‘Outlander’: Ranking 10 of the Best Episodes So Far
Outlander has had quite its share of fantastic episodes over the years with several dozen installments to pick and choose from.
While fans have their personal favorites, we’re rounding up 10 of the top-rated episodes (per IMDb user ratings) and ranking them in order from good to great. Narrowing down the field is difficult though and we’re looking for readers to weigh in on their favorites with our poll, below.
What’s your favorite installment from the Starz series? Let us know what you think of the roundup exploring different chapters from Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie’s (Sam Heughan) epic time-traversing love story.
Outlander, Season 6, Early 2022, Starz
10. "Journeycake" (Season 5, Episode 11)
The penultimate episode of Season 5 included an emotional rollercoaster as Roger (Richard Rankin) and Brianna (Sophie Skelton) considered traveling back to their own time with son Jemmy after learning he’s capable. But with tensions flaring among the colonies as the revolution looms, everyone is torn on what to do. It’s an episode that sets up where the show could go moving forward and also sets in motion a problematic dynamic between the Frasers and the Browns.
9. "Freedom & Whisky" (Season 3, Episode 5)
Along with exploring the years Claire spent raising Brianna and the dynamic with estranged husband Frank (Tobias Menzies), this episode gears up for her return to the past. Before she goes in search of Jamie though, Claire has to do one of the hardest things she’s ever faced… bidding Bree farewell possibly forever.
8. "The Ballad of Roger Mac" (Season 5, Episode 7)
The American revolution raises its head at Alamance where Jamie’s forced to side with the Red Coats against the Regulators, revolutionaries lead by his godfather Murtagh (Duncan Lacroix), in other words, it’s a tearjerker.
7. "The Birds and the Bees" (Season 4, Episode 9)
The emotional weight of this episode puts it in a class of its own as Brianna reunites with her mother and meets her biological father Jamie for the first time ever. Following a horrific rape at the hands of Stephen Bonnet (Ed Speleers), Brianna’s terror ebbs ever so slightly in the presence of her family. While not all is resolved, her father-daughter moments with Jamie are key in the building of their bond.
6. "A. Malcolm" (Season 3, Episode 6)
Who could forget Jamie and Claire’s steamy reunion after 20 years apart? After parting on the battlefield at Culloden, Claire travels back in time to find her true love who is now running a printing press under the name A. Malcolm, a nod to two of his many monikers. While the episode features plenty of Outlander‘s signature sexy moments, Claire and Jamie’s conversations also reveal that not much changes when it comes to being with the one you love.
5. "Of Lost Things" (Season 3, Episode 4)
While Claire continues her search in the 1960s to learn more about her husband’s past after she left Scotland, Jamie experiences heartbreak at Helwater. Placed on a work assignment there, he’s forced to engage in a one-night stand with the Dunsany family’s daughter. The night results in the conception of his son Willie who he painfully can’t claim as his own in fear of putting the boy in harm. Once the child grows older, his resemblance to Jamie forces him to leave Willie in the care of close pal Lord John Grey (David Berry).
4. "The Devil's Mark" (Season 1, Episode 11)
After barely escaping a witch trial with her life, Claire and Jamie have a memorable heart-to-heart discussion about the traits that make her otherworldly in the eyes of 18th-century individuals. Coming clean about her reality, Claire tells Jamie the truth about traveling through time at the standing stones of Craigh Na Dun. Giving her the option to return to her own time, Jamie’s joy upon learning that Claire would prefer to stay with him is almost infectious.
3. "Faith" (Season 2, Episode 7)
Arguably one of the most painful episodes from the entire series, Claire miscarries her and Jamie’s first child. Their daughter is named Faith after her stillbirth which was brought on after Claire had stumbled upon a duel between Jamie and his nemesis Black Jack Randall (Menzies). Imprisoned in France for the illegal activity, Claire goes to extreme lengths to free Jamie while also being angry at him. Their emotional rollercoaster stays long with you after the credits roll.
2. "The Wedding" (Season 1, Episode 7)
A fan favorite for sure, this episode sees the arranged marriage between Jamie and Claire take place and as the ceremony plays interspersed between scenes from their first night together, viewers really get to see the couple learn more about each other. Not much else needs to be explained, it’s an essential episode for any viewer!
1. "Dragonfly in Amber" (Season 2, Episode 13)
The Season 2 finale installment brings in Claire and Jamie’s daughter Brianna into the mix for the first time and introduces Roger when the mother and daughter travel to Scotland for a funeral. Half set in the past as well as in the 1960s, we see Claire and Jamie’s tearful goodbye to one another before the Battle of Culloden really heats up. Meanwhile, in the ’60s, Claire visits several spots she once frequented in her time with Jamie and drops the bombshell that Frank isn’t Bree’s real dad.
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