#S07E02 The Happiest Place On Earth | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

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SPOILERS AHEAD ! ! ! 🦜 (what she said)

Outlander Just Broke Our Hearts. Here's How Sam Heughan and Caítríona Balfe Reacted.

Robert Wilson/Starz

The official logline for episode 702 of Outlander secretly warned us what we were in for ("a startling discovery about Roger and Brianna's newborn daughter; a familiar face returns; explosive consequences at the Ridge…"), but nothing could have prepared us for everything that went down, both literally and figuratively. Written by Toni Graphia and directed by Lisa Clarke, the episode—titled “The Happiest Place on Earth”—harkened back to Outlander's early days, when traveling through the Stones was commonplace, and Jamie and Claire were left with nothing but each other.

The episode starts at Fraser's Ridge, with Claire looking well after being captured. However, she soon runs into Malva's brother, Allan, who is visiting his sister's grave. We learn that he was the one who killed his sister because he raped her and the unborn child was his. He pulls out a pistol and tries to kill himself, but Claire pulls the gun away, thinking she's saved him until Ian shoots him with an arrow and kills him. Later, when Claire and Ian go to bury Allan, Mrs. Bug sees what they're doing and offers to help.

Following the opening credits, we see footage of Disneyland from the ‘50s, which seems to make no sense until later in the episode. (On that note, how much fun would it be to see a fantasy episode in which Jamie is able to travel through the Stones and Claire takes him to Disneyland? I’d watch that in a heartbeat).

Anyway, the joy of Disneyland soon gives way to Bree screaming at the top of her lungs about to give birth. (Hey, I'm sure some people have had a similar reaction to The Haunted Mansion or Tower of Terror). She gives birth to a little girl named Amanda Claire Hope Mackenzie. But soon thereafter Claire notices Mandy’s fingernails are blue-ish. She listens to her heartbeat, and realizes that Mandy has excess blood flowing to the lungs which means not enough oxygenated blood flows through the body. Mandy will probably not survive without surgery.

And so, the Mackenzies decide they must go through the Stones. But first they must prepare for the trip ahead. While gathering supplies, Bree runs into Lord John and meets William Ransom, Jamie’s son, and her half-brother. Bree is annoyed that Lord John won’t tell William about Jamie, and says she hasn’t forgotten about her other father (Frank) or stopped loving him. Later, Jamie visits Lord John and says he won’t be fighting for the British. Lord John gives him a sapphire to give to Bree to pass thru the Stones. Jamie is overcome with emotion.

Bree, Lord John, and William. Robert Wilson/Starz

In the official press notes for the episode, David Berry (Lord John) says “that was an interesting scene to film. Lisa, the director, and I discussed this was like it was a divorce scene. The separation of Jamie and Lord John; Jamie has taken his allegiance to the Continentals and Lord John to the British—there is now an irreconcilable difference. However, there's still immense love there from both sides. The sapphire was symbolic of a ring—a piece of jewelry that unifiest them or a symbol of their deep connection. So, the giving back of the ring is an act of love, but it's also a goodbye. It's a way of ending the relationship.”

Anyway, we get to the meaning of the episode's title later that evening when Jamie and Bree spot fireflies in the forest. She tells him about Disneyland and why it's known as the Happiest Place on Earth. He asks if she’s disappointed being here in the 18th century, but she says no because it’s magical being with him.

Later, Jamie gives Claire a small gem in case she wants to go through the Stones as well, but she throws it out the window, never giving a second thought to leaving Jamie behind. They kiss and he says they should fetch that gem.

The next day the Mackenzies and Frasers travel by boat to the Ocracoke Stones. It’s a highly emotional scene all around, for both Claire and Bree, Jamie and Roger Mac, Jamie and Bree, Jamie and Jemmy (you get the picture). The intensity of the moment is balanced out by a sweet and clever exchange with Jamie and Jemmy where he tells his grandson to send his regards to “Michael Mouse.” Of course, any laughter one might have soon gives way to full-on waterworks when Jamie tells Bree he doesn't have the words and can't say goodbye.

The hardest of goodbyes. Robert Wilson/Starz

The Mackenzies successfully pass through the Stones, which we learn when they wake up and see a plane in the sky. Meanwhile, back in the 18th century, Jamie and Claire arrive back at the Ridge and things start to heat up in bed before Claire starts crying. She says every time she closes her eyes, she’s lost half her family. She tells Jamie she’ll never see them again, and he says he often thinks of Murtagh, as he knows they’ve lost a great many between them. Claire starts bawling. I'm bawling. Where's a trip to Disneyland when you need one?

