Recap of Outlander
Season 2, Episode 3:
Useful Occupations and Deception
Jamie and Claire continue in their attempt to undermine the Jacobite cause, but discover that Prince Charles is keeping secrets. Needing a way to gather more information, Jamie recruits a young pick-pocket during an evening at the brothel, while Claire begins volunteer work as a doctor in l'Hopital des Anges.
Tropes:
- Armor-Piercing Question: Claire goes on a spiel about how she's been bored and wants to volunteer at the hospital because it makes her feel useful and feel good about what she's doing. Meanwhile, Jamie is working as a spy at Claire's behest, a work that he doesn't enjoy and actually finds distasteful since it requires him to lie constantly. He demands to know when he gets to feel good about what he's doing?
- The Artful Dodger: Fergus is an orphan who works at the Maison Elise as a busboy but also plying his trade as a pickpocket
- Blackmail Backfire: Fergus threatens to find Jamie's wife and tell her he was having sex with brothel whores if Jamie turns the boy into the police. Jamie tells Fergus that his wife would never believe him and instead of going to the police, he'll turn Fergus into the brothel Madame. This actually seems to scare Fergus more than the idea of being arrested.
- Child Prodigy: It is implied that Mother Hildengaarde was a musical prodigy as a child.
- Coitus Uninterruptus: Suzette does neither dismounts nor covers herself when Claire walks in on her and Murtagh.
- Give Me Back My Wallet: Played with. Jamie shakes Fergus like an upended piggy bank, allowing everything in the boy's pockets to fall to the ground, including the carved wooden figurine that Jamie has been looking for all episode.
- Interrupted Intimacy: Claire walks in on Suzette and Murtagh in the throes of passion.
- It Will Never Catch On: Mother Hildegarde reveals that she knows none other than Johann Sebastian Bach and is surprised Claire has heard of him. She says Bach's music is clever but "I'm afraid his music is not the sort to endure. Clever but no heart." To her credit, Claire manages to simply give a small smile.
- Left for Dead: Invoked by Murtagh. He saw Randall bleeding out after being trampled by nearly two dozen cattle and assumed the man would die, only to receive news that the Captain had in fact survived.
- Mistaken for Pedophile: Jamie agrees not to turn Fergus into the police for theft because he's interested in the boy himself. Fergus is appalled and insists he's not a whore. Jamie has to clarify he meant the boy's pickpocketing skills.
- No One Could Survive That!: Murtagh is initially skeptical of Claire's claim that Black Jack Randall is still alive. He tells her that he saw the man bleeding out on the floor after being trampled by nearly two dozen cattle. He insists there's no way the man survived that until Claire tells him that she spoke with Randall's younger brother who says that Randall has spent the last few months convalescing from an injury received in the "line of duty."
- Oh, Crap!:
- Fergus reaction to Jamie's threat to turn him over to the brothel Madame.
- Claire and Murtagh's reaction when they realize that their attempts to subvert the Rebellion now require Jamie to meet with the Duke of Sandringham and the Duke's secretary, Alex Randall.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Claire reads Murtagh the riot act, attempting to put him in his place, and then immediately apologizes, Murtagh realizes something else is actually bothering her.
- Paralyzing Fear of Sexuality: Mary is appalled by the idea that a God-fearing man would expect a woman to have sex with them. She is very sure it's something only dirty French people do and that no self-respecting English woman would be expected to submit to such a banal act.
- Retroactive Precognition: After spending a little time with Mary, Claire finally remembers being shown the girl's name in Frank's family tree and realizes that Mary is destined to marry Black Jack Randall.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Bouton, the stray dog that hangs out at the hospital. He's so cute and well-behaved, the nuns don't even bother trying to shoo him away.
- Secret-Keeper: Claire and Murtagh keep the secret of Randall's survival from Jamie to protect him.
- Sexless Marriage: Louise reveals that her husband would never believe he is the father of her baby because they don't sleep together.
- Shake Someone, Objects Fall: Jamie literally flips Fergus upside and shakes him, not stopping until the rain of coins and small items stop falling from his pocket, including the wooden snake Jamie's older brother had carved for him that Jamie has been looking for all episode.
- Sleight of Handiness: Jamie recognizes that Fergus' ability to pickpocket combined with his ability to escape detection would be very useful in a Jamie's subversion scheme.
- Smart People Play Chess: Jamie and the Minister of Finance bond over their fondness of chess. Jamie rarely loses a game.
- The Talk: Invoked by Claire who realizes that, despite being engaged, Mary has no understanding of sex or sexuality.
- Wrong Insult Offence: Fergus calls Jamie a dirty English bastard. Jamie is more offended that Fergus thinks he's an Englishman and insists he's a dirty Scottish bastard.
