Outlander’s latest episode, Carnal Knowledge, addressed the tricky fallout following Claire (played by Caitriona Balfe) and Lord John Grey’s (David Berry) impossible decision after it was believed Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) was lost at sea.
They were both thrilled when Claire’s husband made a miraculous return at the end of last week’s instalment, albeit still in danger as he’s pursued by the redcoats.
However, his arrival didn’t come soon enough to prevent a grief-stricken Claire from getting married to Lord Grey, who harbours his own affections for Jamie, to shield her from the British Army.
To make matters more awkward for the trio, Lord Grey must confess to Jamie that, in the throes of mourning, they spent a night in bed together, both imagining they were making love to him.
Once the episode had wrapped up on Friday (December 13th), several fans took to social media to criticise Jamie’s reaction to the confession, which began with a swift punch to Lord Grey’s face.
One fan fumed: “Jamie being Dramatic! about Claire and John having been together. So pig headed.
“He’s making himself and everyone miserable without listening to these people he loves and respects. I thought Claire made him understand but NO!”
Jamie eventually relents, but not until he puts things right with Claire by having sex with her himself. Claire seems to enjoy it, but some viewers certainly didn’t.
The same comment continued: “Jamie has to ask about the form of sex. SO not called for.
“And claiming he’d be ‘within his rights’ to kill John. Jamie – you’re better than that. Don’t be an a**hole.”
Another viewer even thought Jamie was acting out of character, writing: “Jamie was just acting like a troglodyte throughout, and his capitulations at the end seemed superficial and insincere.
“The acting was uniformly good but the character motivations seemed out of sync, to me.”
A third fan made a salient point: “So Claire should have totally brought up Laoghaire (Nell Hudson) in this episode and Jamie marrying her after Culloden and her trying to have Claire burned as a witch!!!
“I am on team LJG; who has only tried to help since the beginning!! Jamie stop being crazy jealous and get the point!!”
Someone else confessed they weren’t a fan of the Frasers’ physical reunion, writing: “I feel like that’s the first sex scene in the series where I didn’t feel any chemistry between Claire and Jamie.”
And a final fan agreed: “I didn’t like the sex scene either.. After being apart it was just weird for me… I miss season 1-3 love scenes.”
Has Claire and Jamie’s relationship changed for good? And has Lord Grey survived after he fled into the woods and a gunshot is heard? Find out next week.
Outlander season seven part two continues Fridays on MGM+ via Prime Video in the UK and on Starz in the US.