At least we then get a little montage of things going well at the Ridge. However, there's too much time left in this episode for it to end on this uplifting note. Soon enough, Claire enters into the main house at night where she stumbles upon fellow time-traveler, Wendigo Donner. Claire wants to know what he is doing there and questions where he was when she needed his help before she was gang-raped. He says he would have been killed had he tried to intervene, but he's not there to talk about the past. Instead, he wants to get back to the present day and needs her help on how to travel through the Stones. She's reluctant, but just wants him out of her life, so she advises him to focus, have a clear conscience, don't drink, etc. But this being Outlander, he then pulls out a pistol and asks for more gemstones. He and his men (who had also been holding Jamie in another room) start ripping apart the house, including Claire’s lab. While I love this entire house, it's the demolition of Claire's hard work developing ether and all that's in her lab that leaves me the most devastated. But then it gets worse; Wendigo lights a match so he and his men can have more light to find the gemstones, but the fire from the match comes in contact with the ether, and the episode ends with the house blowing up.

“That was a really emotional, in part because it comes on the heels of losing Bree and Roger and the kids,” Caítríona Balfe (Claire) tells Glamour. “I think for Claire, she was trying to hold everything in and be the strong person who's let them go for a really good reason…but it's this thing of just losing your home [that breaks her]. It is such a destabilizing thing.”

The house going up in flames means it was also the end of a massive—and important—set piece that's been part of Outlander for several seasons now. “We were saying goodbye to that place, the location that had been our home for the last couple of years,” Sam Heughan (Jamie) adds. “It holds a lot of memories for Jamie and Claire.”

But before we get too much into the aftermath of the fire, we hopped on a Zoom with executive producer Maril Davis to talk about the episode as a whole, and what the goodbye scene means going forward.

Glamour: That was the most emotional episode I've seen in awhile, and also one of my favorites.

Maril Davis: Well, I cry every time I watch that goodbye scene [at the Stones], and I've seen it 20 times. I just think there's something so sad about it as a mom to be sending your daughter back through. And then also, I think the complicated thing about that scene was there was a lot of goodbyes. Do you know what I mean? You had Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye. Bye bye. And then I think actors and director and the writers all figured out a way to make it kind of seamless and so heartfelt.

When Jamie says goodbye to Jemmy and has that iconic line about, "If you see a mouse named, Michael, tell him I say hi." But my favorite, favorite line from that scene that I'm so glad made it in is when Jamie at the end declares something to the effect of, "If not for you, I would not go on." And that to me encapsulates their whole relationship. It's like I've just sent my kid and my grandkids through. I do not think I can make it except for you. That's the only reason I'm still alive. And I'm just like, oh my God, I just want to cry.

Claire and Jamie Forever. Robert Wilson/Starz

Wasn't it also the last scene for the little actors (Andrew and Matthew Adair) that played Jemmy?

Yes. So yes, those twins, we won't be seeing them again. I know they've grown so much.

When might we get a Roger, Bree, Claire, and Jamie reunion?

I think we've been at pains to try to show that going through the Stones is not easy. It's not like a low revolving door that you could just go through. And I think it takes its toll going through the Stones and people have died. We know from past seasons that Wendigo Donner, his friends didn't make it. It takes its toll on you, so it's not something you should enter into lightly. So I think, Bree and Roger are thinking, this is a time we should stay in, that feels like a safer time. And I think Jamie and Claire feel better knowing they're in this other time and they're safe. But are they?

So will they reunite this season and be in the same time period?

I can't say anything. You'll have to watch.

Let's talk about the fire at the end. Wow.

Oh my God, I'm so sad to see that house go. It's so sad. But on the other hand, we have been talking about this fire for so long. I think I just wanted to tap in and us to move on. It was so sad though. That beautiful house is no longer there, but I think also the aftermath of it is so brilliantly done by our art department.

And that took a long time to do. That's not just like, oh, we burn it down. That's a piece of art. I think for the actors, it was a really sad moment for them as well, because we've been filming on this set for a long time. We no longer have this set, and we said goodbye to some sets this year. We also said goodbye to our Wilmington set. And it's something very sad when you say goodbye to these pieces of your show that you're not going to go back to. It feels like a nostalgia and a kind of bittersweet moment. It's just like everything you know and love is gone. But that's the point of it. It's like that's just possession and the important thing is right here.

Glamour

Remember… it's this thing of just losing your home [that breaks her]. It is such a destabilizing thing. — Caitríona Balfe

#Tait rhymes with hat #Good times #Outlander #Glamour #23 June 2023 #S07E02 The Happiest Place On Earth #Instagram Story

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