Outlander Season 7 Episode 9 Summary: “Unfinished Business”

It’s hard to believe it’s been over a year since the last new episode was released. Outlanderand now we are on the home stretch to the finale of the entire series. When we left Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitriona Balfe) in Outlander In Season 7 Episode 8, they were thrilled to finally return to Scotland after more than a year of inevitable delays. Of course, nothing goes according to plan in this series, so expecting the journey to go smoothly is a fool’s errand.

This is where we begin “Unfinished Business” with the voiceover of Jamie Bree’s (Sophie Skelton) letter written from Scotland, where he and Claire have returned the body of his cousin, General Simon Fraser. It should have been a pleasant homecoming, but Jamie sensed a “coming storm” of his own making as they headed to Lallybroch.

Lest we forget Roger (Richard Rankin), who was last seen heading through the stones with Buck (Diarmaid Murtagh) in search of Jemmy (Blake Johnston Miller), who has been kidnapped by Rob Cameron (Chris Fulton). We know Rob was looking for gold, although pursuing someone through the timeline will undoubtedly prove more difficult than they probably expect. The couple wakes up from their journey, but it’s been hard on Buck, who doesn’t seem to be the picture of health.

It’s not immediately clear if they left the previous timeline, but Roger notices that there are no roads or cars here, which is why they were successful. Buck thinks Cameron can take Jemmy to America, so they need to head to Inverness, where the ships are docked. However, Cameron insists that Jemmy knows how to get back to Lallybroch and may have run away to get home. It’s hard to know which plan is right, but Buck is confident (or at least pretends to be confident) that they will find Jemmy safe and sound.

Returning to the 20th century, Brianna realized that her husband and son were no longer there, at least temporarily. She’d probably be even more upset if she learned that Roger had actually gone too far backwards – something that only dawns on him when he comes face to face with Jamie’s father, Brian. As it turned out, it is now 1739 or 1740. He won’t find Jamie there!

By the way, young Ian (John Bell) has also returned to Scotland, and his mother Jenny (Christine Atherton) is very happy to see him. She’s less pleased with Jamie for keeping him away for so long, but is still glad they’re all back safe and sound. Ian is also reunited with his brothers Jamie and Michael. (Was everyone in the 1700s named Jamie?) They’re doing well, but it’s not all good news.

As it turns out, young Ian’s father, Ian Murray (Stephen Cree), is dying of consumption, so his brothers have returned home. Michael was overseas in Paris, where he worked as a wine merchant, and this strikes some fear in Claire’s heart, especially since the French Revolution is on its way. Of course, she can’t warn him about this without revealing the fact that she’s a time traveler, and that’s a pretty risky decision.

After all, she knows she should, but revealing that she was born in the 1900s doesn’t necessarily draw applause. In fact, the Murrays are filled with horror that Claire might be a witch. Of course, it might not be so bad—Jenny wants Claire to use her powers to heal Ian. It is only after talking with Jamie that Jenny realizes that Claire does not actually have any magical healing powers.

Ian Sr.’s poor health is obviously a major concern for his son, who wants to remain close to his father until his final days. However, his mother makes it clear that all she and his father want is for him to return to America so he can start his life with Rachel (Izzie Meikle-Small), whom he loves – and lest we forget who looks after his dog.

Meanwhile, Jamie must apologize to Leary (Nell Hudson) as he still carries a lot of guilt over getting married even though he was clearly in love with Claire. Claire’s jealousy is slightly fueled by Jamie’s admission that he wants to go and see her, but ultimately she knows how important she is to him and is not threatened by it. He assures her of this quite often.

Laoghaire is skeptical of Jamie’s intentions. She doesn’t quite believe that his repentance is sincere; she is sure that he wants to get rid of his financial obligations. He insists that’s not true, but he admits that he was still head over heels in love with Claire when he married her, and that’s not a good thing. She takes a pitchfork and goes after Jamie, and her farmer comes to her aid. He gets a quick punch to the face and is knocked unconscious, which stops Laoghaire’s attack in its tracks – she’s in love with the man, so she’s clearly moved on.

The problem is that she can’t marry the farmer because if she does, Jamie will have her house. The least Jamie can do is set the record straight and get good old Ned Gowan to change their previous agreement so that not only can Laoghaire remain in her home, but her daughter Joanie will never have to marry. Instead, she can get her dowry now and use it to join the nunnery that is her life’s passion. Jamie even plans to pay all the expenses necessary for her to continue living there – not with money, but with two gold musket balls, which must have been worth a lot of money in those days.

Claire can’t do much in Scotland, but she doesn’t have much opportunity to feel out of place because a letter soon arrives from Lord John Gray in Philadelphia. He desperately needs her to swim all the way back across the Atlantic to nurse his nephew Henry, who is close to becoming another casualty of the battle. He has a rather serious wound in his abdomen, and, apparently, there are no other doctors in all of America who could cure him – such complex operations were not for that time. However, Claire doesn’t seem to mind – she and young Ian return to the States in no time.

“Unfinished Business” ends with Buck’s health deteriorating, forcing Roger to seek urgent help. The problem, of course, is that the herbalist he comes face to face with is none other than Geillis Duncan (Lotte Verbeek), who is more inclined to kill than to heal. Oops – this is not good! Roger seems to know this—in the episode’s final dialogue, he proclaims, “Oh God!”

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