Views of the lush Scottish Highlands. A close-up of two lovers’ hands reaching for each other. A lingering shot of the stones at Craigh na Dun. These are just some of the options available to be the opening image of an Outlander prequel series. But what does Outlander: Blood of My Blood choose instead? A nice, long look at a dead body being scrubbed down. Then, when we pan out, a woman is weeping next to it. And you know what? That feels exactly right. Because if there is one thing that those of us who have been traversing around the Outlander-verse for the past decade (or longer if you started with Diana Gabaldon’s book series in the 1990s) know, it’s that there will be trauma. Yes, of course, there will be romance and kilts and steamy sex scenes in unhygienic locations, but you are definitely not making it out of this situation without getting traumatized first. Welcome to 1714.
We gather together here for the story of our beloved Jamie and Claire’s parents. Now, if you haven’t been paying attention to all the publicity surrounding Blood of My Blood, by this point you may be like … I’m sorry but Claire’s parents are from the 20th century, and if I recall correctly, they died in a car accident when Claire was a little kid. How could they possibly be involved in 1714 shenanigans? To which I would say, Shut up, nerd. And also, surprise! What Blood of My Blood reveals is that Claire’s parents did not die in that car accident and instead fell through the stones and landed in 1714, exactly around the time Jamie’s parents were having their meet-cute. It should probably be noted at this point that nothing about Claire’s parents, as they relate to time travel or what happens to them once they’re in 1714, comes from the novels; for all intents and purposes, Henry and Julia Beauchamp are original characters to the TV series. I suppose I can also remind you that the Outlander TV series and the Outlander novels have some significant differences, which could surely affect this prequel series. Still, here we’re following the TV-series canon because TV rules and books drool. Everybody clear?
Now, when it comes to Jamie’s parents, Brian and Ellen, we’re starting this journey with much more information. There is a lot of lore about Brian Fraser and Ellen MacKenzie and their great, big love story, as well as other important moments from MacKenzie clan history, that’s mentioned in the main series. In fact, we’ve already met Brian Fraser twice. In the most recent Outlander season, both Roger and Bree meet Brian in 1739, where he is taken aback by how much Bree, whom he does not know is his granddaughter, looks like his beloved late wife, Ellen. The man is wracked with grief, and he did bring us all to tears over it. Outlander viewers also met Brian during a flashback in season one, when we see Brian die of a heart attack at Fort William while watching Jamie’s skin flayed and blood pour out of his back like someone turned on a faucet. All of which is to say, we are all acutely aware that what awaits Brian and Ellen in the future isn’t some sweet little happy ending. It is pain. It is anguish. It is watching their son’s skin just waving in the wind. (This scene haunts me, can you tell?) One of the biggest obstacles Blood of My Blood is facing — what any prequel faces — is that we know more or less the fates of a lot of these characters we’re following. We’ve seen what befalls Colum and Dougal, we know how Murtagh’s story ends, and we even know that when the Battle of Culloden rolls around in 1746, this lively, complex clan way of life and many of the people in it will be decimated. It’s hard not to let this cast a pall of sadness over the proceedings.
Thankfully, this premiere episode gives the impression that, even though we, the audience, know a lot about the future, it doesn’t make what’s happening in Blood of My Blood’s present any less exciting. The dead body in the opening shot belongs to Jacob MacKenzie, or Red Jacob (or Seumas Ruadh, if you’re fancy), the laird of the MacKenzie clan and father to Ellen, Colum, Dougal, Jocasta, and Janet. Because Jacob never got around to naming a successor, everyone’s in a real tizzy over who is going to take control of the clan.
