Outlander recap: 'The Bakra' 

After a spate of slow-moving episodes that felt like so much narrative water-treading, tonight’s hour felt positively jam-packed with plot. Indeed, “The Bakra” had everything: goats’ blood, errant sapphires, long-lost frenemies, and powdered wigs. Where do we start?

fashion — in which time really is a flat circle — we begin months earlier in the moments following Ian’s capture by the crew of the

. The men contemplate feeding Jamie’s nephew to the pigs but decide to save him for “the Bakra” back in Jamaica, seeing as the Bakra likes young boys. So when the ship finally reaches land, Ian is thrown into a pit with a few other young men to await his fate. He’s told by his new acquaintance Henry that there used to be six of them, but that one by one they were called in to see the Bakra and never returned. So when Ian’s up, he’s obviously nervous. He’s ushered into a room in which he watches a woman emerge from a pool of blood. But it’s no ordinary woman — it’s Geillis Duncan! A blond Geillis Duncan. (Bakra means “white person.”)

“Don’t worry, it’s only goats’ blood,” she tells the dumbfounded teen. “Protein and iron keeps my skin young.”

Geillis washes off and sits with Ian to enjoy a tray of food. Ian tries to ask what has become of the other boys from the pit, but Geillis insists he eat first, plying him with pastries and tea.

As he scarfs down the treats, Geillis inquires about the box (her box) that the men confiscated from Ian. Specifically, she wants to know where the missing sapphire is. Ian says he doesn’t know, but then a curious look crosses his face. Unable to contain himself, he blurts out that maybe his uncle took it. He looks chagrined, but is powerless: Geillis’ tea is actually a truth serum brewed by a witch doctor. So when Geillis then asks who his uncle is, Ian divulges: Jamie Fraser, a name Geillis knows well. And knowing Jamie, she’s certain he (and perhaps that sapphire) will soon turn up in Jamaica.

Ian once more insists that he needs to know about the other boys.

“I have my way with them,” Geillis explains. “Virgins have such power inside them.” And after that, she has no more use for them. Ian points out that he is not a virgin.

“Good,” she answers. “You’ll know what to do then.”