‘Outlander’ Recap: Episode 5’s ‘Rent’ Run Brings Redcoat Trouble

The Highlanders hit the road on a rent collecting mission in this week’s episode of Starz’s “Outlander.”

For Claire Beauchamp Randall (Caitriona Balfe), there were more confrontations with Dougal MacKenzie (Graham McTavish) and more bonding time with Jamie (Sam Heughan). And, before the episode ended, Claire made a few new acquaintances, including lawyer Ned Gowan, and a chivalrous Redcoat lieutenant.

Here’s our recap of “Outlander” Episode 5, “Rent”:

Claire Makes A Friend On The Road

Escape plans (or moments to make a run for it) aren’t easy to come by during a rent collecting trek in 1743, so Claire Beauchamp is occupying her downtime on the road with the MacKenzie men by reciting John Donne poetry to herself. An elderly gentleman overhears her and joins in, providing the perfect introduction to delightful and clever lawyer Ned Gowan (Bill Paterson). Bonding quickly ensues with the longtime MacKenzie associate (he worked for Colum and Dougal’s dad, Jacob) over their love of the written word and her kindness – she treats his asthma by making him a soothing pipe of herbs.

Less friendly is the reception Claire gets in the camp from Dougal’s men. Sure, she gets what’s left of some roasted rabbit, but the men tell (what are surely dirty) stories in Gaelic, laughing away, while she sits there feeling excluded. Cue Jamie, who can’t help but come to her rescue, strolling over and giving her something more appetizing – a bit of bread, and a conversation. “They hate me,” Claire sighs. Not true. It’s trust that’s the issue. “I do think there are things you’re not telling us. And I know you tried to run during The Gathering. It’s on your mind still. Plain and clear,” he says.

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Passing The Time With Alcohol, Singing & …

There’s not a lot of coin being handed over at the first stop where the MacKenzies collect rent. Mostly, folks are passing over food and livestock, as Ned keeps record. Growing bored, and with no one to tend to, Claire goes for a wander and runs into Donalda Gilchrest (Valerie Edmond). Donalda quickly lets Claire in on some 18th century wool-making secrets (like how urine can set the dye in the fabric), and puts her to work.

After some fabric working and songs, the women take a breather inside, where they share their heavily-spiked beverages. Claire uses the women’s bonding time to ask about a certain standing stone circle (Craigh na Dun). Fiddlesticks! It’s three days away. No time for more information though, the women need a new bucket of you know what (they were drinking heavily for more than one reason), and Claire is encouraged to contribute.

Squatting down and lifting up her skirts seems like fun with the girls until Angus barges in and is immediately disgusted by the site of a woman having a wee (Claire). As he drags an inebriated Claire back to the MacKenzie party, she spots a goat Donalda needs to feed her baby and tries to free it. It sets off a tense altercation with Dougal, who says (rather angrily) it is rent and coming with them.

But wait! Who’s that? A young man (played by Tom Brittney) walks out of a small shed to interrupt the Claire-Dougal faceoff. “Madam, is everything all right?” he asks. “I’m sorry?” Claire asks, shocked to hear an accent like hers. “May I be of service?” he continues, chivalrously putting himself on the line for her.

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Let no good deed go unpunished. Angus and Dougal step in, and the MacKenzies all put their hands on their weapons, surrounding the young man. Smart enough to know when he’s outnumbered, the Englishman lets it go and heads back to the shed where we see him put on a Redcoat uniform and hat. This, clearly, is not over.

Using Jamie Scars

Later that night, the MacKenzie men are drinking with their land tenants when all of a sudden things go quiet. The door to the bar is shut and Dougal starts to give a speech in Gaelic. His story has to do with Sassenachs and is brought to a head when he rips Jamie’s shirt apart to reveal his nephew’s scarred back. Jamie grimaces, but the move forces people to open their purse strings and break out the coins they didn’t bring to Ned’s table earlier.

“And with young Jamie’s back to show, it’s money in the bank, guaranteed,” Dougal tells the men later, after the place is cleared out. The clansman tosses Claire Jamie’s shirt, and orders her to fix it. Disgusted over what Dougal did earlier, Claire refuses. Dougal doesn’t care. Jamie can wear rags. Fine! Claire will fix it. “I’ll mend my own shirt,” Jamie says, grabbing the tattered cloth and storming out.

On the road, as the days turn into weeks, Claire watches as Dougal continues the routine over and over again, each time ripping Jamie’s shirt and collecting more coins (which she thinks are to line Dougal’s own pockets).

There’s another group their party runs into on the road who certainly are lining their pockets – The Watch. Claire and the MacKenzies look down from a ridge road as they see The Watch burning a man’s home and taking whatever they want from what remains (Dougal takes a cut too – some dead fowls). There was a rumor that the man whose home was burned was working with the Redcoats. True or not, this act is a warning to others not to do the same. Jamie isn’t there to witness it. With a price on his head, he had to make himself scarce, Murtagh explains to Claire, who surveys the scene. The Watch have but one god – money. And they would help the Redcoats (by giving them Jamie) if there was coin in it for them.

Having seen so much happen, Claire refuses to eat the poultry with the MacKenzies later. Angrily, she calls them thieves. Angus is not impressed. Those are fighting words. It’s only Jamie who gets the Highlander to put down his blade when Angus pulls it on the Sassenach. “It doesn’t matter where you come from. You’re here,” Jamie warns her (in his sweet, but wise tone). “You’re not to judge things you don’t understand. Stay out of it, Claire.”

