Outlander S4 E11: If Not For Hope

Claire & Jamie from Outlander, Season 4. They're clad in frontier garb and are standing on rocks with a forest in the background.TW: For mentions of rape and also racism.

Previously on Outlander, Roger escaped from the Mohawk and found a circle of stones in the forest similar to Craigh na Dun. He hears a buzzing sound coming from the stones and reaches his hand out to touch them.

The show opens with a still badly injured Roger standing underneath a hot shower in a modern bathroom. He steps out of the shower and wipes the steam from the mirror; behind him is a Mohawk warrior. Suddenly we snap back to the past where Roger has been washing himself in a river. The warrior tells him that they’re leaving and not to attempt escape again.

PSYCHE!

After that we get the opening credits and the title card which is a series of drawings of the slaves of River Run laid out on a desk.

Bree sits at a table drawing by candlelight

We cut over to Bree at River Run. She’s drawing at a long table and Lizzie brings her something to eat.

Lizzie is disturbed by the dark themes in Bree’s drawings (faces seemingly in agony), and she blames herself for Bree’s emotional state. Bree tells her that it’s not her fault and that’s working through a lot of anger.

“What about your father?” Lizzie asks. “Will you forgive him as well?”

Bree says that even if she could forgive him for nearly killing Roger, she can’t forgive the things he said to her (that she lied about the rape).

We cut over to Jamie and Claire on the road.  Ian has learned that the Mohawk are likely taking Roger to their village of Shadow Lake, which is a two month ride away. We get a montage of them riding through the forest and making camp.

Claire against a forest background. Her horse is standing behind her. She looks worried.

As she’s unrolling her bedroll, Ian asks Claire if she’s still angry with Jamie (and by extension him). Claire says that she is not, but that’s worried about Bree and Roger, and that Ian will understand someday when he has kids.

Jamie looks over at them, his expression tense. It’s clear things are not good between our main couple.

We cut over to Williamsburg where Fergus is inquiring about Bonnet. A man tells him that he expects Bonnet to be back in a week, but tells Fergus, “But you’re wasting your breath if you expect Stephen Bonnet to take on a man with one arm.”

When he returns home Marsali asks him if he found work. Fergus tells her that due to his missing hand, he’s viewed as less than a man and there’s no work for someone like him. Marsali looks into the next room where Murtagh is talking with a man.

“They’ve been in there for hours,” she muses.

She says she doesn’t like Murtagh being there searching for a killer when he’s already a wanted man because of his work with the Regulators.

We cut to River Run where a very pregnant Bree is reclining in a chair.

Bree reclines in a chair in front of a fireplace. She looks pensive.

Phaedre enters the room and tells Bree that her Aunt Jocasta will be hosting a dinner and Bree needs to be fitted for a new dress in order to hide her “condition” from the fancy guests.

Phaedre is holding up some fabric to the light, and Bree asks her to hold still while she draws her. “You’re beautiful,” Bree says.

Phaedre is clearly uncomfortable with the compliment and with being drawn.

Phaedre tells Bree about the dinner party

Later Jocasta gives Bree some earrings to wear to the dinner. Bree explains that she doesn’t want to go. Jocasta tells her that she’s sympathetic to the fact that Bree has nothing to do but worry about Roger and her parents, but that some company might distract her from her fears.

Jocasta tells Bree about her grandmother, Ellen, who was also a talented artist, a painter. She was an independent woman who married for love, waiting until later in life to settle down.

Bree cheers up. “You’re right. Conversation is good for a worried mind.”

Back in Williamsburg Marsali “accidentally” wakes a sleeping Murtagh. She tells him that if his work with the Regulators comes to violence, she wants him to ask Fergus to fight beside him.

“Marriage not all you hoped it would be, lass?” Murtagh teases. “If you want to be rid of him, I could take him out back and…”

“If I wanted him shot, I’d do it myself,” Marsali replies.

Murtagh holds up his hand to indicate Fergus’s missing one. “Lass, his…”

Marsali says she knows and that’s why she’s asking. “I’ll have a whole man, or none at all,” she tells him.

Now we’re back at River Run. Jocasta presents Bree to the assembled guests. Bree looks gorgeous in the dress Phaedre adjusted for her.

Bree comes down the staircase to meet the assembled guests.

One of the guests, Mr. Forbes, asks Bree how she passes her time at River Run, and she replies that she draws. She says she recently finished a portrait of Phaedre.

Forbes’ sister asks if she means Phaedre from mythology, and Jocasta interrupts and says yes. Then another guests observes that Jocasta has a slave named Phaedre.

“You mean to say you draw negros?” an older woman asks.

Jocasta introduces her as Mrs. Alderdyce.