Everyone knows Ellen was Jacob’s favorite, and she’s also the most suited to lead, but she’s not a man, so she’s out. Colum is smart and cunning and super into birds, but multiple accidents have left his legs crippled (Claire diagnoses him with Toulouse-Lautrec syndrome when she meets him in 1743), and everyone likes to say things like “you can’t even walk right!,” which has really got to grate on the guy. Dougal is basically just a slutty dumb jock with a penchant for violence, and no one wants a hothead for a leader. But if the MacKenzies don’t get behind one of the brothers as their pick for laird, they could split the clan vote, and some random, power-hungry guy named MacKinney could swoop in and steal the vote at the upcoming Gathering. It’s really like Succession: 1714 up in here. Jacob is Logan Roy because he is the former leader, but also because he kind of hates all of his kids. Ellen is Shiv. Colum is Kendall (he does get so close to yelling out, “I am the eldest boy!”). Dougal is Roman. And lawyer and Jacob’s No. 1 fan, Ned Gowan, is Connor. Jocasta is probably Gerri. I’ll keep thinking about that.
Much like Succession, everyone is real sad when Jacob dies, but the moment they bury that guy, the manipulation and jockeying for power begin. The whole of clan MacKenzie descends upon Castle Leoch to pay their respects and also attend the Gathering, in which there are games and feasts and boar hunts and, most important, the oath-taking, in which the new laird will be chosen and everyone will pledge their fealty to him. Ellen is having a tough time of it. She loved her father dearly and feels lost without him. We get several flashbacks throughout the episode of the two spending time together, in which Jacob tells her things like how he named her Ellen because it means “torch” and he knew she would always light his way, that he would never make her marry solely to help the clan, and that he wishes she had cock. You know, real sweet father-daughter moments.
Jacob valued Ellen’s opinion, worked out clan matters with her, and promised her protection from a lot of things that women had to deal with back in 1714. The moment he dies, all of that is gone. Neither Colum nor Dougal respects her, and Colum, who starts acting as laird even though he hasn’t been chosen yet, immediately starts to view Ellen as a chess piece to use as they try to firm up some of clan MacKenzie’s vulnerabilities. Red Jacob was apparently terrible with money and has left his family on the verge of bankruptcy. They have an ongoing feud with the Frasers, and they are well aware that the Grants, one of the wealthiest clans, would love a reason to get the MacKenzies “under their thumb.”
While the two brothers neg each other about who has functioning legs and who has a functioning brain and which one of those the clan is going to prefer, Ellen is left to fend off a whole host of suitors. The most interesting of these suitors is Malcolm Grant. Yes, of the aforementioned Very Rich Grants. Malcolm appears to have a genuine crush on Ellen and honestly seems like a nice guy as far as clan dudes go. And all parties around Ellen and Malcolm are certainly intrigued by what an alliance between their two families could mean. Well, everyone except for Dougal, who says, “Hell will come to Leoch before I ally with the Grants,” because he is the biggest drama queen in this place, and I am obsessed with him. Ellen could not be less interested in Malcolm Grant, though, and that is because she has laid her big blue eyes on Brian Fraser.
Brian is the bastard son of Simon Fraser, or Lord Lovat of Castle Leathers. He was a real piece of shit when we met him in Outlander season two, and he’s a real piece of shit now. Here in 1714, he’s been stripped of his titles, most of his land was taken away, and he blames it all on the MacKenzies. He treats his son and everyone under his roof horribly. It is a wonder Brian has turned out to be the sweetest, most thoughtful, strapping young lad in all of Scotland. I’d say it’s thanks to his mother, a Castle Leathers maid named Davina, but she kind of sucks, too. Brian is an anomaly, and we want the best for him. When his best friend and cousin, Murtagh (!!), wants him to come to the MacKenzie Gathering with him because he needs a wingman as he makes his play for Ellen MacKenzie, Brian declines because he would “prefer to keep [his] head attached to [his] neck,” you’re kind of like, yes, this is smart, do not go there please, even though it is inevitable. Once Simon commands Brian to go with Murtagh to spy on his enemies, Brian has no choice.
It’s not long once the cousins arrive at Castle Leoch that some of the other men get suspicious as to who Brian is and begin harassing him. He ducks into a little barn for cover and suddenly hears a lovely voice tease him about sleeping with the horses. It is Ellen, hiding from a long line of suitors. The two flirt through the stalls, unable to fully see the other. When they finally come out of their corners to see who they’ve been talking to and come face-to-face, oh, baby, it is on. There is a spark. It is instant. This is love at first sight. When they finally get a hold of themselves, they agree to meet the next day at a bridge at the edge of the property. I already know I will cherish these two little sweeties forever, and also that they are going to cause me irreparable pain and suffering. Outlander!
