Outlander Season 7 Episode 11, “A Hundredweight of Stones,” is the best episode of Season 7B thus far. It boasts electrifying, gut-wrenching performances from Caitríona Balfe and David Berry. Seriously, this outing should be their Emmy submissions. Along with the big, bold, beautiful emotions in this episode, we get a marriage, a bedding, a love confession, a kiss, a paternal reveal, a Rob Cameron reappearance and a surprising return from the presumed dead. Not to mention, Claire almost gets roped into doing more spy work for the rebel cause.
Those last 10 minutes are action-packed, too, proving that when Outlander fires on all cylinders, it fires on all cylinders.
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Outlander, “A Hundredweight of Stones”
We open with Claire (Balfe) marrying Lord John Grey (Berry), with William (Charles Vandervaart) and Mrs. Figg (Sutara Gayle) as witnesses. Claire looks despondent, almost catatonic. She struggles to get through the vows. Ugh, my heart breaks for her. John slips the wedding band on Claire’s finger next to Jamie’s ring. Afterward, Claire trudges upstairs and lays on her bed.
Meanwhile, Ian (John Bell) says a prayer in Gaelic for his Uncle Jamie while Rachel (Izzy Meikle-Small) and Rollo watch on. They talk about the existence of Heaven and whether Quakers believe in it. The conversation pivots to Ian’s father and his knowledge of Rachel. Ian insists that his dad would’ve loved Rachel.
1739 and 1980
Elsewhere, in 1739 Scotland, Roger (Richard Rankin) and Buck (Diarmaid Murtagh) ride through the countryside, following Dougal’s intel. Roger tells Buck about his father. He was a pilot in the RAF. One day, he simply vanished — his body and his plane were never found. What if Roger’s dad wound up here in 1739? Roger believes there’s a reason they arrived in the wrong time. Perhaps Roger’s father and Jemmy are connected.
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Next, we visit Lallybroch in 1980. Brianna (Sophie Skelton) sits while her daughter Mandy (Rosa Morris) sleeps. She heads into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of wine. While putting a fork in the silverware drawer, Bree slams her finger. She sobs.
Then, Ian lays it all out on the table. He’s been married before. He tells Rachel about Emily and how she’s still alive. Naturally, this confuses Rachel. She assumed he was a widow. Ian asks Rachel if she wants to know if his wife is truly still alive or if he loved her. Rachel urges Ian to disclose it all. Don’t spare the details.
Doing His Duty
Later, William chats with John, who, like Claire, isn’t doing so hot. William wonders if marrying Claire was the right move. He admits he greatly admires and respects her as a physician. John explains that Jamie was a dear friend of his. He felt it behooved him to take care of Claire in honor of Jamie.
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Meanwhile, Ian divulges the death of his daughter and Emily’s miscarriage. This led to Ian getting the boot. Later, he learned he had a son, but said son wasn’t his to raise. Regardless, Emily’s new husband is a great man. Ian reveals he chooses Rachel with his whole soul. Rachel admits she loves him, too. They share their first kiss. Aw.
That evening, Claire grieves her immense loss. She opens her apothecary travel case and reaches for a blade. Claire puts the blade to her forearm, intending to cut herself. However, she’s inundated with various Jamie lines from over the seasons, one of which discourages her from taking her life. Claire casts the blade aside in favor of alcohol. Meanwhile, John drinks wine downstairs. Hearing Claire’s screams, John ventures upstairs to console her. Well, he also doesn’t want to be alone in his grief.
Grief-Stricken Together
Then, we see shots of Claire fighting off John. Her anger is palpable. The following morning, both awake in bed sans clothes. Yes, they had sex. John admits it’s been 15 years since he’s laid with a woman. He tells Claire about Manoke, the Indigenous scout who’s his lover. John’s had casual relationships since his wife’s passing. The pair also discuss the time that Jamie offered his body to John, but John rejected him.
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John tells Claire about a silver deer he sometimes sees, using it as a metaphor. He cannot own another human or creature. When Claire asks how they move forward, John urges her to think of the deer.
Next, Roger and Buck chat with a man hawking his wares. Said man encountered another fella with “charms.” Roger purchases a gemstone necklace in exchange for information. The man points in the direction the “charms” dude went. Could this be Roger’s father?
Rob Cameron Returns
In 1980, Bree puts a bandage on her smashed finger and proceeds to drink wine. However, Rob Cameron (Chris Fulton) interrupts her drinking. He reveals that Jemmy is in the present time, not in 18th-century Scotland. That said, Bree can’t see her son until they fulfill Rob’s wishes. Rob puts a blade to Bree’s throat.
