Best Moments from Outlander Season 1

Y’all, Outlander is coming back. Season 2 of the steamy Starz series about time travelers and rogues, rebels and healers returns to a TV near you this Saturday, April 9th, at 10:00 p.m. EST. We thought we’d use this opportunity to initiate geek-out mode and crank up the volume of our excitement about seeing Jamie’s eyes and legs and smile and kilt and arms the show again. My fellow sassenachs: here are the best moments of Outlander season 1.

Best Fight

This show is chock-full of great fight scenes. But the most powerful of them was fought with words and death stares, not swords and guns. In episode 1.9 (“The Reckoning”), Jamie (Sam Heughan) rescues Claire (Caitriona Balfe) from the clutches of Captain “Black Jack” Randall (Tobias Menzies) in the nick of time. When they reach safety, Jamie yells at her for disobeying his orders to stay put, and Claire counters that he has no authority over her anyway. The ensuing duel of words is intense and one of the best moments in the series, as the directing and acting were pitch perfect. We were breathless and gutted.

Best Moment Claire was a Badass

Claire has had a lot of empowering moments: she saves lives, takes names, and doesn’t let small-minded people hold her back. But I’d argue that Claire’s most badass moment was also in the episode “The Reckoning.” Following the sparring match between newlyweds, Jamie punishes his wife for disobeying his orders– so, he hits Claire with his belt. After days of rejecting Jamie and doling out her own form of punishment, Claire makes it clear that 18th-century domestic violence simply isn’t acceptable: while in a– erm– passionate embrace, she brings a sword to Jamie’s throat and vows to cut out his heart and eat it for breakfast if he ever dares to hit her again. Brava, queen.

Best Costume

Though Claire’s covet-worthy, comfy, chunky knits are the stuff that dreams are made on (and let’s not even talk about Jamie’s kilts), her wedding dress (1.7, “The Wedding”) was simply stunning. If falling through time means you get to wear dresses like this, sign us up.

Best shock

Black Jack every…

… single…

… time.

But especially Wentworth Prison (episode 1.15), in scenes too awful to even gif about. It will be interesting to watch how Jamie gradually heals (or doesn’t) as the Frasers navigate French society.

Best Supporting Player/Biggest Regret

Geillis Duncan (Lotte Verbeek) wins twice: she’s our favorite supporting player as well as our biggest regret. Her character was sassy and sharp, and it was always fun to watch her manage her flatulent husband. At the same time, the revelation that Geillis was herself a time traveler from the 1960s was both mind-blowing and bitterly disappointing– what a missed opportunity! I mean, imagine the time-bending conversations she could have had with Claire about their shared circumstance:

CLAIRE: Can you believe some of these people still believe in witchcraft?! How positively medieval!

GEILLIS: LOL right?! If this is how they react to strong, independent women now, it’s a good thing they won’t be around for suffragists or Simone de Beauvoir in a couple of centuries! You know what I miss, though? Deodorant.

Geillis could have been a great ally for Claire, and if they had teamed up, who knows how they could have changed the past and reshaped the future. In retrospect, it’s obvious that Geillis knew early on that Claire was a fellow time traveler– she kept giving Claire opportunities to confide in her. Geillis also had one of the best lines in the season: “Looks like I’m going to a f***ing barbeque!” I guess if you must go out, you should go out in flames. We will miss you, Geillis.

Best Jamie Gaze

Let’s face it: literally every Jamie moment is outstanding. But Jamie’s stolen glances at Claire before they are betrothed are some of the best in the series so far. So much longing and unspoken attraction!

Sweetest Jamie Moment, Part I

Jamie’s insistence that he and Claire have a proper wedding was so true to his character: he is a man of honor, tradition, and commitment– if he has to marry Claire, he’s going to do it right (episode 1.7, “The Wedding”). But his gift of his mother’s jewelry to his new bride and the fact that the wedding ring was made from the key to Lallybroch, Jamie’s ancestral home, make his gestures all the sweeter. You can’t get more traditional than that, and we love him for his thoughtfulness.

Sweetest Jamie Moment, Part II

In episode 1.5 (“Rent”… but not like the bohemian rock-musical), Claire is forced to travel the Mackenzie lands with Dougal and his band of only-sometimes-merry men as they collect rent from tenants. As the large party spends a night in a sketchy inn, Claire at least gets to sleep in her own room, but hears a strange noise outside… and she opens the door to find Jamie sleeping on the floor. He explains that he did not trust all the men carousing in the tavern below– and he felt he should sleep outside her door to protect her and prevent dangerous drunks from wandering into her room, looking for a little non-consensual action. Though Claire offered to let him sleep in her room, he respectfully refused, claiming he didn’t want to ruin her honor. Jamie, you are too perfect!

What “best moments” will season 2 bring? We can’t wait to find out!

Photo Credit: Starz