Further down the road, there’s no rent to collect. Redcoats have taken everything from the tenants on another portion of the MacKenzie lands. Dougal plays it right. He orders the men to give back to the community, and they hand out food. That night, during his taproom speech, the people gathered have little, but they dig deep and give. It’s also that evening that Claire finally understands what’s really going on (thanks to information gleaned during a 1945 conversation with Frank Randall and Reverend Wakefield). Dougal is collecting money for a Jacobite army, to put their king — the Stuart (Charlie) king — on the throne.

Another Claire & Jamie Heart To Heart

Back at camp, Jamie and Dougal are arguing and a restless Claire tiptoes over to eavesdrop. The nephew is not impressed with his Uncle’s activities. “We have something in common. We want our king back where he belongs. Don’t you?” Dougal asks Jamie. The younger man doesn’t answer the question. Dougal suggests Jamie’s neck is on the line too. Jamie points out his “neck” is his own concern. “And so is my back.” Not while you’re traveling with me, Dougal tells Jamie.

PHOTOS: ‘Outlander’: Episode 5, ‘Rent’

After Dougal leaves, Claire watches as a frustrated Jamie takes things out on a tree trunk. He stops butchering the wood with his fists when he hears her walk up. She shares her sympathies, and suggests Dougal will do it again. “A man has to choose what’s worth fighting for,” he tells her before promising not to hurt any more trees.

While packing the next day, Claire worries about what is to come. “I wish I could tell them that they were on the losing side of history. … How could I tell them that — these proud, passionate men that lived and breathed for a flag of blue and white.”

As their travels continue, a gut-wrenching site stops the MacKenzies — two of their Scottish kinsmen dead and tied to crosses. The letter “T,” for “traitor” is carved into both of their chests. All the men are hit hard by seeing what the Redcoats have done, but Dougal, perhaps the most. “Take them down,” he says. The men do what’s right and bury the men they didn’t know, but who were just like them. That night, what they saw in the day fuels Dougal’s speech. Jamie’s shirt isn’t torn, but people still give and give.

A Near Scandal & A Full On Brawl

After weeks on the road, on this night, Claire is finally sleeping inside. A noise outside her door puts her on alert. She grabs a candlestick and quietly makes her way to the door, opens it and trips over Jamie (the second time in two episodes!). Drunk men are downstairs. He was worried someone might come up and bother her, so he put his head down there to protect her. She laughs. “I’m sorry I stepped on you. … At least come into the room, it’s warmer,” she says. Jamie is visibly shocked. “Your reputation would be ruined!” he exclaims. “You’ve slept under the stars with me before — you and 10 other men,” Claire reasons. “That isn’t the same thing at all,” Jamie says (and he’s right). He won’t come in, but Jamie accepts her offer of her bed’s blanket, but as she hands it to him their fingers touch – and they linger – touching — for a little while. “I’ll be right here,” he tells her as they finally let go.

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The next morning, downstairs in the breakfast area, Jamie addresses Claire a little more formally and he quickly makes his excuses as he goes off to take care of the horses. Claire opts to sit with Ned and ignores some clearly rude commentary (in Gaelic, prompted by her appearance in the tavern) coming from some strangers one table over. She ignores it and tries to have her conversation, insisting to Ned the war against the British can’t be won. “That’s your opinion, and you’re entitled it,” Ned says. “It’s a fact, Ned,” she insists.

As the rude comments from the table over continue, the MacKenzie clansmen can’t stay still any longer. Angus gets up first, followed by the rest of the men (Jamie is outside), for a proper barroom brawl.

“I’ve tended six year olds braver than you lot,” Claire says as she nurses their wounds afterward. “Any excuse for a fight,” she adds. “You were the excuse,” Murtagh reveals, noting that the men at that table called Claire a whore. “You’re a guest of the MacKenzie. We can insult you, but God help any other man that does,” he adds.

The fight changes a lot. Claire’s place in the group seems different. She feels bold enough to make a rude joke with Rupert, and finds Angus coming to her rescue when her bedding gets stuck on her horse at the next campsite. Dougal also tells the group to let her go alone when she’s ready for a wash.

Moments later, we see why. He’s there to confront her about what she told Ned Gowan. “Who are you? An English lady of Oxfordshire? That’s what you would have us believe. But you would seem to be a lady of strong political opinions,” he says. “You’re sowing the seeds of doubt within our midst,” he adds. Claire says she’s trying to help them. “I’m trying to save your life,” she says. It’s then that a familiar voice cuts the tension.

“Madam,” the young man from earlier says, riding into view, surrounded by a whole party of Redcoats. “Pleasure to see you again,” the newly introduced Lt. Jeremy Foster (Tom Brittney) says. “Once more I ask you, is everything all right?” “The lady is none of your concern,” Dougal insists, but the young man has the advantage, and has no reason to back down this time.

“MacKenzie or not, if you’re holding this English lady against her wishes, you’ll be dealt with,” Lt. Foster says, before turning again to Claire. “Tell me, madam; are you here by your own choice?”

Claire doesn’t say anything and the screen fades to black.

“Outlander” continues Saturdays at 9 PM on Starz.

— Jolie Lash