Recap of Outlander
Season 2, Episode 7:
Faith
Claire is rushed to the Hopital des Anges, where Mother Hildegarde and the volunteer healers work to save her life. After a heartbreaking loss, Claire sets out to arrange Jamie's release from the Bastille and finds herself at the whims of the King.
Tropes:
- A Friend in Need: Raymond appears in the l'Hopital to heal Claire of her life-threatening fever.
- Against My Religion: Averted. Even though it is against canon law to baptize a stillborn baby, Mother Hildegaard names and baptizes baby Faith anyway so that she can be buried on consecrated ground.
- All There in the Script: Brianna is not named at all in the brief flash forward that begins this episode. Instead she gets named in the closing credits.
- Chekhov's Gun: The necklace Raymond gave to Claire a few episodes ago to protect her from poison alert's Claire (and St. Germain) to the presence of poison in the chalice after Raymond is done drinking from it.
- Chekhov's Skill: Master Raymond's sleight-of-hand trick, first shown in "Not in Scotland Anymore", becomes more important here, as he uses it to sneak poison into the chalice when it comes to St. Germain's turn to drink from it.
- Creepy Souvenir: The bottle of perfume that Fergus liked was actually a bottle of lavender oil that Jack Randall carries around. This is the same type of oil he used when raping Jamie.
- Death by Childbirth: Claire comes so close to dying, they bring in a priest to take her last confession and to pray a blessing over her. Thankfully, Master Raymond comes in and is knowledgable enough to know that part of the placenta did not deliver and is now poisoning her. He helps remove the piece and she begins to recover.
- Evil-Detecting Dog: Subverted. Bouton initially growls when he spots Master Raymond approaching Claire's sick bed, but stops when the man gets close enough to speak to the dog.
- Flash Forward: The episode opens with Claire visiting a library or bookshop in the 20th century, talking to a red-headed girl who appears to be her daughter.
- Friendship Moment: Despite her seeming vapidity, Louise shows up at the hospital to help console Claire over the loss of her baby, surprisingly sincere for someone who generally has a "let them eat cake" outlook on life.
- Grave-Marking Scene: Before they leave France to return to Scotland, Jamie and Claire visit baby Faith's grave. Particularly poignant as Jamie was imprisoned in the weeks surrounding Faith's birth, so he never got to see or hold his daughter. Since they will have to leave her body in France, Jamie leaves a St. Andrew's spoon at her grave so she'll always have a bit of Scotland with her.
- Heroic BSoD: Claire after returning from l'Hopital des Anges without her baby.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Claire 'sleeps' with King Louis to free Jamie from the Bastille.
- Intimate Hair Brushing: Fergus brushes Claire's hair after she returns home and is still struggling to focus on day to day functions like eating, dressing, and doing her own hair.
- Ironic Name: Mother Hildegaard names Claire's stillborn baby Faith. The episode then focuses on losing Faith and the dark night of the soul it triggers in Claire.
- It's All My Fault:
- Fergus blames himself for Jamie being locked up for dueling and Claire losing her baby because he couldn't resist the urge to steal and didn't stay quiet while he was being sexually assaulted.
- Claire feels that all the events of the episode are her karmic retribution for trying to have it all. Trying to have both Jamie and Frank led to Jamie being arrested, Frank possibly never being born since Jack Randall received a vicious Groin Attack, Fergus being raped because Jamie was not allowed to duel with Randall earlier, and Claire lost baby Faith after stubbornly rushing to the woods in an attempt to secure both her family in the present and her family in the past/future.
- Lie Back and Think of England: Invoked by Claire as she is submitting to sex with King Louis, the price for Jamie's release from the Bastille.
- Loving Details: A maternal version. Claire describes in exacting detail exactly what baby Faith looked like. It's heartbreaking for Jamie who was detained for months and missed Faith's birth and burial, never getting to lay eyes on his daughter after months of anticipating his impending fatherhood.
- Meaningful Echo: When Claire is clearing her chest of all the things she believes she's done to harm Jamie, she includes sleeping with King Louis. Jamie compares it to when he submitted to sex with Captain Randall to save her life. He reminds her that he asked for forgiveness afterwards and she'd told him there was nothing to forgive and that's his stance towards her as well.
- Mistaken for Betrayal: Claire assumes that Jamie broke his word because he was overcome by the need to avenge his own grievance. She only changes her tune once she realizes that he was actually fighting because Jack Randall had assaulted, Fergus, their ward.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Jamie lays into Jack Randall, genuinely trying to beat the man to death. He has to be dragged off of Randall and out of the brothel. All Randall can do afterward is collapse and gasp for air.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Claire's face as she realizes that Raymond secretly placed poison in the chalice to ensure St. Germain's death.
- Randall's face when he realizes that the "Milord" Fergus is screaming to for help is actually Jamie Fraser.
- Ordered to Die: St. Germain is ordered by the King to drink from a chalice that St. Germain knows to be poisoned.
- Papa Wolf: Jamie towards Fergus. They may not have an official relationship, but Fergus is his ward, under his protection. The fact that it's Jack Randall who is harming the boy makes is even worse.
- Please Spare Him, My Liege!: Claire appeals directly to King Louis XV to get Jamie released from the Bastille.
- Rape as Drama: Tensions were high between Jamie and Claire. Then Fergus is raped, pushing Jamie to break his word and then convincing Claire to forgive him for breaking his word since it was done in the defense of a child.
- Rape Discretion Shot: Since the victim character is a child, the act is filmed in a way that suggests the actor interaction was minimal. The act is conveyed by having adult actor Tobias Menzies doing sexually suggestive motions alone in a frame tightly focused on him and then jumping to a separate frame that shows the child actor struggling against a hand holding him down by the nape of his neck.
- The Reveal: Fergus was raped by Randall the day Jamie went with him to the brothel, and this was the reason for Jamie's challenge to Black Jack Randall.
- Scarpia Ultimatum: Claire must have sex with King Louis if she wants Jamie released from jail, as Jamie broke a royal decree and will only be released with the king's permission.
- Suicidal Sadistic Choice: St. Germain can either intentionally drink from the chalice and die by poison or he can refuse and be painfully drawn and quartered for defying an order from the King.
- See You in Hell: The Comte says this to Claire just before he drinks the poison that kills him.
- Talking in Your Sleep: Fergus yelps for help in his sleep, which is how Claire finds out the truth of what drove Jamie to duel with Jack Randall.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: Master Raymond places poison in the chalice to ensure St. Germain's death.
- Tragic Stillbirth: Claire goes into premature labor and eventually loses her baby
- Was It Really Worth It?: By the end of the episode both Frasers are ready to return to Scotland, feeling like they'd lost nearly everything in France and gained precious little to show for it.
- Would Hurt a Child: Fergus' young age does not exempt him from Jack Randall's cruelty.