Jemmy couldn’t lead Rob to the Spanish gold, but maybe Bree could. So, he proposes they hop on a plane to America and search for it. As for taking Jemmy to the stones, it was a ploy to distract Roger. Bree seems to go along with Rob’s plan. He orders her to pour him a glass of wine. Bree utilizes the moment to smack Rob in the head, knocking him unconscious.
Later, Ian reunites with Claire. He reveals he plans to head to Valley Forge with Rachel so she can see Denzell. Ian assumes that, with Jamie dead, Claire plans to return to her timeline with Bree, Roger and the grandkids. However, Claire reassures him that her place is here. She and Jamie had a dream of shaping America, and she will see it through. Ian admits he misses Jamie dearly. He always thought of Jamie as a father figure. Claire embraces him.
Mercy and Henry
Then, Claire and John ride to Mercy’s (Gloria Obianyo) house to check on Henry. As John helps Claire into the carriage, he notices she’s not wearing her wedding ring (well, she has on Jamie‘s band). There, Claire checks on Henry (Harry Jarvis), whose recovery is quite remarkable. John reveals he’ll write to his brother, Henry’s father, to report on Henry’s progress. Claire compliments Mercy on her natural gift for healing.
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After this, Henry informs his uncle he won’t return to England. He wishes to stay with Mercy. They plan to get married. John forbids this, citing Henry has a duty to his title and family. On the carriage ride home, Claire remarks that she never took John for a bigot. John insists it has nothing to do with Mercy’s skin color.
Rather, he understands what it’s like to have an unconventional love that society will scorn. He claims he wants to save Mercy and Henry from that. Plus, Henry marrying a widowed rebel won’t look well. Claire reminds John that he married a widowed rebel. At home, John gifts Claire with a dress he had made for her. John’s throwing a party that evening to benefit the loyalists. Naturally, this goes against everything for which Claire stands.
A Clue and a Party
Initially, she objects to this. John insists they must keep up appearances. After all, she was about to be hanged for treason. Elsewhere (and in another time), Roger and Buck encounter a man with Roger’s father’s RAF jacket. Roger asks the man where he got it. The man brandishes a weapon, with two men backing him up as reinforcements. He orders Roger and Buck to leave. Buck and Roger set up camp that night, refusing to give up in their search for Jemmy and Roger’s dad.
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Next, John welcomes guests into his home. Captain Richardson (Ben Lambert) greets John, wondering where Claire is. John reveals that Claire won’t be joining them. Well, that is until she descends the staircase in the dress John gave her. She stands beside him and chats with the party attendees. After this, Claire chats with William, who’s trying to fend off a young lady. Claire tells William that, sometimes, a dance can lift the spirits.
Then, Richardson asks Claire to dance with him. While they dance, he reveals that he’s secretly a rebel, like her. He shares that the letters she delivered were incredibly crucial to the cause. Oh, and the treason thing? He made it up. He hoped John would wed Claire. Now, Richardson wants Claire to spy on John and report to the rebels. While Claire respects that they’re on the same side, she refuses to betray her new husband.
My Blood
Later, Claire sits by the fireplace while John rattles off a list of various parties and gatherings to which they’ve been invited. He urges Claire to attend at least one. Suddenly, Jamie (Sam Heughan) barges into the room. Naturally, Claire and John are bewildered and overjoyed. Claire kisses her blood. John asks how Jamie is alive. Jamie reveals that while his luggage was on the ship that sank, he was not. He took the next ship instead.
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Unfortunately, a handful of redcoats are on his tail, so they need to boogie on out of there. John mentions that Jamie’s son is there. William overhears this. When they open the doors, William confronts Jamie and John. Jamie confirms William’s a “stinkin’ papist” and his son. William’s angry that John withheld this information from him.
However, the men’s time hashing this out is cut short as the aforementioned handful of redcoats barrel up the stairs, gunning for Jamie. Jamie threatens to shoot John, aiming his weapon at the latter. He pushes John out of there as the redcoats pursue them. Claire smiles, realizing she missed the chaos as much as the man attached to it.
Will she tell Jamie about marrying his bestie and sleeping with him in her intoxicated grief?
Outlander streams new episodes on Fridays at midnight EST on the STARZ app and at 8 pm on STARZ.
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What I do: I'm GGA's Managing Editor, a Senior Contributor, and Press Coordinator. I manage, contribute, and coordinate. Sometimes all at once. Joking aside, I oversee day-to-day operations for GGA, write, edit, and assess interview opportunities/press events.
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