Outlander (TV Series) The Devil's Mark (2015) User Reviews

Perfect episode, exactly what I wanted when I heard the premise of the show.

[TouchTheGarlicProduction · 10/10 · 6 January 2016]

This episode is my favourite along with "The Garrison Commander". It was packed with an equal mix of shocks and touching moments. After being captured last episode, Claire and Geillis are put on trial for being witches. With Jamie and Dougall away, they have no escape, so they have to try and win a trial they have already lost.

This is great because it is a pure dose of the exact reason I love the show; a 20th century woman equipped only with her knowledge of history and medicine trying to survive in 16th century Scotland. I loved the early episodes, because that's what they gave me. Any slip up she made could result in her death. This resulted in great tension and smart writing.

But, as it went along, the show really became all about Jamie and Claire's love story. I was nervous going into this show that it would be just that. This is why I didn't enjoy the wedding episode at all. I'm not opposed to the idea of a this being a romance story, but I didn't find Jamie to be a particularly interesting character. He's just too perfect, protecting Claire at every turn. This robbed the show of tension and removed the aspect of this woman using only her wit to survive that I loved so much. The show just became a loop of Claire getting into a bad situation, and Jamie rescuing her.

I've heard that their romance is much better in the books, that the screenwriters of the show just aren't as good at dialogue as the author. And, to the writers' credit, I finally bought Claire and Jamie's romance by the end of this episode. If they can maintain the balance of this episode, I feel like both I and the book readers will be happy.

The episode was pretty much perfect. So many running threads converged perfectly. It had several great twists. I wasn't a fan of the very end of the episode, but that's me talking. It think the end is exactly what most fans wanted. It's nothing to do with the show-runners, and more with the author of the books.

Great episode

[sampster5000-256-820042 · 9/10 · 17 June 2019]

Great episode, I think my favorite to this point. But how did Jamie know Claire was on trial if he got sent away? My only critique is that this would have been explained.

How to Set Up a Beautiful Romance

[jmansmannstjohnslrev · 10/10 · 27 February 2021]

The thing that endears me to this series so much is its consistency, its payoff, its willingness to put in the hard work to make it believable. Sam and Caitriona do that, their chemistry, their ability, their talent bring Jamie and Claire to life in a way that you begin to forget your watching a tv show. And its not just in this episode, but in every moment leading up to now, you see why when Claire decides to stay in the past after almost being burned as a witch, you don't roll your eyes, or suck your teeth, because everything in this show is relatable, and real.

This episode is one of the first where it feels like the time travel aspect of the show is prominent. We've seen it off to the side in the past, but never was it more prominent than it was here. The witch trial is really an analogue for some of the same problems we face today, how to explain the unexplainable. Even in modern times, we have our conspiracy theories. To people like Laghorie, its easier to blame Claire for her loss of Jaime than her own shortcomings, to accept that he rejected her. To Father Bain, its easier to blame a witch for your failure to save the boy than to question the doctrine of your church and of god. But the witch trial really serves as a way to solidify Claire and Jaime's attachment.

Geillis Duncan is confident at the start of the witch trial that Dougal loves her, that he will come back to save her and his own child. Claire knows that Jaime and Dougal have been sent away, and has little hope that she will survive. It is a testament to Claire's character that she again refuses to betray her friend, rather burning at the stake with Geillis than betraying her. That's what makes it all the more poignant when Jamie barges in, ready to give his life to defend Claire. That's a key comparison in this episode. Geillis believes that Dougal loves her, yet he doesn't appear at the witch trial. Claire is not sure whether she loves Jaime or not, but he nonetheless appears to save her.

Of course this leads to the game changing scene when Claire finally tells Jaime the truth about her, and man, have I mentioned that Cait and Sam are amazing. You can see that Claire is at her breaking point, yet she through all of her trials with Jaime, she trusts him enough to tell him the truth, even though she doubts he'll believe her. God, the look on Sam's face when she first says she's from the future is just incredible. As a viewer you can imagine the thoughts racing through his head, shock, confusion, maybe fear? So much is encapsulated in the span of a few seconds, and Jaime again proves his worth by believing her. He doesn't understand everything, but he trusts her. And it's believable because of all the work that was put in, every encounter between Jaime and Claire building a relationship up to now. It doesn't feel like a stretch to believe that Jaime loved Claire and was with her enough to be willing to trust her.

