Johnnycake is a gamechanger. I, for one, didn’t expect so many surprises, although I probably should have, after all, Diana Gabaldon wrote the episode.
Anyway, without delay, I’m diving into the recap.
Here goes!
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Summary provided by Starz: A revelation about Jemmy forces Roger and Brianna to choose between staying in the eighteenth century and returning to the safety of the future. Jamie finds that unrest in the backcountry has given rise to a new power – an organization led by the unpredictable Brown brothers. Claire finds that her attempts to make this time safer for her family have dire, unintended consequences.
We begin with leaves falling from trees, and when the words Autumn 1772 appear on the screen, we aren’t surprised.
The MacKenzies and the Frasers are riding through the woods. Jamie and Claire are on horseback, Roger and Brianna in a wagon. Claire is talking about peanuts—they seem to have gathered bushels—and making peanut butter is on her mind. She admits to not having figured out how to make ice cream yet, but she will. She wants her grandchild, Jemmy, to have these essential foods from the future.
The foursome get a whiff of something burning and find a house in ruins with several dead bodies inside. Claire pulls a broken arrow tip from one of the bodies, which indicates that Indians attacked the house, but Jamie doubts it.
The group separates to search for survivors.
Of course, it is Roger who discovers the horrifically burned child, a little girl lying panting on the ground. This scene is graphic and chilling. She is small, likely five or six years old, and the makeup job is too authentic and turns the stomach. Rogers croaks out Jamie’s name to come to his aid, which he does, but neither man calls for the two women (Claire and Brianna) to join them. The disfigured child is still breathing but clearly won’t survive her injuries. Jamie prepares to do the merciful thing, but Roger stops him. Since he found her, he will end her suffering. Roger then, while weeping, suffocates the little girl as Jamie recites a prayer.
This startingly devasting scene sets the tone for the episode.
After the opening credits, the vignette is a flashback to a scene from last season. Claire returning to Scotland from the 1960s is removing Saran Wrap from a peanut butter and jelly sandwich Brianna made for her journey—thus the name of the episode, Journeycake.
At Fraser’s Ridge, Jemmy and Young Ian are playing outdoors with a large stone. It is the one that Claire usually wears around her neck, I believe, given to her by Otter Tooth. Suddenly, Jemmy complains that the stone he is holding is hot. He passes it to Ian, who tells him he’s wrong, it’s cool to the touch. Ian hands the stone back to the child, but an instant later, the stone cracks in half and Jemmy drops it to the ground. Meanwhile, Brianna hears Jemmy’s wee yelps and rushes to the child.
Then Jemmy puts his hands over his ears and says I can hear it. Roger and Brianna (and Claire) touch the stone, and it is warm (not hot, but warm). Jamie and Ian feel nothing but a stone cool to the touch.
Is it possible that Jemmy can pass through the stones? More importantly, does this prove Jemmy is Roger’s son?
Before we can fully digest this information, a group of men rides toward the house. Mr. Brown and his brother are recruiting men to form a patrol for what they assume is a potential confrontation with an Indian tribe.
Since these men responded when Jamie called them to join his militia, they expect Jamie to gather the men of Fraser’s Ridge. Jamie isn’t too keen on leaving Fraser’s Ridge. Meanwhile, Claire notices that Mr. Brown has an injury on his leg and offers, okay, demands that she take a look and fix him up because it appears infected. A reluctant Mr. Brown limps into the house for treatment.