“I draw whatever inspires me,” Bree says.

Mrs. Alderdyce’s son says, “Very courageous. I’d love to see it.”

“I could have Ulysses fetch it,” she offers.

“Oh, good heavens no,” Mrs. Alderdyce protests. “To think you’d choose that as your subject in a beautiful place such as this! Why not a landscape.”

Oh, fuck you, lady.

“Young folk today,” Jocasta mutters.

Lt. Wolf kisses Bree’s hand and offers to take her to visit the local sites one day. Then Mr. Forbes steps up and asks to show her something. It’s crazy awkward. They all go into the parlor and Mr. Forbes shows her four lovely gemstones. He asks which pleases her most, as he’s planning on having one fashioned into a gift and he’d value her opinion.

Before she can reply,  Lord John Grey arrives. He explains that he’s an acquaintance of her parents.

We cut back to Williamsburg. Murtagh asks Fergus to join the Regulators’ militia.

“You’ve courage, and I trust you,” he says.

Fergus says he’s honored, but his place is at home with Marsali and the baby. Marsali rushes into the room and says Bonnet’s ship has arrived. As then men rush out, she stops Murtagh and thanks him.

Back to the dinner party at River Run.

Lord John is being charming and it’s annoying Lt. Wolf and Mr. Forbes.

Bree plays a game where she has them imagine themselves in a forest clearing with a person, where they stumble across an animal. Then she has them go around the table and tell them who and what the imagined, and she tells them what it means symbolically.

Mr. Alderdyce says he was walking with Christ and came upon a squirrel. Bree observes he may be seeking forgiveness or reassurance. Since squirrels hoard things away, he’s specifically looking for forgiveness or reassurance regarding secrets he’s keeping.

The other guess are delighted at the game. Mr. Alderdyce excuses himself.

“Well, well,” Mr. Forbes says, “there may be something in this after all.”

She asks Lord John who was in the forest with him, and he says “your father.” He tells her that Jamie wrote to him, asking him to look in on her. Bree asks if Jamie was more specific than that, and Lord John says that her father is an honorable man and would never share something she didn’t wish to divulge.

“Don’t tell me about my father’s honor,” she says coldly and then gets up and says she needs air.

Mr. Forbes offers to talk with her and tell her about who he imagined in the forest. Lt. Wolf looks irritated. Suddenly Bree faints. Lord John escorts her into the parlor.

Lizzie comes into the room says, “Oh Mistress! I was so worried when I heard you’d fainted! In your condition!”

THANKS LIZZIE.

“Am to understand you are to be a mother?” Lord John asks quietly.

Bree tells him about how she was handfasted to Roger, with no witnesses, and that he was traded to the Mohawk.

Lord John, master of the understatement.

Lord John says that is a predicament

After the guests leave or retire to their rooms, Bree and Jocasta talk. Bree asks if Jocasta is looking to find her husband, and if that’s why three of the guests are unmarried men. Jocasta confirms that she was playing matchmaker.

Bree says she doesn’t want a husband.

“You have a bairn coming, your time to be particular is long past. You have nothing, not a penny to your name, a name at risk of being tarnished at that. You have to think of your future, your security. A marriage to one of these men will be of great benefit to you,” Jocasta says.

Jocasta further explains that it’s not just Bree she’s thinking of. If the baby is born outside of wedlock, it will be branded a bastard and it will face more hardship in life. She tells Bree that she needs accept that Roger is likely dead.

Back in Williamsburg, Fergus and Murtagh wait in a pub for Bonnet to appear. They follow Bonnet to his room, where Murtagh holds him at gunpoint. He smashes Bonnet on the head with the butt of the pistol and they drag him out.

We cut to Bree in bed, shifting restlessly. She sneaks out of her room for some cookies and a glass of water, but hears strange noises in the hall. She finds Lord John and Mr. Alderdyce having sex in the linen closet.

In Williamsburg, Fergus and Murtagh are tying up Bonnet when they are caught. The men recognize Murtagh and Bonnet as wanted men. Fergus escapes.

Back to River Run (my head is spinning here, folks). Phaedre wakes up Bree and tells her that she needs to look her best as it seems like Mr. Forbes wants to propose to her. Bree says she’ll meet him in about an hour.

She finds Lord John and flat out asks him to marry her.

Lord John is like “Uh….”

Bree says if he refuses she’ll reveal that she saw him and Mr. Alderdyce having sex.

“My life would be ruined,” he says.

“Then I’ll tell Jamie,” she replies.

“That’s assuming he doesn’t already know,” Lord John replies. “I am almost tempted to submit to your outrageous proposal. It would certainly teach you to play with fire.”