Then, true to form with Outlander, it becomes heartbreaking, because with the truth comes the realization that Claire had attempted to go back after her marriage to Jaime. It is so hard to watch knowing that Jaime is madly in love with Claire, not only has he said it, but you've seen it so many times, at the witch trial, Fort William, in rejecting Laghorie's advances. The way Jaime just pleasures Claire and watches her on the last night before bringing her to the stones is just absolutely enthralling, even for someone who isn't normally a fan of romance. And then the scene at the stones, Jaime's willingness to put aside his own feelings to do what's best for Claire, to allow her to go back to her own time, the pain on his face as he tells her there is nothing there for her. Have I mentioned that Sam is an amazing actor in this paragraph, because the emotion he conveys is borderline insane, especially for a male actor. It is very rare in series such as this to see male characters so tender, but you can see every ounce of pain as Jaime gets closer to leaving Claire behind. He can't even turn around to look at her as he's leaving the stones; it would be too painful for him.

In the end, after a harrowing episode, Claire decides to stay in the past with Jaime and it absolutely works. Outlander is rewarded for taking the time to slowly build a relationship between these characters, to start out as two outsiders with a shared connection at Leoch, to friends, to spouses in an arranged marriage, and finally to two partners in a marriage. Claire's secret was really the last wall between them, the last big secret keeping them apart. A show like Outlander that gambles espousing the long arduous work of character building to the gimmicky plot twists and will-they-or-won't-they relationships that permeate tv deserves to be rewarded, and has been, with a sixth season on the way.

One of the best episodes

[keithbrink · 10/10 · 17 February 2021]

Claire and Gillis were so outstanding in this episode. Very tense with several twists. Hysterical religious crap from a superstitious time in history. Love the acting and sets in this episode,

Brilliant episode

[jdank37 · 10/10 · 7 May 2020]

After watching the first 10-15 min or so of this episode I wasn't that thrilled by it but by the end I was in tears

Great thing making fun of antivaxxers

[cipriandumitrache · 10/10 · 7 May 2022]

When I saw Miss Duncan telling the peasants that her vaccine scar is a devil's mark, I suddenly thinked of the today's antivaxxers who are ultra-christian and think that everything related to the modern medicine is related to the devil.

Good series, kept me in tension.

Wow now I'm fully hooked

[cpcyqtzn · 10/10 · 23 June 2021]

This show was good but this episode had me on the edge of my seat all the way through, way past my bedtime, and now I'm fully hooked. Suspenseful life and death trial along with a huge reveal for Jaime leading to an ending that led me to having to leave this review. Highly recommend 👍👍

Worn out witch-trial trope

[savvypatachonica · 3 October 2020]

This series has really grown on me, despite (or maybe because of) the soap opera melodrama and lazy exposition via wedged-in voiceover inner monologues, but I'm surprised this episode got such high marks. It was the first time in the entire series I felt like skipping over scenes... I resisted, just barely. Not awful, and it ended in a decent place but the first 25 minutes were a bit irritating and tedious. Nothing to spoil... witch trial says it all. You've seen it before, folks. (And in better form.)

Episode was packed with OMG moments!!

[joey_isham · 9/10 · 28 July 2022]

By far the BEST episode up until this point. Secrets revealed. Intense. Suspenseful. Lawyer Ned was awesome in the trial. Huge secret comes out of nowhere involving Ms. Duncan. The ending shocks me. (SPOILER) I guess it's safe to assume Frank has officially been dumped??

Claire is Claire's problem

[fh_3 · 6/10 · 18 March 2020]

Great writing but 80% of Clair's problems are Claire. She needs to remember when she is and how to act at times.

1x11 review

[jackDee-56565 · 7/10 · 14 October 2020]

It was a fun episode but overall it still hurts the hot streak of episodes before it but hey a lot happened before this episode so I guess it was logical to have this sort of episode