This week's "Outlander" episode "Monsters and Heroes" is arguably the best of the season so far. Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe are wonderful in their sensitive and tender performances. Rick Rankin is especially wonderful, and Lauren Lyle and John Hunter Bell put their hearts into their performances; even though it was shot a few months before COVID-19 came along and upended our lives, I couldn't help but see parallels with what is happening in the world today.

Dr. Claire Fraser (Balfe), a 20th century surgeon, is now fighting a deadly disease in the 18th century without the necessary tools. Just as today's frontline doctors and nurses are changing their practices and protocols to combat coronaviruses, Claire is forced to adapt what is before her. She is not facing a pandemic. All she is trying to save is the life of her husband, Jamie Fraser (Hughan), a single life. But, in what seems to be an echo of what today's heroic medical professionals say, Claire knows she was meant to be a healer. That is my mission and will remain so until the day I die."

The story begins with an ordinary day. The women dye cloth and the men go hunting. Jamie shoots a herd of buffalo that he and his son-in-law Roger (Rankin) were chasing. While reloading, they are bitten by a venomous snake. Roger is in a sense a first responder, sucking out the venom and keeping it alive all night until Jamie is rescued. Both Rankin and especially Heughan give convincing performances. Knowing that Jamie may face death, he tells Roger. 'If I die...' Tell Bree I'm happy for her. Give my sword to that girl. Tell Claire that I meant it," Roger is distraught, and prays, "I'm sorry." Lord, hear my voice, don't let this man die". How many such prayers are offered today?

When Jamie is finally brought to Claire's operating room, she is shocked. His leg is swollen and inflamed. I've never seen anything like this." Jamie tells her that she needs to work on her bedside manner, while keeping her sense of humor intact. Claire manages to distill the penicillin. However, she has no way to inject it because a vengeful, ignorant man has broken her only syringe. She may have to amputate her leg to save Jamie's life. He knows this and tells her he would rather die than live without his leg. Balfe expresses the agonizing choice before him with subtle nuance. This is fiction. But for me, it was a reminder of the terrible choice doctors face today. To intubate or not to intubate. To intubate or not to intubate, to try a treatment that has not been proven to be harmful. To expose myself to a deadly virus or not.

The most emotional scene, the crux of the episode, is when Jamie, slowly dying, asks Claire to sleep beside him. To touch him. Realizing how close he is to death, she takes off her nightgown, lies naked on top of him, clings to him, and begs him not to die. 'Don't go. Stay with me." Only the power of her love calls him back and makes him accept the loss of his legs in order to live.

But there is another MacGyver moment: Roger saves the snake's head, and Brianna realizes she can make a makeshift syringe from the snake's hollow teeth. Claire is able to inject penicillin into Jamie's bloodstream and save his leg. Later, in a tender scene, Jamie tells her that he chose not to die because he knew she needed him. 'Isn't it because you love me?' He replies to her in words that many can relate to in this crisis. 'Whether I die or you die. Whether we are together or apart. I will always love you. Love in the face of death. Human ingenuity. The courage to do what needs to be done. This episode contained it all.