Outlander: Blood of my Blood Season 1 Episode 6 Review: Birthright

Outlander: Blood of my Blood Season 1 Episode 6, “Birthright,” is a potent experience. It is as uncomfortable as it is emotional.

For better and for worse, it forces Julia and Henry to endure the worst of this world yet, with the promise of a sweet baby boy at the end of the turmoil. Julia’s pregnancy comes to a loud, violent end with a flair for the dramatics and a mysterious new addition to Claire’s family tree.

The difficulty with uncomfortable subject matter is that it’s uncomfortable. It’s not entertaining, so if the execution isn’t also poignant, the potency will undercut the experience.

And that is, unfortunately, what happens to Julia. The woman is giving it her all with bone-chilling delivery and an admirable perseverance, but the episode quickly gets away from itself with over-the-top antics and melodrama.

Her confinement scenes feel much more at home in one of American Horror Story’s crazy birth sequences than in the Outlander universe. The group of women assisting Julia is intended to depict the superstitious aspects of medicine at the time. However, the dialogue and the performances are unbearably cringeworthy.

From the wailing to the extreme dialogue exchanges, Miss Porter’s constant confrontations with Julia undermine any emotional levity. Throw in the even more aggressive and extreme flashback scenes, and this episode is just too much at times.

There needs to be some refinement and elegance to tragedy, or we skirt dangerously close to daytime soap territory.

Part of the issue is that we aren’t given much backstory for Davina Porter before or during this episode. We see two rather violent, sexual interactions between Lovat and the servant when she was a girl, but not her inner thought process.

It was already puzzling why she snitched on Julia to Lovat before the marriage plot came to light.

The action implies she harbors love for the cruel man. And yet this episode suggests all she has in her heart for him is fear and hatred. So, it is not entirely clear why she isn’t on Julia’s side from the beginning as one mother to another — beyond, you know, women trying to have each other burned at the stake back in the day.

Jealousy is easy enough to justify. Davina wanted Lovat to marry her and have a legitimate son, but he chose Julia and her child instead.

Thankfully, clarity does eventually save Miss Porter as she realizes Julia is living the same hell as her, and she is the only one who can break this vicious cycle. It makes the wrap-up much easier to digest, knowing the two women have found common ground. We now have a clear idea of what Davina’s intentions are, and that will go a long way for this storyline.

The extreme nature of Julia’s situation, coupled with Henry’s equally horrifying day, means no reprieve from the intense nature of this episode. Henry’s sorrows are much more refined, however.

Blood of my Blood cleverly toys with the reality of his situation, presenting us with a story that slowly begins to unravel as it is told.

It’s a sneaky red herring to have Mr. Bug show just enough empathy for Henry to throw us off kilter. So, when the time comes to present Henry with news of Julia’s alleged death, it takes just a few seconds longer to see through the ruse.

There are certainly more clever ways to deliver this information alongside Julia’s birth scenes, so it feels more like part of the trick and less like a clunky back-and-forth. Nonetheless, the episode handles Henry’s role in the birth of his son well enough to ensure that both parents are equally in the spotlight.

The flashback scene of Julia giving birth to Claire, standing in for the present-day birth scene, is an excellent use of those dueling timelines and doesn’t fool around with any grayscale filters. It is easily a highlight of the episode.

Episode 6 does well to keep Brian Fraser close by.

Brian having a heart-to-heart with his evil father, despite knowing it may earn him more disdain, is a powerful move for the character. The scene and the passionate dialogue paired together help us gleam a side of the younger Brian we have not yet seen.

His friendship with Julia also continues to be a core relationship of this show in ways we couldn’t have prepared for.

He protects her in ways Lovat and Miss Porter do not, ultimately stepping in for Henry during his absence. So, it is endearing to see Julia repay him with a birthday cake, complete with a little candle for the newborn baby boy.

The soft bafflement in Brian’s eyes as he glances at the birthday cake before blowing out the candle is enough to break your heart in two. This sweet man deserves all the birthdays with all the cake. How dare Lovat tell him otherwise!

Alas, the suggestion that Julia used a similar mind palace technique as Claire to escape the pain of a traumatic situation is also quite upsetting (in a fun callback way.)

As are all the implications we can now make knowing Julia had two children in two different time periods — one of which her daughter accidentally time-traveled through the stones to!

Much like episodes centered on Claire enduring a brutal sexual assault, this one is just not everyone’s cup of tea.

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What did you think of this episode of Outlander: Blood of my Blood? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to leave your own rating!

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Outlander: Blood of My Blood airs Fridays at 8/7c on Starz and all available Starz streaming platforms.

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