‘Outlander’: Jamie’s Mistake, Brianna’s Truth & Roger’s Discovery in ‘The Deep Heart’s Core’ (RECAP)
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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 4, Episode 10 of Outlander, “The Deep Heart’s Core.”]
If you were tuned into the Golden Globes and didn’t have time to catch the latest installment of Outlander, we wouldn’t blame you — star Caitriona Balfe was nominated, after all. But that means you’ll have to catch up on all of the Fraser family drama that went on in “The Deep Heart’s Core,” and we’re breaking everything down below, but beware of major spoilers ahead.
The episode opens up on a peaceful scene at Fraser’s Ridge as Brianna (Sophie Skelton) tends to the livestock when Jamie (Sam Heughan) approaches — he’s aware of her rape and pregnancy, revealing that Claire (Caitriona Balfe) told him. He then tries to speak with his daughter, asking if she knew the man who hurt her. But she shakes her head no, and Lizzie (Caitlin O’Ryan) passes by ending their conversation.
In order to try and get more information out of his daughter, Jamie asks Bree to join him while he checks snares in the woods, and she agrees. Once they’re alone, Bree asks Jamie if he hates her for being unwed and pregnant, he reassures her he does not — he cannot be mad about something that was done to her against her will.
Despite her love for Roger (Richard Rankin), Bree worries he may not want her considering she’s pregnant but Jamie assures her that he will if Roger’s honorable. Jamie even tells her that he’d go through the stones to talk sense into Roger if he could, and both are unaware that he’s the man Jamie beat. It’s then that Bree begins to blame herself for being raped, and Jamie repeatedly tries to convince her otherwise.
Jamie tries to prove a point by telling Brianna he thinks she may be lying about the rape — provoking her — saying that it wouldn’t be the first time a woman has lied to cover up a pregnancy. This leads Brianna to try and fight Jamie in anger but he quickly overpowers her, saying that he could end her life there before asking if she could escape. It becomes quickly apparent that Jamie is teaching her that she couldn’t have done anything when it came to her rape, he then tells her she was brave to not fight because in doing so the man probably would have killed her.
Sitting together on some nearby wood, Jamie asks Bree if she thinks she’s a coward because she couldn’t fight off her attacker, but she counters by asking him if he fought back against Black Jack Randall (Tobias Menzies). She reveals that Claire told her about his rape at Wentworth Prison (from Season 1), and he admits that he did it in order to protect Claire and that he’d do it again if need be. This leads Bree to ask if Jamie killed Black Jack Randall, admitting that she’s been wondering if killing her rapist would help.
She also brings up his duel with Randall and asks what he was trying to get back. When he says his honor, she questions why hers should be any different, but he warns against her desire for revenge. He recounts the battle of Culloden and tells her that he awoke on the battlefield with Randall’s corpse on top of him. He tells her that killing her rapist won’t do her any good because she’ll never forget what happened but time eventually heals the wounds.
Next we’re shown a glimpse of Roger’s current whereabouts — he’s seen walking along with a band of Native Americans who have him tied to rope cuffs alongside another man who is also a prisoner of some kind. Bruised from Jamie’s attack, Roger stumbles across the terrain as his captors ride horses, and when his companion prisoner begins to weaken, he forces the man to his feet.
Eventually, they reach camp for the night and Roger reveals he’s tracking the days to estimate how far they are going — north he determines — so that when they reach their destination he knows how to escape and return to Brianna. He says that he can’t die like this and he’ll do whatever he can to return to his wife. His fellow prisoner laughs at the hopeful man, claiming that he’ll need a longer rope to keep track of the days since they’ll likely be going far.
Later we return to Fraser’s Ridge where Claire is offering abortion as an option for Bree. She knows it will be painful and more invasive due to a lack of medicinal herbs, but she wants her daughter to know it’s a possibility. But time isn’t on Brianna’s side and Claire tells her daughter that she will have to decide soon since the baby will become too large if she waits too long.
Bree asks her mother if she ever considered aborting her, Claire immediately dispels the notion telling her daughter that she was wanted from the minute she learned about her. This leads Bree to ask Claire if there’s a chance the baby could be Roger’s, her mother admits it is possible. This forces Claire to tell her daughter that she would be better advised to go back to her own time if she chooses to keep the baby since trying to travel through the stones is uncertain with a small child. Claire knows you can travel through the stones pregnant, forcing her daughter to make an impossible decision.
With decisions to be made, life continues on at Fraser’s Ridge as Ian (John Bell) helps his cousin with some heavy pails, Jamie tells Bree that Ian’s smitten with her. Bree is quick to tell Jamie that he’s her cousin, which causes Jamie to question if that’s weird to love a cousin as more than a family member. She tells her father it is frowned upon in the future, but that she does enjoy having a cousin since she’s never had one before.
Later on, Bree observes Jamie watching Claire and he tells his daughter that Claire would grow roots in her garden if she could. Bree tells him that Frank used to say the same thing about Claire, that she would take to nature if she could, and Bree expresses her happiness in knowing that her mother is content and not alone. Jamie tells Bree he feels guilty for being the reason Claire left her but she assures him that she traveled to the past to find him too, not just her mother. After that, Bree and Claire share a sweet moment while folding laundry and daydreaming about modern luxuries and food like cheeseburgers, aspirin and toilets.
The light-hearted tone suddenly shifts when Bree dreams that she wakes up with Roger at her bedside, but he turns into Stephen Bonnet (Ed Speleers) who proceeds to attack her. When she awakens, Lizzie tells Bree she doesn’t need to worry because she knows the attacker can’t get her. Bree asks how she knows, and Lizzie tells her about Jamie and Ian’s dealing with her presumed attacker. Brianna quickly puts the pieces together — they attacked the wrong man.
