Recap of Outlander
Season 7, Episode 7:
A Practical Guide for Time-Travelers
Tropes
- A Death in the Limelight: Nearly all of William's screen time is alongside Sandy to make Sandy's death that much more impactful.
- Age Insecurity: Claire refuses to admit that she might now need glasses to read.
- Best Friend: William and Sandy are good friends who joke around whenever they have time.
- Boom, Headshot!: How Sandy dies. A hole appears in his skull just as William mentions his feelings for Rachel Hunter to him.
- The Bus Came Back: Buck was last seen in season 5.
- Call-Back:
- Buck brings up the fact that he was the reason Roger was hanged, nearly fatally, in season 5.
- Jemmy has a Tufty club badge which Roger mentioned he received as a kid (back in season 4).
- The Chain of Command: William is able to convince General Fraser to countermand Captain Richard's orders for William to go to General Howe. Instead, he is allowed to stay for the Battle of Saratoga.
- Due to the Dead: William insists that the soldiers who died get an appropriate burial, including burying them deep enough that they won't be unburied by scavenging animals. He even pitches in on shoveling even though such an act is considered well beneath his rank.
- Establishing Character Moment: General Fraser and Colonel Grant are impressed that William cares enough about his fallen comrades to actually dig graves himself.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: Buck is in awe of many of the things he sees in the 20th century.
- Heroic B So D: William temporarily freezes when Sandy is killed with all sound fading into the background. General Fraser has to yell at him several times to shake him out of his fugue.
- Historical Ugliness Update: General John Burgoyne, known as Gentleman Johnny, was known to be a handsome lady's man. However, he is portrayed as a somewhat plain and heavyset gentleman.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: When he finds out how he and Roger are related, Buck asks for something stronger than coffee.
- Internal Reveal: Buck finds out that he is Roger's many times great-grandfather.
- Love Triangle: William admits to Sandy that he likes Rachel Hunter, who has also already caught Ian's eye.
- The Mistress: Mrs. Lind is rumored to be the General's mistress.
- Mood Whiplash: One moment, William and Sandy are excited about the upcoming battle, joking back and forth about pretty girls while they wait for the action to begin. The next moment, Sandy is dead.
- My Fist Forgives You: The reason why Roger is no longer mad about what Buck did to him.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Buck's reaction when he realizes he almost got his own descendant killed.
- Roger's reaction when he realizes that Cameron may have read about Geillis' belief that blood sacrifice was required to time travel and kidnapped Jemmy in order to be able to pass through the stones.
- Onrushing Army: The British and the American line charge each other.
- Pyrrhic Victory: William is astounded to see the command celebrated with champagne and huzzahs when they barely held ground and lost a significant amount of men, including William's best friend, Sandy.
- Pre-Battle Banter:
- General Fraser says he likes to walk amongst his men prior to battle because that's where he feels most settled. He encourages them to eat heartily and prepare for glory.
- Sandy prefers to tell dirty jokes and tease William about his current crush.
- Pretty Little Headshots: The shot that kills him doesn't even knock Sandy's hat off. It's tears a small, neat hole. The first indication he's been shot before he falls is the blank look in his eyes and the blood that begins pouring down his face.
- The Reveal: Rob Cameron got close to the MacKenzies for their knowledge of time travel.
- Right Behind Me: Captain Richardson approaches Sandy and William as they are discussing Mrs. Lind. The conversation stops and they snap to attention when they realize a ranking officer is right behind them.
- Shout-Out:
- Sandy mentions the Beefsteak Club, which is a frequent location featured in the Lord John spin-off novels.
- Simon Fraser and William quote Aeschylus.
- Sticky Fingers: Hammond uses slight of hand to grab a bottle of the coveted champagne.
- Survivor's Guilt: William is having trouble wrapping his head around the fact that he and Sandy were standing right next to each other, but he survived while Sandy did not.
- That's an Order!: Captain Richardson informs William that he won't be fighting in the Battle of Saratoga because Richardson wants him to carry letters to General Clinton's camp. William accepts the order, but is visibly irritated after Richardson walks away.
- The Thing That Would Not Leave: Rob Cameron invites himself over, begins going through everything he can get his hands on in Roger's study, and ignores all polite hints that he has worn out his welcome.
- Voiceover Letter: Brianna reads a letter from Claire, which is narrated in voice over by the actress.
- Wham Shot:
- Roger pulls up his family tree and it reveals Buck's year of death as 1778, the year Buck says it was when he went through the stones. This means he either never makes it back or he does but dies by year's end.
- The camera pans across the field of battle casualties and slowly pans over to Jamie's body.
- William Telling: Subverted. William uses his sword instead, to show off the quality of his blade and the speed of his reflexes.
