‘Outlander’ Recap Season 5, Episode 6: “Better To Marry Than To Burn”

I don’t think an episode of Outlander has ever made me as sad as “Better To Marry Than To Burn.” Why, you may ask? Well, Jocasta (Maria Doyle Kennedy) is getting married, and not to Murtagh (Duncan Lacroix). Instead, she’s accepted the proposal of Duncan Innes (Alistair Findlay) who seems like a total bore and doesn’t deserve her. Jotagh/Murcasta (please someone come up with a better name for this) is the best relationship on this show — yes, I went there — despite the fact that we’ve seen so little of it. Now the ‘ship has sunk before it ever truly set sail.

I’m also sad because the writers really want Roger (Richard Rankin) to be a hero and I’m just not buying it. Is anyone? He showed once again how much of a child he is when he doesn’t get his own way by refusing to go to Jocasta’s wedding and instead staying back to look after Fraser’s Ridge while Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitriona Balfe) are away. Unfortunately, the land is soon beset by a locust plague and while the residents freak out, Roger suddenly has an a-ha moment and decides to take charge. To his credit, his plan of setting off huge plumes of smoke so that the insects can’t land does work and saves the cornfields, but I simply can’t abide him. Maybe I’m the childish one!

In any case, this episode also gave us a glimpse into Jocasta’s past, showing her escape from Scotland during the Jacobite Rising of 1745. That escape, made with her then-husband Hector and her 16-year-old daughter Morna, cost the teen her life. It was an experience that has clearly hardened Jocasta in many ways, which goes some way to explain why she later refuses Murtgah’s plea for her to wait for him when he visits her the night before her wedding. She simply wants a life of peace with a simple man, not one with a man who has bigger ideals because those ideals have already cost her so much in life. Watching Murtagh walk away was not only painful for Jocasta but for viewers who saw not only the passion between the characters but the chemistry between the actors. Jocasta hasn’t said “I do” to Innes yet, so let’s hope this book isn’t closed just yet.

There are two other notable things that happened in this episode, one of which being Claire’s run-in with Phillip Wylie (Chris Donald), who has turned into a complete dandy since spending time in Paris, apparently. He also thinks he can get a piece of Claire, but Jamie thankfully puts a stop to that before something too terrible happens. Common sense would tell anyone that going to a horse stable alone with a man who’s fawning all over you is a bad idea, but after finding out Wylie knows Stephen Bonnet (Ed Speleers), she wants to know more.

This causes a huge fight between Claire and Jamie since Jamie wants Frank’s wedding ring off her finger to offer up in a gamble with Wylie post-run-in. She also throws Jamie’s wedding ring at him as well, and this drama is made ever-juicier when they have frantic make-up sex in that same stable after he wins back the ring, Wylie’s fancy horse, and an introduction to his smuggler friend Bonnet.

Speaking of Bonnet, he’s been given word by the man who signed off Jocasta’s will leaving Jemmy in charge of River Run and decided to sell her out, so that should get interesting soon. Of course, Bonnet has no legal claim to Jemmy or Jemmy’s future property, but given that he’s a swindler and a crook, he’ll likely try to find out how he can profit from it.

As for Lord Tryon (Tim Downie), he plans to move to New York to become governor, but not before he rescinds his offer of clemency for the Regulators and decides to declare war on them instead. That means Jamie has about two weeks to get his militia back together and ready to fight, which is not nearly enough time for Jamie to relay the message to the Regulators to let them know that they’re in serious trouble. There’s likely a whole lot of bloodshed to happen in the coming weeks, and how Jamie will manage to keep his cover while still helping Murtagh and the other resistance fighters should be interesting.

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 6 ("Better To Marry Than To Burn") on Starz