User Reviews

It was always destined to end this way. From season 2 episode 1, when the conditions were made between Frank and Claire for their new life together, it was always going to end in disaster. It reminds of the scene in Paris when Claire takes the blame for Faith's death, telling Jaime that it was her fault, because she asked the impossible of Jaime. In many ways, Frank and Claire's relationship faltered for the same reason, Frank asked Claire to do the impossible, to leave the past behind. This was something that she was never able to do. It's a shame, because Frank was not a bad man. He was a good father, and tried his best to be a husband to Claire. But he could never reconcile the fact that she had loved another man, that she had this experience in the past that her changed her life for the better.

It's a testament to the value of the series that single exchange can make an episode, and what better exchange is there then when Frank tells Claire that when she looked on Brianna, she always saw Jaime and asks whether she ever could have forgotten him, with time. It is truly sad because Frank was her first love. She always had a connection with him, but it was impossible for her to forget Jaime. At the end of the day, she made an agreement with Frank to do something that it was impossible for her to do, fully put the past behind her. The tragic part about it is that Frank had nearly obtained the freedom he sought and nearly obtained the life he wanted to live. It's a testament to the writers that Frank was able to be portrayed in such a positive light. It would have been very easy to make a vengeful spurned husband, completely uncaring of Claire's feelings, but he never came across that way. You never once felt that he was unreasonable in his desire for Claire to leave the past behind. It was just something you never felt like Claire could really do.

With respect to Jaime's storyline, I think you begin to see a clear difference in his storyline compared to Claire's. Up to now, Claire has never forgotten Jaime, but she believes that he was killed at Culloden. Jaime knows that Claire went through the stones and that she alive in the future. You can see it in this episode, his excitement at hearing of the white witch, then his despondence when it turns out it wasn't Claire. There's just something so tragic about it because there is always the hope that Claire could potentially return, even if its unlikely. I don't think Claire has that same hope, at least not in this episode.

The one part of the episode that I do struggle with is Jaime's connection to Lord John. There is something stirring about it in the difference in how the two men view their "friendship." You really get the sense in this episode that Lord John views them as equals. He sees Jaime as an equal to him. Someone who is mourning the loss of the person he loved and whom he has a connection with on some emotional level. This is not a Black Jack Randall situation where you get the feeling that Lord John just wants to take Jaime's body. In contrast, you can see in Jaime's face when he's touched by John how the painful memories of his abuse by Randall come flooding back. Lord John doesn't seem to realize it, but to Jaime, this is another case of a more powerful redcoat trying to make some sexual advance towards him. That's why their friendship poses such a conflict. On the one hand they do have this connection from Grey's attempt on Jaime's life in the Rising, but on the other hand, their relationship forms in a prisoner-jailor relationship.

However, while there are some troubling questions with respect to Jaime's friendship with Grey, it's hard not to praise the episode especially with the treatment that is given to Frank and Claire's relationship. And, as a bonus, we get to see Murtagh return!

After watching the heartbreaking scene of Claire and Jamie's parting at the stones, the quietly devastating aftermath of the battle at Culloden, Jamie's desolate existence without Claire, and Claire's longing-filled life in the XXth century, I didn't think this show could tug any harder at my heartstrings.

All Debts Paid proved me wrong.

I know that depicting Claire and Frank's life together was essential to the story, and I truly appreciated Tobias Menzies' amazing acting skills in depicting Frank's tortured married life and giving him even more depth than originally constructed in the screenplay. However, the sorrow of watching Jamie's and Claire's separate lives that seemed to amount to bland existences steeped in longing, grieving and emotional numbness was almost unbearable.

I will not bore you with a review of this whole episode. Someone else has done it already and better than I could.

The point of my post is my wish to share this: There is a tiny scene in this episode that was to me particularly moving. Jamie talking to Murtagh and grabbing a bunch of milk thistle he picked, explaining how he plans to make medicine for him. As he smells the thistle his eyes gain a clouded, far away look and he says in a more quiet, resigned, almost strangled voice: "I learned the trick from... a lass... who knew a fair amount about healing...".

Just like the part where Jamie gifts Claire his mother's pearls on their wedding night, I found Sam Heughan's acting and the director's rendering of the scene particularly poignant and unforgettable.

**I seriously want to express that there are spoilers that may bother some readers**

Clever title for this episode, but I have to say I feel as though there are some debts still owed. I am familiar with the necessity for skipping some detail for the sake of moving along to get to the drama. It just seemed like some detail needs to be revisited if it wasn't left out intentionally.

