Remember that electricity you felt when Jamie and Claire first met in Outlander? Well, guess it runs in the family. Because that sizzle exists in the first episode of the prequel series Blood of My Blood. When Jamie’s parents, Brian Fraser (Jamie Roy) and Ellen MacKenzie (Harriet Slater), meet at the MacKenzie family Gathering, their chemistry is undeniable.
Yet, the Outlander prequel series doesn’t start with romance, but rather sorrow. At Castle Leoch, Ellen is mourning the loss of her beloved father, Jacob, ahead of his funeral. In flashbacks conveniently sepia-hued, Blood of My Blood provides insight into her father’s devotion to and respect for his eldest daughter, gifting her a family brooch and “man’s plaid.”
But turns out, Red Jacob (or Seumas Ruadh as he’s also called), was not so beloved by everyone… or perhaps, anyone else? Ellen’s four siblings — Colum, Dougal, Jocasta, and Janet — resent how he doted on their unwed sister. And Jacob seems to have been a rather unsavory guy since, according to Jocasta, he “died in a manner befitting the way he lived … mounted on a maidservant.” (So, she’s always had a cutting way with words.) Even his loyal advisor, Ned Gowan, acknowledges that many clans will be celebrating Jacob’s death.
That’s in part because now, the MacKenzie clan is vulnerable. Jacob didn’t name a successor and, as Ned reminds Colum and Dougal, his sons aren’t guaranteed to assume his title. Even if Jacob taught Ellen what it means to be a laird through chess (a family-favorite game), she’d never be accepted as leader of the clan because she’s a woman. (As Jacob harshly tells his daughter in another flashback, “If only you had a cock.”) So if the MacKenzies are to keep their power, who will take Jacob’s place as MacKenzie clan leader — the brutish Dougal or the more sensible (but still severe) Colum?
Though the succession plot looms large over the first episode, it isn’t a great mystery to those who’ve already seen Outlander. And it’s not until 20 minutes in that we get the first look of Jamie’s da Brian Fraser, who does really, truly give off Sam Heughan vibes (well done, casting department). Over at Castle Leathers, he declines the pleas of his best pal and cousin Murtagh Fitzgibbons Fraser (Murtagh! so good to see you alive again) to go to the MacKenzie Gathering where the next leader of the MacKenzie clan will be decided. Murtagh wants to go for the feasting and games, but also because he’s got a wee crush on Ellen.
Just like the MacKenzie patriarch wasn’t a peach, Brian’s father Simon is quite the bastard… even if Brian is technically the “bastard” of the family. He hates the MacKenzies because he believes Jacob was responsible for his losing his title and land. He orders Brian to attend the Gathering with Murtaugh in order to spy on the family.
While this is all happening, an English maid enters to serve Simon his meal. Remarkable that she’s English, sure, but far more so because she happens to be none other than Claire’s mother, Julia Moriston!! (Played by Hermione Corfield, another excellent casting choice with her striking resemblance to Caitríona Balfe.)
How she got there and who she is isn’t revealed. But in her first appearance onscreen, we get Jamie’s dad protecting Claire’s mom from the lecherous advances of Jamie’s grandfather. Truly, only a sentence that could be written about the Outlander universe. And I fear we haven’t seen the last of Simon’s sinister attentions towards Julia. (Protect Claire’s mom at all costs!)
Back at Castle Leoch, the first sex scene of the prequel series goes to Dougal and a lassie who was a fan of his shinty skills (a nice lil throwback to the early days of Outlander — oh, how Heughan and Graham McTavish love to battle it out on screen). While the sex scene is far from the most scintillating, it does introduce more beloved original Outlander characters with little kid versions of Angus and Rupert, who are spying on Dougal’s antics.
If Dougal’s sex scene left you wanting, Blood of My Blood finally brings the romance with Brian and Ellen’s first meeting at the Gathering. Brian’s trying to keep a low profile, so he’s not outed as Simon’s son, and takes to hiding in the animal pens. Ellen, also in hiding from her many suitors, finds him. And as they peer through the wooden slats, they take to teasing one another about the ability of farmyard animals to speak.
Perhaps not the sexiest of banter (though rather sweet), the chemistry is palpable, especially through Roy’s performance of Brian taking Ellen in in all her red-headed glory. Without knowing who she is, Brian shoots his shot immediately, inviting Ellen to meet him at a bridge at the edge of the estate the next day. She agrees.
The aforementioned Grant family shows up — Isaac Grant and his starry-eyed son Malcolm (another Ellen suitor). And if you’re tracking the romance more than the clan drama, you might be inclined to breeze past this moment. But don’t! Because Grant introduces his bladier Henry. And yep, that’s Claire’s dad, Henry Beauchamp (Jeremy Irvine). Like Claire’s mom, we have to wait a little longer to find out how the hell he ended up in bonnie Scotland in the year 1714.
The next day has arrived and Ellen is on her way to meet with Brian, but the smitten and seemingly kind Malcolm intercepts Ellen. She manages to lose him (not without him seeing her though) and reunites with Brian. Using the bridge as their chaperone, they finally reveal each other’s identities — a MacKenzie and a Fraser. They’re a bit crestfallen to discover that they’re the Romeo and Juliet of the Highlands.
But family hatred be damned because these two haven’t been able to stop thinking about one another since their brief encounter the day before. “I could do nothing but think of you. You’ve haunted my every thought,” Brian tells Ellen. Ah, the swoony sentiments are in Jamie’s blood.
These two are like moths to a flame and approach each other for a rather chaste (in the Outlander world) but significant hand touch.
And that hand touch is all that’s needed for Ellen to start talking about their future together. Brian responds in kind for another like father, like son moment: “I dinna care if it’s fate or divine intervention that brought us together. If I had to bargain with the devil himself to spend a moment more with ye, I would.” Say that Blood of My Blood has got some of that spark that makes Outlander so special.
But just like Outlander mixes romance with brutal drama, the episode can’t end there. With Ellen getting lost in Brian’s eyes at the bridge, Mrs. Fitz (yes, that Mrs. Fitz) tells Dougal and Colum that Malcolm Grant may have taken their sister. With Colum’s sly goading, the foolhardy Dougal runs after the Grants and attacks them, beating Malcolm until Henry stops him (so very Claire of him). Malcolm warns Dougal that he’ll pay for this transgression.
Ellen returns to Castle Leoch to find her brothers stewing over her disappearance, saying they had thought that Malcolm had kidnapped and raped her. The MacKenzies are now at war with the Grants due to Dougal’s actions, but Colum confides in a disgusted Ned that he’s got a plan — promise Ellen to Malcolm to secure his place as laird. He releases the bird he once gave to his father (that Jacob never paid attention to), revealing his father’s sentimentality has made him hard. The bird visits Ellen’s window, revealing they’ve traded places and now, she’s the caged bird. Then, the bird takes one more flight… some 200 years into the future, where Claire’s parents are making love in the Scottish Highlands. Wait, what??
Though the entirety of the Blood of My Blood premiere had been set in the 18th century, the last minutes are dedicated to how the 20th-century Julia and Henry ended up in the past. While on holiday in the Highlands (their darling Claire is safely being babysat by Uncle Lamb), the car accident that Claire always believed took their lives actually catapults Julia into the past after she encounters the buzzing stone circle her daughter will face off with years later. And though Henry is left standing searching for his pregnant wife, Blood of My Blood has already revealed he’s about to join her in the past.
Caitlin Gallagher is a New Jersey-raised, NYC-based entertainment writer. When not writing about or watching TV, she can be found planning her next Halloween costume, crying over rescue animals, or praising Season 2 of The Leftovers.