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Outlander

Outlander is finally back! Outlander Season 3 premiered last night with an all-new episode called “The Battle Joined,” a heart-wrenching episode that took us from the brutality of the Battle of Culloden to the snooty drawing rooms of the Boston Brahmin. (Yes, I know they probably technically live and work in Cambridge, but “Boston Brahmin” is a great way to describe the people side-eyeing Claire.)

Now, I could go over last night’s episode in meticulous detail, but why do that when I really just want to gush about the best parts of Outlander, Season 3, Episode 1 “The Battle Joined?” You’re an Outlander fan! You’ve seen the episode! You don’t need me to recount it blow-for-blow. So this season, we’re doing something a little bit different over here at Decider. Instead of recapping every episode (as I’ve done in various permutations for the last three years), I’m going to list my five favorite parts. That means, yes, there will be spoilers. There may also be jokes. There will certainly be swooning. Most of all, there will be what the kids call “fangirling.”

So here are my five favorite things about last night’s episode of Outlander, “The Battle Joined.” (Feel free to share one of your favorite things about the episode in the comments.)

I LOVED The Way The Battle of Culloden Was Shot

I’m an out and proud military history nerd, so I was super curious how Outlander would tackle one of the most devastating conflicts in 18th century European history: the Battle of Culloden. (Also, I was curious because they kept hyping the battle all last season and I hate-hate-hate when shows let battles happen offscreen to save money.) In the end, I loved the approach Outlander took.

You see, instead of trying to make it a massive set piece with long, neat rows of soldiers colliding into one another, we see it in a frenetic series of cuts and flashbacks…all through the eyes of Jamie. This approach not only effectively shows us the physical and emotional toll of battle, it’s the perfect approach for Outlander. Game of Thrones is a show about scope, so it follows that the battles it gave us this past season were visual wonders. Outlander is a show about the invincible love between Jamie and Claire, so a battle on Outlander should be about the emotional journey those characters go through.

So, yeah, the nerd in me loved the battle scenes.

I LOVED When Claire Came To Jamie All Like The Angel of Life

I know this is like a super swoony thing for me to love — but damn it, this is Outlander, people! This show is a non-stop invitation to have the vapors! (The good romantic vapors, not farting. Wait, is having the vapors just farting? My mom thinks it is. What if this whole time women have been swooning in historical dramas, they’ve actually just had a bad bout of gas? ANYWAY.)

So, yeah, I liked the part where Jamie hallucinates and sees Claire coming to him. She is dressed all in white, like an ethereal goddess. She’s almost like Jamie’s ideal of the Angel of Death, but in this case, she acts more like the Angel of Life. She is the thing tethering him to his reality. I loved it because I love romance. I love swooning. I loved this.

I LOVED Claire's House In Boston

Fun fact about me: I don’t just love period dramas and military history, I also really love HGTV. It’s true. I love me a good house hunting show. I particularly love older houses and I am a sucker for craftsman details like built-ins.

So when I saw the house that Frank and Claire had settled on in Boston*, I was in love! All those shelves! All that wood work! The quirky kitchen! The big fire place! Seriously, if anyone knows a good realtor, I would like a house just like that — in like 5-10 years after I’ve amassed enough in savings for a down payment.

*Okay, is it officially Boston or Cambridge, folks? Outlander fans, tell me! I know the show is saying it’s Boston, but I feel like they must be in Cambridge!

I LOVED How This Episode Proved That Claire (Have To) Will Fist Punch Misogyny in Any Time

If you thought Claire’s life would be easier in the 1940s than in the 1740s, well, you’d be…uh, mostly right. I mean, no one’s actively trying to kill her and it seems her biggest problems are marital ones. However, she still has to contend with the gross injustice of misogyny.

It may sound weird, but I kind of loved all the moments in the episode where Claire chafed against the system. Whether she was predicting that Truman would defeat Dewey or cursing at her imperious doctor, Claire was still Claire. We’re used to seeing her stuck in the 18th century, where naturally she’s a woman ahead of her time, but these scenes proved that Claire is ahead of her time in, well, any time. She is the most modern of modern women and a truly defiant heroine — which is a huge part of why we love her so much.

I LOVED The Dramatic Reveal That No Good Deed Of Jamie Ever Goes Unpunished

I love it when a plot comes together even more than I love it when a plan comes together. So when Jamie found himself spared from death because of that one time in Season Two when he and Claire manipulated that teenaged British officer as a part of a ploy and Jamie let the kid go because Jamie’s a softy like that, it all made so much sense! (Well, it made sense because I saw watched the previews and knew they were going to revisit that adventure in some capacity.)

I jest, but it was satisfying to see how a simple choice in the past could have huge ramifications on the future. In this case, Jamie is saved from death — and returned to Lallybroch – because he did a decent thing once. Ironically, Jamie is at such a low point that he wishes he could be dead. No matter what sweet, dear Jamie does, he will eventually go through some sort of suffering for it. It’s the type of suffering, though, that we can infer will lead to happiness (because he’s alive now so maybe he can eventually reunite with Claire).

I’m just so relieved that Jamie’s alive, you guys. (But poor Rupert!)

Where to Stream Outlander