- It certainly was an important episode because it clarified WHY people were acting the way they were: the Scots hating the British for good reason, and the British hating the Scots as well. I thought Brigadier General Lord Thomas was great. He was funny and charming to Claire, but horribly insulting to Dougal at the same time. It was important to get a glimpse of where all of this hatred came from and what it was leading to.
- This episode showed us just how sadistic and evil Black Jack was, and how insanely cruel he was to poor Jamie. In his mind, the flogging was beautiful! I did watch the flogging scene peaking behind a pillow. It was harder to watch than read. And even though I had read the punching scene in the book beforehand, I wasn't at all prepared for how emotionally disturbing it would be either. I didn't really breathe again until Claire and Dougal were finally riding away together.
- Then they stopped for water at St. Ninnian's Spring, and Dougal asked Claire point blank if she was an English spy, and she denied it. He finally believed Claire was telling the truth and told her his plan for keeping her out of Randall's hands. That was pivotal. I don't think her marrying Jamie would make any sense without this episode showing just how dire the situation was.
- As much as I hated the flogging, I loved the ending, where Claire and Jamie were sitting in the grass talking about getting married. She couldn't understand why Jamie would agree to it. He liked her, and knew how evil Black Jack was, and he wanted to protect her. He didn't feel like he had anything to offer a wife, but protecting her this way was something he could do. Of course, there was more to it than that, but it made sense that he held his true feelings back for awhile. Still, it was enough of a reason that she could accept and for that she felt she owed him a debt. Then she asked him, "Don't you mind that I'm not a virgin?" and he responded, "Well, no, so long as it doesna bother you that I am. Recon one of us should know what they're doing". I got just as much of a kick out of that as when I read it the first time in the book. Everything in this episode really set the stage for their wedding!
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