We start out with Jaimie having been in prison for a number of years. We have no idea how life was for him. I am sure, though, we can imagine it was not easy for him or the others who survived Culloden. However, I am very puzzled how little we learn about Murtaugh who is in the same prison with Jaimie. It really feels like we are to accept that Murtaugh is just there and that is that. "There he is so don't worry about about his post-Culloden life". Suspiciously neglectful of those in charge of production I think. Characters like Murtaugh have meant a lot to me throughout the episodes, as did Rupert and Angus and Dougal. I hope there will be a correction of this lapse later in the season.

Characters seem now to be thrown at us too freely without sufficient color and texture. For example, Claire and Frank joke about Bree's adapting to American Eggos for breakfast and leave out Bree's reaction to Frank's delectable English style breakfast without Eggos. Such a reaction could have enhanced the beauty of the moment. On top of that, while we initially get a glimpse of lighthearted togetherness with Claire and Frank, we learn they are not the Claire and Frank we knew before time traveling and therefore never will be again. It would have been nice to see some drama building up to this point, but here, too, it's dropped on us regardless. I guess "life happens". This seems to me to be way too careless for Outlander.

The time that lapses from the beginning of the episode to the end concern me because if this continues we may end up seeing both reunite as two octogenarians with walkers.

While I noticed some filler-quality feebleness today, the great acting is definitely standing ovation worthy. Some drama seriously bumps the episode back into classic Outlander mode, especially from some characters we normally do not see.

I have to say I have not read any of the Outlander books so I may be out of the loop when it comes to the direction this series takes us. But I do know I love this series and I hope it continues in the style of season 1 and the first 2 episodes this year.

Despite the negatives, I sincerely think this episode deserves no less than an 8 out of 10

It never seemed in any way right for Claire never to love or show love for Frank. At least, morally, that is how I see it. Perhaps it is something a man cannot really understand. Frank deserved her love, and should not have had to go elsewhere looking for it. He wanted to divorce her because he found love. I think that is understandable. People do make choices that seem never to make sense to all of us. But I did love Frank. The character flaw was in Claire.

I had to write something. Simply put, I really hate Claire. And poor Frank.... Didn't get to live a full life because of his values. I felt it coming that something might happen, seeing previous épisodes. But the predictability is ok for me in this case.

She chose to stay with Frank and he was desperate for a child. She spent so much time thinking about Frank while she was with Jaime on their wedding night, worrying about cheating then all of a sudden she's pregnant and treating Frank like crap. I get her hesitation but Frank gave her everything and she was truly mean and cruel. She wouldn't even let him touch her arm? Like what? They were married first and she was devastated when she "lost" him the first time. Was it more that he looked like Jack and she couldn't get over that? Then they should have delved into ptsd a little or have her talk to him about that. I didn't like this episode. Claire was just so selfish and made me like her less.

Claire is selfish and we get her typical whining, displaying jealousy when she has no right to judge Frank. Then of course we have drunken Frank, played superbly by Tobias Menzies, who deserves an Emmy. Frank is sexy when he's drunk, just like my dad.

HUGE SPOILER COMING...

I gave this episode six stars for the momentary glimpse of Sarah MacRae, who plays Sandy/Candy - Frank's love interest. I'm hoping they can still explore her character now that Frank is dead. Perhaps she can also travel through the stones and she'll follow Claire back to Jamie's world and give Claire a run for her money! She's way prettier than Claire and it would be interesting to see Jamie's reaction to meeting a real 20th century beauty. Let's face it, of course Jamie thinks Claire looks good... compared to the unwashed, illiterate, toothless hillbilly shleppers he's used to. Just imagine, all he knows are smelly scullery wenches complaining about their open boils and farting while they work in the kitchen, filthy Pictish housemaids with long wirey hairs growing out of their ears and nostrils and halfwit gimps limping down the crag with their hand out (the other one amputated) begging for coin, talking like football hooligans and throwing up in the gutter... it's no wonder Jamie is constantly asking random British officers to shoot him. I imagine any chick with more than four teeth would look good to him! Candy/Sandy would probably make him forget all about Claire.

If the showrunners are reading this, do us a favor. Send Candy back to 18th century Scotland to murder Claire and Leoroghuiery (never can remember how to spell the name of the woman whose name sounds like Leary).

Also giving six stars because the show does a great job of creating fictional language out of thin air, much like GOT where they invent new languages for the show's fictional countries. I know there used to be a real country called Scotland, I think it was somewhere near England or maybe somewhere in France, but in the show they speak a fictional language called Kallick. It's like a funnier version of Dothraki. Kudos to these guys for pulling it off!

This was a powerful episode of the show. Were there times when the pace could have been a bit expedited? Sure, but the shock ending, the way they manipulated time to make us think Claire and Frank would have been divorced a decade ago, it was a well-done show here.

Outlander is quality TV, it just needs to move a bit faster.