In order for Ellen to get out of the tynchal (the ceremonial boar hunt) the next day, she has to sneak off when no one is paying attention. Unfortunately, Malcolm Grant is paying attention. She is kind to him as he walks her back to Leoch, but she takes off the moment she’s by herself in the castle — and Malcolm spots her from afar and realizes she’s just not that into him. Most Highlander men would probably cause a reputation-ruining scene, but Malcolm, dejected, simply gets his men together to leave. Malcolm has no shot.
Ellen rides out to the moss-covered bridge, gorgeous of course, and finds her mystery barn man waiting for her. She plays coy about no chaperones, and he tells her the bridge can be their chaperone and they can each stay on either side of it. But friends, they cannot stay on either side of it. They are drawn to each other without even knowing it. Even after they learn each other’s names and realize being together might be a lost cause, because neither of their families will allow it. Still, they walk closer. He has to hold her hand. He has to tell her that since meeting her, his every thought is haunted by her. Admittedly, he is coming in kind of hot, but Brian can pull it off. “Where do we go from here?” Ellen wonders.
Well, it’s going to be complicated. When Ellen doesn’t show up for dinner, her maid, Mrs. Fitzgibbons (!!), begrudgingly tells Colum and Dougal that there’s a rumor she’s been spotted with Malcolm Grant. Dougal will not stand for it. He will avenge the reputation of his sister! And instead of talking his brother out of making a rash decision that could have major clan implications, Colum lets Dougal go after Malcolm — he wants Dougal to cause a problem that Colum will then be able to solve for everyone. It’s very lairdlike. And that’s exactly what happens: Dougal and his men attack Malcolm and his group until finally they realize Ellen isn’t there, nor was she ever. Dougal has made a Julia Roberts–level mistake, huge. And he falls right into Colum’s trap. Unfortunately, that means so has Ellen. When she returns to yell at her brothers for being absolute ding-dongs, they remind her of her place. And once she leaves, Colum unveils his plan to solve the Grant problem and earn respect as laird: He’s going to offer up Ellen as a wife to Malcolm and she will have no choice in the matter.
The fallout from that decision will have to wait, however, because the end of the episode cuts to Julia and Henry Beauchamp having sex on a hillside — a hobby they seemingly passed on to their daughter! — on holiday in post–World War I Scotland. They drive through the winding roads of Inverness, talking about their beloved daughter, Claire, and — surprise! — their second baby on the way, until a deer walks onto the road and they crash into the nearby river trying to avoid it. But instead of dying in that crash, Henry and Julia are swept up in the water and make it out alive. They walk for hours in an attempt to get home until Julia runs ahead to get a better view of where they are. There is a scream and Henry follows her, only to find a hill of standing stones, lots of buzzing noise, and no Julia. Her “I’ll be back before you know it” feels like an empty promise.
Clan Business
• If you were paying attention, you probably noticed both Julia and Henry in 1714 before the end of the episode: Julia is working as a maid at Castle Leathers, where Brian is doing his best to keep his dad’s paws off of her. Henry is the bladier — spokesperson, negotiator, etc. — for the Grants.
• Admittedly, after all the talk in Outlander about Murtagh’s deep love for Ellen, I assumed he would have, like, talked to her even once? He barely gets near her! We do get to see part of the infamous boar hunt in which Murtagh kills the boar and keeps its tusks — tusks that he will eventually make into bracelets for Ellen.
• Gah! I know Jocasta and Murtagh won’t get together until [checks timeline] the 1770s (some of this timeline is a little iffy, right?), but she already has a thing for him, regardless of the fact that she’s married. And his “I’ve never met a MacKenzie who dwelled in any shadow” is not helping the matter. I squealed.
• How about that nifty shieldwork Dougal displays while stopping raiders on MacKenzie territory before cutting off that guy’s two fingers? Dougal is a brute, but he’s our brute.
• A tiny Rupert and Angus sighting! Already best friends forever.
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