Caitriona Balfe's 10 Best Scenes as Claire in Outlander

Season one, episode one

She may be alone, confused, and frightened out of her wits, but when Claire travels through the stones 200 years into the past, she still has the wherewithal to spit in the face of a British Redcoat. Balfe comes on strong in the series premiere as both she and Claire find their footing.

Season one, episode two

This is a small scene, but it has personal significance for us. You see, as book readers, when Balfe was announced as the actress playing Claire, we weren't sure about her — which we were obviously very, very wrong about. But anyway, the series premiere helped tremendously in us seeing Balfe as Claire, but it was this confrontation with Dougal Mackenzie (Graham McTavish) when Balfe truly becomes Claire for us.

Season one, episode eight

Our one big quibble with the first Outlander novel is that Frank (Tobias Menzies) isn't fleshed out enough to see at all why Claire has trouble between choosing between him and Jamie (Sam Heughan). Luckily, the show (and Menzies) make Frank very likable, and it is easy to see why Claire is so torn. It gives this scene in the season one midseason finale such emotional heft as Claire desperately tries to return to her own time, screaming Frank's name while he simultaneously calls for her 200 years in the future. It says a lot about their performances that it actually feels like a huge loss when Claire is pulled back by the Redcoats before she can return home.

Season two, episode one

In the season two premiere, Claire goes back through the stones and shows up after having been missing for two years. She is grieving the loss of Jamie, but she also has to be strong in the face of Frank and everyone else's complete shock at her return — and the fact that she's pregnant. Balfe is so, so good at navigating the emotional minefield that Claire is going through.

Season two, episode seven

It is stunning that Balfe didn't win a Golden Globe or an Emmy for her performance in "Faith," the episode where Claire miscarries her baby. The episode is a five-hankie tearjerker, as the despondent, desperate Claire cradles her baby's body and sings to her before finally having to say goodbye. We are tearing up just thinking about it.

Season three, episode five

Our relationship with Brianna as a character is hit or miss, but when she tells her mother she has to travel back in time to try to find Jamie, their subsequent goodbye is heart-rending. Sophie Skelton and Caitriona Balfe both hit it out of the park.

Bonus scene: this episode also features Frank's death, and Balfe also nails Claire's grief — grief for a man she did once love, grief for the past 20 years of her life without Jamie, grief for her daughter, who just lost the only father she's ever known. This is an all-around great episode for Balfe.

Season three, episode six

You didn't think we could have a list of Balfe's best scenes and not include her big romantic reunion with Jamie, did you? It is exceptionally well done. The show spends a luxurious amount of time on their printshop reunion, where both Balfe and Heughan run the gamut of emotions. Just beautiful.

Season four, episode six

In a lovely little episode, Lord John Grey (David Berry) and William (Oliver Finnegan) pay a visit to Fraser's Ridge. When Lord John falls ill, Jamie takes William hunting to keep him from getting sick, which gives Claire and John some time to have a good chat about their mutual feelings for Jamie. Balfe and Berry are excellent together, the tension thick in the air as they acknowledge how alike they are in some ways and grudgingly respect one another . . . while also kinda, sorta hating each other's guts.

Season four, episode nine

Claire seeing Jamie again after 20 years is a romantic, emotional reunion, but her reunion with her daughter is also right up there. In that scene, Balfe does a masterful job of conveying her surprise and delight at seeing Bree again but also her dismay that her daughter followed her into the past, a time that is fraught with danger and obstacles the modern day no longer has.

Season four, episode nine

Give it up to both Balfe and Skelton for this mother-daughter scene where Bree reveals that she was raped and is now pregnant and then later when Claire figures out Bree's attacker is Stephen Bonnet and confronts her about it. The two of them are so good together, conveying heartbreak and outrage and guilt all over the place. They are two complicated scenes that both actresses absolutely nail.