something I think we can all be grateful for. Next week, the action promises to pick up again as we head to Wentworth Prison, paving the way for what I'm sure will be one heck of season finale.

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Photo Credit: Starz

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