Outlander Season 5 Episode 4 Review: The Company We Keep
Carissa Pavlica
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Caring for the bonnie wee lass gave Jamie a lot to think about on Outlander Season 5 Episode 4.
Jamie never had an opportunity to see Claire mothering Brianna, and he not only imagined that time but a future in which he and Claire raised another child together, too.
Jamie is always thinking only of others with his love, and it's beautiful.
By suggesting that they consider keeping the baby, Jamie was only thinking about making Claire happy.
Jamie: I have no life but you, Claire, but if you wanted another child, I thought that perhaps I might give you one, one that you wouldn't have to suffer carrying.
Claire: Please know that if it's at all possible, I love you even more for wanting to take the chance. I also regret that we were never parents together. Regret isn't reason enough. I love our life. I love our home together. Would we even be the best home for her? And there's our obituary. I am grateful for every day we have.
It's probably not a stretch to believe in those times that motherhood was one of the most satisfying experiences for a woman. But Claire isn't of those times, and she's not anxious to raise another child.
Even more importantly, she's still concerned about what brought Brianna to the past in the first place.
Now that we know Claire continues to imagine her life with Jamie ending sooner rather than later for whatever reason, it makes perfect sense that she'd leave Brianna behind.
Claire is going to live every moment to its fullest because she knows that they have been unable to cheat fate at every turn, and Brianna's intervention in their death did just that.
Maybe that one thing will also allow Claire and Marsali to plunge forward with the invention of penicillin, too. Sure, it's a much more significant time change, but we are within a magical world where time travel is possible. Why not spread our wings and fly?
Word of Claire's medical advice has unexpectedly made the rounds, though, and nobody is taking the advice any better on paper from someone else than the women at Frasers Ridge did when she tried to steer them toward better healthcare.
It seems that no matter how badly Claire wants to invent penicillin for its curative powers, the people might not be advanced enough yet to accept it.
It's possible that inventions come at certain times not just because they've been created but because the world is ready to receive them. Where they are now, people still rely heavily on wive's tales and the medicinal prowess of men, not women.
Still, it will be interesting to see how it plays out.
We didn't get an update on Marsali's training either with the penicillin molds or by way of any patients she has been treating because the main story of the Ridge was Brianna's increasing anxiety.
She should have confronted her father when she heard him talking with Lord John about Bonnet. Not only does she need answers that only they could have provided, but she needs to feel safe in a very unsafe time.
Holding it in didn't do anyone any favors. And the worst part is that she's not crazy, even though tossing her drawings of Bonnet into the fire lends me to believe Brianna thinks she's making things worse than they are by overdramatizing them.
The thing is, she doesn't know who put the coin in Jemmy's basket. We know that Bonnet knows he's a father. It's even easier for us to connect the dots that trouble is brewing than it is for her to create it.
The conversation with Marsali was right in many ways. It was good advice that Marsali offered by sharing her feelings about killing her father.
Marsali: He died in prison. I killed him.
Brianna: You didn't kill him.
Marsali: You see, thinking, no matter how hard you long doesn't make something come true.
But sometimes you feel anxiety because you have a sixth sense that danger is lurking. How do you know when to stay alert to it or when to brush it aside as fanciful thinking? Something tells me that Brianna might bet caught unaware, which will be terrible.
On the other hand, Roger is so inept and ill-prepared to be a militiaman, even if only as a recruiter, that he's on his way back to the Ridge. Will he be any more prepared to do battle with Bonnet if he comes upon the man preparing to or harming his family?
Adrenaline is a mysterious scientific war chest that demands you spring into battle, whether you're ready or not. It can't be a coincidence that Roger is feeling so poorly about his capabilities while Brianna is in danger from Bonnet (because I do believe it's coming).
Roger has to redeem himself in his father-in-law's eyes before he'll ever be able to leave the past behind and return to the future. His life would be hell if all Jamie knew of him before he disappeared from his existence was that he wasn't capable of caring for Brianna and Jemmy when they need him the most.
And nothing that Roger did in that small town inspired confidence in Jamie.
Roger: I avoided confrontation. I kept the peace.
Jamie: You ken the meaning of the word Captain, Captain MacKenzie? Is that one you can explain to me? Your men left because you betrayed their trust. Those are men who won't have much faith left. They swore to follow us into battle, to risk their lives. As Captain, you must honor their loyalty above all else.
It's not a lesson you want to learn more than once. Loyalty among men is as imperative as loyalty among family. Roger played the situation like a snitch, acquiescing to the father's wishes to contain Isaiah Morton.
The story was certainly secondary to the larger plot of Outlander Season 5, but the love between Isaiah and Allie was a nice reminder to Jamie and Claire that their own love wouldn't be viewed the same if all of their circumstances were to be revealed.
Claire was Isaiah, in a way. Separated from Frank but still wed, it was impossible not to fall in love when a love as great as what she shares with Jamie presented itself. That doesn't make it wrong, but ill-timed.
Overall, the people in the small town, or the Browns, were a nice addition to the Outlander family.
They party well, care for their own deeply, and aren't afraid to offer their service when needed. Maybe some of them will make their way to the Ridge when all is said and done.
What did you think of "The Company We keep"?
Is the confluence of Roger, Brianna, and Bonnet on the way?
Was it nice getting a reminder of the power of love through Isaiah and Allie?
Drop your thoughts down below, and remember that you can watch Outlander online to catch up and relive the beauty of Outlander over and over again.
Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.
