The Outlander franchise has become known for its push and pull when it comes to its central romances, and that’s on full display during Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 Episode 1.
Instead of any time passing, we’re right back in at the deep end, and honestly, it’s good to be back in the Outlander universe.
Since Henry and Julia were plunged hundreds of years into the past, they’ve endured horrors trying to reunite.
So it was heartbreaking to watch their plight at the stones as they tried to escape back to their own time and reunite with their daughter, Claire, ahead of her birthday.
I can’t even begin to imagine the torment Julia must be feeling as she’s forced to say goodbye to her husband yet again and return to Castle Leathers.
Her escape has been intercepted, her husband is back in their time period and possibly bleeding to death, and she’s now trapped in the 1700s with their son. That’s an unimaginable amount of pain for one person to carry.
Maybe the only solace she can take is that if Henry survives, he’ll reunite with Claire and find a way to bring the family back together. Then again, Outlander doesn’t indicate anything like this happened.
Lord Lovat is a despicable man, and you could see the revulsion on Julia’s face when she realized she had to return to Castle Leathers and continue this ruse that she’s in love with him.
The only good thing is that she has Davina on her side this time.
Davina was skeptical of Julia throughout Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1, but now she’s completely in her corner and believes everything Julia has told her about where she came from.
Julia knows she’s trapped here for even longer than she initially thought, so her decision to arrange a meeting with the Seer and try to get some clarity makes perfect sense.
Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 Puts Characters in Desperate Situations
She’ll do whatever it takes to reassemble her family, but she knows she faces tremendous uncertainty with someone like Lord Lovat forcing her to do whatever he pleases.
The Jacobite rising was teased during Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 Episode 10, and now that Lord Lovat knows he has to round up men for the call to war, hopefully he’ll be too preoccupied to interfere with Julia’s plans.
The biggest hurdle she faces is that Lovat will have a much fiercer security detail than before, meaning she’ll have to find ways to manipulate situations and people to get what she wants.
The way Julia waltzed back into Castle Leathers, acted as if she’d been taken, and somehow managed to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes deserves to be studied.
She’s as smart and cunning as the Claire we met on the original Outlander.
As for Henry, Jeremy Irvine is, once again, getting material that pushes him to his limits as an actor. I mean that as a compliment.
The raw emotion has been building through Henry’s arc since Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 Episode 1.
Henry is constantly being pulled back to his time in the army, and he’s desperately trying to shed any ties to it because it’s simply too painful.
Seeing him forced to relive that trauma at the Inverness Lunatic Asylum was difficult to watch.
The doctor desperately wanted to take him back to the most horrifying part of his life through electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), and you could see the procedure beginning to warp the good memories he had of his wife and daughter.
I don’t see how he’ll bounce back quickly, even if his family is reunited soon.
The only good thing is that Mrs. Graham has learned of his existence and knows other people have gone missing and returned, so if anyone can help, it’s her.
I’m unsure where Henry’s storyline is going in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2, but it seems to be about bridging the gap between the timelines and setting up storylines that have already played out on the mothership.
Then there’s Ellen and Brian. Their reunion was, as expected, very short-lived.
As I said, this universe loves throwing obstacles in the way of its love stories, and I don’t think there was a bigger one than the Jacobite rising, which signaled that they would need to part ways again.
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Ellen knew the only way forward was for Brian and Murtagh to flee before the soldiers arrived and killed them.
If she kept running, it would only lead to more bloodshed.
It’s painfully obvious that her goodbye with Brian could have been a goodbye forever, given what was waiting for her back at Castle Leoch.
Malcolm’s death undoubtedly left everything up in the air because how exactly were the Mackenzies supposed to explain what happened to him?
Ellen understandably fled because she knew she was being forced into a marriage she didn’t want, but now that she’s back, she has to face the consequences.
Colum and Dougal thought they could do whatever they wanted to secure their future, even if it meant forcing their sister into an arranged marriage.
It was karma that Dougal was the one forced to marry Maura, but I have a feeling Maura sticking around is going to create a lot of problems.
Maura is hurt about her brother’s death and the lack of respect shown in its aftermath. How is she supposed to live among these people while knowing they could have conspired together?
Maura’s arc will be driven by vengeance in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2, and I hope there’s a reality in which she eventually realizes that she has this all wrong.
All things considered, Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 Episode 1 is a solid premiere. It sets up the conflict to come in a way that’s natural, and I cannot wait to see what’s in store.
What are your thoughts on the couples being split up again and where the individual storylines are headed?
Let’s keep the conversation going — it’s the only way the good stuff survives.
Say something in the comments, share if you’re moved to, and keep reading. Independent voices need readers like you.
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