Lord John is pissed

Lord John tells Bree I am almost tempted to submit to your outrageous proposal

There is palpable sexual tension between them.

“You mean you…with women too?” Bree asks. Apparently she has no idea what bisexuality is.

He tells her that he’s perfectly capable of carrying out his husbandly duties.

“I’m sorry, Brianna, but I cannot marry you,” Lord John says. He tells her that he has faith in Jamie and Claire, and that they will bring Roger home to her.

Bree tells him about the rape, and that Roger might not want to marry her or claim her child. She tells him that the rapist is Stephen Bonnet.

“Mr. Forbes is about propose,” she says. “If I marry him, I’ll be exchanging hope for a broken heart. But I’ll do what I must for my child. I’ll do what I must.”

Bree returns to the house where Mr. Forbes is waiting with Jocasta.

Before Mr. Forbes can propose, Lord John strides in and says , “Thank you for waiting, my dear. Have you told them our good news?”

He tells everyone that he and Bree are engaged. Mr. Forbes looks crushed and strides out. Jocasta is shocked but pleased.

Back on the trail for Roger, Ian is trying to pull something out of Rollo’s mouth. Rollo is like “NO IZ MINE NOW.” It’s a human bone. They follow Rollo to a shallow grave. Claire thinks the man has been dead for at least a month. Ian realizes that this man was with Roger when he was sold to the Mohawk. They search for Roger’s remains but find nothing.

Claire fetches water from a stream

Back at River Run, Bree and Lord John sit on the porch and talk. Lord John explains that he’s raising a child that isn’t his, but that he loves him more than life itself. He says he thinks Roger will feel the same way about her/their baby and tells her to have hope.

We cut back to Claire and Jamie. They are in their tent, and Claire tells Jamie that she’s upset but not with him. She’s mad at “everyone, the world, Stephen Bonnet.” Jamie feels like he’s a failure as a father, and that he’s jealous of Frank. “Frank made plenty of mistakes,” Claire tells him.

They kiss and then Claire climbs into his bedroll with him and they make love.

The next morning we see Roger being led into a Mohawk village. He walks between two lines of men who hit him with sticks and punch him. That’s where the episode ends.

I don’t know why but this felt like the longest episode ever, probably because of all the time jumps. I feel like we covered a lot of ground in a relatively compressed amount of time.

I’m most invested in Claire and Jamie finding Roger, probably because that’s where the most action and tension is. I could do without Jocasta matchmaking although it makes total sense. One thing that was never explained, and I’m curious if it was in the book, is how Jocasta and Bree planned to tell Bree’s future husband about the baby. When we see Bree in her nightgown, she’s obviously pregnant, and even if she had accepted Mr. Forbes proposal, they weren’t going to get married right that second. Her prospective husband would have to know about the baby.

Also there’s a great tension between Bree and Lord John, and now I want a TV show where they solve colonial crimes.

Two more episodes left. What did you think of this episode? Too much stuff happening or just right?

 

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General Bitching...

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  1. DonnaMarie says:

    Well, Murtaugh didn’t get his throat slit, which was my fear for the episode. We’re in uncharted territory here, as Murtaugh’s presence is a sop to the fans.

    There’s a lot of not necessarily true to the books going on this season. Maybe that’s why I’m enjoying the Fraser’s road trip and Roger’s experience more. If only he could have run the gauntlet…

  2. Claudia says:

    I don’t think that in the books Jocasta lets anyone know what she intended to do re. letting the future husband know about the baby. At least not it’s not spelled out.

    I always took it to mean that the future husband would be eventually informed and/or probably knew and didn’t care since Bree and baby would be heirs to River Run.

  3. Elaine says:

    I read Drums of Autumn a while ago, but my recollection is that the pregnancy was very much an open secret during the matchmaking stuff. I could be wrong, but I think Bree was further along to the point where no clever tailoring could hide it. But Jocasta made it clear to all the suitors that Bree was her heir now, so the financial incentive overruled the social stigma.

  4. Gail says:

    Jocasta did let it out that Bree was her heir, so who wouldn’t want a piece of River Run.. Mrs Alderdyce, it seems, knew about her son, but she wanted grandchildren , and a ready made one didn’t faze her at all. She knew her son would never give her one… I did not like the scene with John and Alderdyce… John would never hump a quickie in a closet, he is too fastidious and would have found a bed. (as he did in the book). I agree there was to much jumping back and forth with the time scenes. Lord John agrees to have a fake engagement to Bree to keep the riff raff away until her parents get back, with Roger, hopefully. Did anyone notice Mr Wolff in the background… the old fool has his eyes on Jocasta, and wants River Run in the worst way.

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