Outlander Review: I Am Not Alone (Season 6 Episode 8)

After a season of igniting passions and setting fire to the Frasers’ peaceful ridge existence, Outlander chooses to go out with an impressive bang.

Outlander Season 6 Episode 8, “I Am Not Alone,” is the powder keg of drama this show rarely indulges in so bluntly. But from the first gunshot, this episode is committed to a finale that feels like one long heart-pounding action sequence.

Unforgiving and unrelenting, the Frasers face one of their most fascinating defeats to date with tension that refuses to relinquish its grip on us until the last trigger is pulled.

First, let us discuss that opening scene because, wow — what a way to set the tone for this finale!

Outlander has come to appreciate its dialogue-driven conflict more in old age, so it’s startling to see Jamie’s confrontation with Brown turn violent in the opening act. You expect his threat to arrest Claire “soon enough” to negotiate the entire episode away.

Instantaneously turning Fraser’s grand homestead, a house we have come to regard as a symbol of protection, into a bullet-hole torn battlefield is one powerful sight. 

The first act is eaten alive by reactionary violence as Claire and Jamie use their fine furniture to board up the windows and their heavy artillery to put the Browns in their place. They are in unspoken survival mode, and that mindless tension has us hooked from the jump.

No one wants to see Jamie and Claire miserable. However, if they’re going to have to fight for their lives, there is something exhilarating about witnessing them do it on their terms.

Outlander reminds us how fierce this couple is by revealing just how prepared Claire and Jamie were for danger to come knocking. The arsenal of guns in the basement, Claire using a chair as a gun stand, how the two silently communicate as they move around the house returning fire.

It’s something to behold, seeing their chemistry weaponized in this manner. But it is also gratifying to see Outlander choose this precise moment to have Claire and Jamie stand on even ground.

By involving Claire in the violence, the episode tips the scales in favor of this ambitious storytelling. From the moment she shoots a man point-blank in her foyer to the last stand she takes beside Jamie, these two are equal in the conflict.

The action of this episode is all the more enriching as it showcases Jamie and Claire’s scrappy determination. They do their best work when it’s just them against the world.

While the Christies have been a sore spot this season, Tom somehow garners likeability, mainly because of his bizarre yet endearing connection to Claire.

It indeed has been fascinating to watch this dynamic at work. Claire goes against everything Tom preaches, and yet he is drawn to her and the intelligence she imbues.

That unspoken chemistry between these unlikely acquaintances and the time spent on it this season ultimately drives the back half of this episode beyond Claire and Jamie’s hold.

Outlander leaves Tom’s motives up in the air, but his unwavering kindness to Claire and that telling look on Jamie’s face as he catches Tom looking at her is brilliantly executed. Tom and Claire’s companionship work in small but powerful moments.

The irony that this once seemingly wicked preacher is now a soft voice of solace is not lost. Guided by selfish love, Tom Christie finds faith in the Frasers, and we find ourselves praying for Mark Lewis Jones to stick around a little longer.

Oh, Richard Brown, I wish we could say it’s a pleasure, but it never is. This b-list villain certainly steps up his game, playing to the law with a sneer on his face that only Jamie and Claire know to back away from.

In a clever reveal, Brown admits to Claire that maybe he didn’t love knowing the people who killed his brother walk free. The dialogue is just swift enough to knock Claire and us off balance.

But Claire and Jamie are not alone in this battle. Witnessing the Cherokee band together and ride down the beach to Jamie’s rescue is enough to bring tears to one’s eyes.

Then Ian confirms they have Claire, and we get this cinamtic shot of Chief Bird shooting a man dead to rights before announcing to Jamie, “I told you I would fight with you, Bear Killer” — damn, that is some smooth storytelling.

Seeing Jamie’s Indian Agent storyline come full circle in such epic, satisfying ways is a nice touch to this action-adventure.

Alas, this would have been the perfect finale if it had ended.

In some respects, the sharp end to “I Am Not Alone” could be considered a good cliffhanger. But in a world of limited series and bankable reboots, it’s becoming increasingly frustrating to see TV shows choose to up and leave an entire season’s work without resolve.

This episode ends far too abruptly to be an honest cliffhanger. It feels like the other half of this episode was erased in some cruel practical joke. It cheapens this experience, knowing the season’s only purpose was to preview the next.

Also, this episode covers only a few minutes of crucial plot as Jamie and Claire are forced to go with the Browns. Unfortunately, that one decision plays out through an hour installment with no other seasonal threads revisited or resolved.

It works so well until that’s all there is. Then it just isn’t enough to say Season 6 told a complete story.

Cliffhangers are not a free pass to leave a season open-ended. Regardless of a shortened run or restrictions, I expected better of Outlander in this respect.

No matter how warranted, that frustration does not stop this season finale from becoming one of my favorite episodes.

I will never forgive the poor storytelling choices made in the back half of this episode, but I cannot forget all the good this episode does either.

The heart-pounding opening, the full-circle moment for the Cherokee, and Tom putting his faith in the Frasers all demonstrate a subtle but triumphant undertaking from a show that struggled with the pacing of this unusual season.

When the odds stack against Jamie and Claire, you can bet they will deliver their best work. But in true Outlander fashion, the work of the surrounding ensemble is what sends this finale out on a high note.

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Season 6 of Outlander is now available to stream on Starz.

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