‘Outlander’ Recap Season 5, Episode 5: “Perpetual Adoration”

It may have taken us five episodes, but in Outlander Season 5 Episode 5 (“Perpetual Adoration”), we’re finally getting somewhere. Before we talk about anything else, we have to acknowledge the best part of the episode, which was when Jamie (Sam Heughan) went HAM on Lieutenant Knox (Michael D. Xavier) and smothered him to death before setting his room on fire with his body inside of it. True, Jamie is no cold-blooded killer, but he didn’t have much of a choice here given that his loyalty to Murtagh (Duncan Lacroix) and the Regulators was about to be exposed and his entire life dismantled if he didn’t act.

Of course, this leaves Jamie in a sticky situation. While he returns to Fraser’s Ridge by episode end with a stray kitten to gift Claire (Caitriona Balfe), something tells me Lord Tryon (Tim Downie), who tasked Knox with carrying on the search for Murtagh solo after pardoning the rest of the Regulators and dismantling the militia Jamie literally just built, will be wondering what went on and might come to Jamie looking for answers.

This was pretty much the most exciting thing to happen this episode (and perhaps all season), though there was a nice setup for the trouble that’s undoubtedly soon to come from Stephen Bonnet (Ed Speleers) now that Roger (Richard Rankin) has learned Brianna’s (Sophie Skelton) secret that not only did she tell Bonnet pre-execution that Jemmy is his son, but Bonnet also gave her a valuable gem that she hopes will be the family’s ticket “home” to the 1960s when the baby is old enough. Oh yeah, and Bonnet’s not dead and he may have stopped by Fraser’s Ridge recently. Oops!

Much of the rest of the episode was taken up by lengthy flashbacks into Claire’s past which was less about propelling the story forward and more about pressing home the undeniable and universe-crossing connection between Jamie and Claire. It’s crazy to think that a Scottish patient who died of a penicillin allergy in her more “modern” life as a nurse was the impetus for her to find her way back to the 1700s and Jamie, but the world works in mysterious ways.

The reflection would have seemed somewhat apropos were it not for the fact that in Claire’s current life at Fraser’s Ridge, all that moldy bread she’s been growing has finally produced the right bacteria. Eureka! She’s got penicillin, just like that! Her first guinea pigs are Josiah and Kezziah Beardsley (Paul Gorman), both of whom need their tonsils out. While generally speaking, this is a major operation that needs more than some moldy bread spores to deal with, both boys get an injection in the bum and a nice swig of laudanum before she gets going with the scalpel and then cauterizes it with some hot metal. Ah, 1700s medicine. 2020 may have coronavirus, but at least we have general anesthesia (among other medical advances).

It’s hard to say what “Perpetual Adoration” is trying to set up here for the next episode or even the rest of the season. I keep waiting for the Regulators to do something major, for a war to kick off between them and the English, but no dice so far. This is frustrating in many ways since it often leaves you with the feeling that not much is happening, but perhaps that’s an effective approach since it has sort of given these first episodes a heavy sense of foreboding. We know the explosion is coming and the longer time passes that it doesn’t, the greater the dread.

It does look as though we will finally get some answers next week, when Jamie is due to find out exactly why Lord Tryon is so obsessed with hunting down Murtagh. It’s also going to be Jocasta’s (Maria Doyle Kennedy) wedding, which is not so thrilling since she’s obviously meant to be with Murtagh, but it is always a pleasure to see her. We’re getting about halfway into the season now, so big things must be going to happen soon, right?

Jennifer Still is a writer and editor from New York who cares too way much about fictional characters and spends her time writing about them.

Stream Outlander Season 5 Episode 5 ("Perpetual Adoration") on Starz