‘Outlander’ recap: The return of the Frasers -- and Frank Randall

In the Season 1 finale of Starz’s “Outlander,” when last we saw Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire Fraser (Caitriona Balfe), life was looking up. Sure, they’d just endured enough trauma for 50 lifetimes at the hands of Capt. Black Jack Randall (Tobias Menzies), but that was behind them now, as they boarded a ship to sail to France to change the course of history for Scotland and the world alike. They were even expecting a wee bairn, the perfect way to further solidify a relationship already tested by so much trauma.

But fans eager to check in with their favorite star-crossed couple had their gratification delayed by no less than a half-hour as the “Outlander” Season 2 premiere began not in 1740s France but in 1940s Scotland.

Though many fans may feel differently, the most interesting thing about “Outlander” has always been where, precisely, Frank Randall (also Tobias Menzies) fits into the story.

When Claire tumbled through the stones in the first episode of the series, she and Frank were not unhappily married. Though the war had kept them apart and there were natural growing pains associated with it, their affection was true. So when she returns in 1948 after being gone for two years, remarried, pregnant and distraught, it’s unsurprisingly disturbing for everyone involved.

Yet, Frank’s heart is open. He’s willing, to an extent, to believe Claire’s supernatural tale. He attempts to accept the fact that his wife is now the wife of another man and that she now carries that man’s child inside her.

Were “Outlander” interested in fully pursuing it, the series could mount a most convincing argument for the capacity of a person’s heart to love and commit to more than one individual at once. But ultimately, this isn’t a task the series seems particularly interested in, though considering the source material, it can hardly be blamed.

The question, really, now that Claire is back from her Scottish field trip is why? Claire is a profoundly capable woman with the ability to survive and thrive, no matter the circumstances, no matter the era. Why come back to Frank?

Say you believe that a person is capable of feeling true romantic love for more than one person at a time (and many don’t.) Even with the acknowledgement that those loves may not manifest themselves in equitable ways, is it fair to anyone to “settle” for the lesser option? Claire makes it unwaveringly clear to Frank that she was madly in love with Jamie and that her feelings were unlikely to change soon.

So why does she come back to Frank?

Maddeningly, because she’s selfish.

As much as we want to root for the protagonist in any series, it’s impossible to see Claire’s actions in any other fashion. She’s gone back to Frank because Jamie sends her. She needs a father for her child and she knows Frank’s as good as she’s going to get in her time. She goes back to Frank because she knows she can.

And that’s a difficult truth to wrap your head around. So much so that by the time the series switches back to Jamie and Claire in France midway through the episode, the question is less “How does Claire end up in a place where she’s going back to the future,” and more “Once you’ve left your ex, isn’t it kinder to leave them be?”

If the episode offers nothing else (which, actually, it offers a lot else) it’s a phenomenal vehicle for a profoundly moving performance by Tobias Menzies. The thing that always gave the show’s occasionally Snidely Whiplash-esque characterization of Capt. Randall depth is the fact that it also has Menzies giving such an understated and nuanced performance as Frank. It’s an elaborate system of checks and balances, and that exists entirely within the performance of a single man.

As for Claire and Jamie (and Murtagh) in France, the episode offers a lot of table setting for the season to come. Because Claire (sadly) doesn’t have extensive military insight into the failed Jacobite Rising, she and Jamie decide the best way to influence the future is through ingratiating themselves with the French elite and trying to change things from the inside.

This means the Frasers cozy up with Jamie’s cousin Jared, with Jamie overseeing Jared’s wine business while Jared is out of town. Claire, up to her old tricks, manages to diagnose a smallpox outbreak, get an entire ship destroyed by fire and make an enemy of a man who may or may not be immortal/vampire/consummate liar. So she’s off to a good start in France.

On the whole, Season 2 of “Outlander” starts strong with “Through a Looking Glass, Darkly.” With lush visuals and an unrivaled score from Bear McCreary, even if Season 2 can’t find the balance it needs to continue telling a complicated and compelling story, it will at least always remain a delicious confection to consume.

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