Outlander's Jamie Makes A Deal With An Unlikely Devil — Read Episode 5 Recap

Remember Benjamin Cleveland, the anti-Tory vigilante who tried to recruit Jamie to his cause a few "Outlander" episodes back? He figures prominently in this week's outing, which finds Jamie dodging Loyalist forces on his own land in a fight to the near-death. 

But Jamie — who, granted, is a patriot — hated Cleveland and everything he stood for, right? There's no way Fraser would throw in with a man who'd hang first, ask questions later... right? 

Meanwhile, Roger gets a taste of war, and Brianna gets a taste of what her life would be like without him. Read on for the highlights of "Send for the Devil."

The hour begins with Jamie and Claire watching Buck playing with the kids "Did you tell him that we killed his father?" she wonders. "No," Jamie says, "nor did I tell him that you killed his mother." (Side note: Anyone else forget that detail? Those cave scenes were a nutty little side quest, eh?) Anyway, Claire nods. "Good," she says. "Let's keep that to ourselves, shall we?"

Soon after, Buck hears a noise in the woods and sends the kids running to the house for safety. But he and Jamie stand down when they see it's Mr. Whittaker — the father of the twins Claire delivered earlier this season — with a warning: Capt. Cunningham is coming for Jamie. Whittaker says he and some Cherokee that he was hunting with were recruited to join a loyalist militia; the man who wanted them to become part of the cause said that Cunningham would be in charge of the ridge very soon. Oh, and also? Cunningham wants to attack and kidnap Jamie, so he can be hanged "for show." Whittaker gives him some more details, but all you really need to know: Jamie is in capital-D Danger.

In Savannah, in the gazebo, William tries to flirt with Amaranthus and fails miserably. "I have developed a particular species of feeling for you," he says, which she calls out for the terrible line that it is. He adds he's been thinking that they should get married, and he could give their son his title. She's into it, but she says they don't need to be husband and wife in order to "give it a go." Amarathus, you little beetle-embroidering minx! She puts his hand on her knee, he dives it under her skirts, and after a few kisses, he has her writhing on his lap — which is, truthfully, the most James Fraser's son he's ever been.

But, because William's gotta William, you just know this is going to get messy fast. We'll come back to him in just a minute.

Brianna distracts herself from worrying about Roger, who still hasn't returned from the colonial camp, by working on the portraiture Lord John commissioned. As she's painting William, she asks him if he's actually gotten to spend any time with Jamie. He admits that he really hasn't, save the time Jamie spent helping him try to rescue Fanny from that terrible Redcoat. Bree shares that she has a very similar story — didn't know Jamie was her dad until she was 19, didn't meet him until a few years later, everyone (including Claire) lied to her about it — and William is stunned. "How did you overcome it?" he asks, tears in his eyes. "I got to know our father," she replies.

Meanwhile, Roger gets a sword and a Continental army uniform, and falls right into the rhythms of the men he's joined. He writes Brianna a letter explaining why he's going to fight — he wonders if it's how his father felt as he joined the Royal Air Force — then puts the missive in his jacket and prays as they march out of camp.

Bree's anxiety continues to rise; she eventually confesses to William that Roger is with the opposing army. And little does she know, Roger is, at that exact moment, ministering to a soldier who's dying as his intestines spill out out his abdomen and into his hand. After that man shuffles off this mortal coil, Roger notices one of the regiment's drummer boys felled at the base of a nearby tree. He carries him to the field hospital, where the doctor who attends to him is none other than... Denny! While the Quaker physician digs a bullet out of the kid's neck, Roger prays with him; once Denny says the kid (whose name, we learn, is Christophe) will likely be OK, Roger runs back into the fighting — and promptly gets knocked out by an explosion. As he falls, he flashes back to being a child during The Blitz in World War II.

That night, Brianna is spiraling: The battle is over, but there's no sign of Roger. Though Lord John makes inquiries on her behalf, she says she can't wait: William says he'll accompany her to the camp at first light.

The next morning, Roger prays over the soldiers who died in the fight. As he finishes, he sees Bree in the camp and runs to her. They embrace and kiss before she slaps his chest and yells at him for scaring the bejesus out of her. Then Roger introduces her to Denny, and then William's appearance marks the first time that Roger and Jamie's son meet.

And THEN, William is shocked to see that his cousin, Ben, is alive and well in the colonial camp. But wait, why is Grey wearing an enemy uniform? William goes from elated to irate in 10 seconds, then punches Amaranthus' husband.

After Whittaker leaves, Jamie, Claire and Buck strategize. They theorize that Cunningham will attack Jamie outside the ridge's Masonic lodge. With Jamie's militia still in the preliminary stages, he realizes that he'll have to intercept the armed group coming to help Cunningham. So he gives Josiah a sealed letter and sends him off on a mysterious mission.

Jamie heads out to the lodge, reassuring Claire that he has a plan to deal with Cunningham's threat. "Plans fail," she says, miserable but resigned to the danger in their midst. He reminds her that he'll have his Ardsmuir men there to back him, and Jo out on his secret charge. And if things go sideways, he'll still fight like hell. Can you blame Claire for slugging back some whiskey and cleaning her surgical tools in preparation after he goes?

She's surprised, then, when Elspeth Cunningham shows up at the door. Elspeth knows what her son has planned, and Claire fills her in that the Frasers are aware, as well. So with the knowledge that the men in their lives are out to get each other, the women pray. But then Elspeth starts spouting off about how Jamie has "earned" his execution because he's a traitor, and I'm not real sure why Claire doesn't kick her suck-a-lemon face outta there.

At the same time, Jamie sneaks out during the final prayer at the end of a charged lodge meeting. The brief headstart gives him the ability to run and grab a gun Lizzie hid in a hollow tree, then meet up with his men in the forest. "Any man in these woods is a traitor to me," Mac Dubh instructs his supporters, reminding them that Cunningham wants to capture him alive, so Jamie and his men shouldn't start killing at will.

Then Jamie advances to find Cunningham, who is so sure he won't die until the time his son predicted (in five years' time), that he goes at Jamie with the strength and fury of a crazy person. Eventually, Cunningham says he's changed his mind, and he's planning to deliver Jamie to the British dead instead of alive. Just when it looks like it's lights out for Big Red, Buck shoots Cunningham from behind.

Claire is relieved when her husband returns home, injured but not as badly as Cunningham, who is laid out on her table with a low-back wound that makes him unable to move his legs. Claire removes the ball and then moves on to patching up Jamie, who admits he nearly died in the fight. Then the sound of hoofbeats has everyone grabbing a gun and bracing for an attack. But it's just Jo, who's there with Cleveland and his men: Unfortunately, the band of Brit-hating vigilantes are now Jamie's best bet. "Send for the devil," Claire says wryly, "the devil appears."

Now it's your turn. What did you think of the episode? Sound off in the comments!