Storming into the cabin, she asks where Roger is and everyone is confused by the question since they thought he had left. Bree proceeds to tell everyone that Jamie beat up Roger because of Lizzie’s error, and Claire calls out Jamie for lying that his injured hand was from making whiskey. Murtagh (Duncan Lacroix) suggests giving the family privacy, telling Ian he should leave them be, but Bree wants her cousin held responsible since he was part of the attack.
Jamie admits to beating Roger but adds that he genuinely didn’t know he’s the man Bree loves. He says that Lizzie told him the man had “ravished” her, but Bree denies this saying that he wasn’t the attacker. Eventually she reveals she did have relations with Roger after they were handfast which causes Jamie to retaliate claiming that Bree lied about her situation by calling it rape. Bree slaps him in return, telling him that she was raped but by a different man, and in finding this out, he vows to fix things, even if Bree isn’t willing to believe it.
When Ian asks who raped Bree, Claire shows them her wedding ring that had been stolen by Bonnet at the beginning of the season. Bree continues to press, asking again where Roger is. That’s when Ian reveals he sold him to the Mohawk and she slaps her cousin because of it. Jamie knocks over a chair in anger, but Bree argues that he isn’t allowed to be more angry than she is as she begins to suggest a rescue mission for Roger. Claire shares that the Mohawk live in upstate New York making any possibility of finding Roger extremely difficult and dangerous.
Meanwhile, we see that Roger’s companion prisoner has died and he’s alone with the natives. It’s a treacherous journey as he struggles to keep pace with his captors.
Bree asks if the Mohawk will kill Roger and Ian assures her it’s unlikely as long as he is of use to them. Ian reveals the necklace he received in exchange for Roger which will allow them to track the natives down. Bree suggests the whole Fraser group travel together, but everyone objects to bringing Bree in her state.
Claire pulls her daughter aside and asks if she’s made a decision about the baby and Bree says she plans on keeping it in case it turns out to be Roger’s. Even if it’s not, she insists she’ll still love him or her. It is then that Claire agrees to travel with Jamie and Ian in order to find Roger, agreeing that Roger will need a familiar face and medical attention after his ordeal.
Bree and Lizzie then set off with Murtagh for River Run, where they’ll stay until the rest of the Frasers return. On the side, Jamie asks Murtagh to track down Bonnet in Wilmington and bring the man to him because he plans on killing his daughter’s attacker.
As Roger continues his journey the knots he’s been tying as markers for the days has grown long implying that time is passing quickly. It is obvious that Roger’s frustrations are only building but nothing has given him a sign of hope… yet.
The Fraser’s prepare to part ways, and Claire assures Bree that there will plenty of midwives at River Run in case she’s not home to help her daughter with the birth. In return, Bree gives her mother a sketch of Roger to see if it will help in tracking him down and asks Claire to tell Roger everything when they find him. Before parting, Ian interrupts the mother and daughter to offer his hand in marriage to Bree in the case that they don’t find Roger and to make up for his involvement in selling Roger.
Jamie stops his nephew, telling Bree that she has his word that they will find Roger, and she tells him that she’ll hold him to that vow. After plenty of emotional goodbyes the two parties set off bringing us back to Roger.
Looking weaker than ever during his walk through the woods with the Mohawk, Roger ends up tripping down an embankment on the trail. Tethered to a single rope, he screams in pain as his hand appears to get crushed by the pressure of the binding. Suddenly his hand slips free leaving him to tumble down the rest of the hill. When he reaches the bottom, he sets off running as the Mohawk begin their pursuit. Ultimately it appears that Roger is in the free and clear as the Mohawk pass his hiding spot unaware of his presence.
Meanwhile, Murtagh, Bree and Lizzie arrive at River Run and are escorted into the premises, where Ulysses (Colin McFarlane) brings Murtagh and Bree to see Aunt Jocasta (Maria Doyle Kennedy). There, Ulysses reveals that Jamie has sent Jocasta a letter which has arrived with some visitors. Murtagh interrupts when she asks to have the letter read, telling her who delivered the letter.
The two have a happy reunion as Jocasta jokes about Murtagh’s fondness for her sister — Jamie’s mother. The blind woman senses someone else in the room and that’s when Bree interrupts Ulysses’ letter reading, she tells Jocasta that she’s Claire and Jamie’s daughter who is unwed and pregnant and in need of care until the return of her parents. A shocked Jocasta asks Bree to come forward and in a maternal way assures the girl she can stay at River Run for as long as she needs.
Back in the woods with Roger, we’re reintroduced to a familiar and disconcerting sound of buzzing. It is as it sounds — Roger has found a standing stone which serves as a path to travel through time. We see him take out the gemstones he collected during his time with Stephen Bonnet’s crew and the torment is obvious on his face. Will he stay or will he go? Now that he’s free, Roger could make his way back to Bree, but is it worth his trouble? He still doesn’t know she’s pregnant so he may think it best to go back where he came from instead of being captured again. As we see him stretch out his hand, it’s unclear whether he’ll follow through with it, but hopefully next week’s episode will yield some answers.
Until then, we’re rounding up a few key moments to keep in mind fort he future:
- Will Roger go through with leaving or will something interrupt his quest to travel back to his present time? There is a strong chance that he could be captured before he can journey through time…
- Jamie asked for Murtagh to find Bonnet, will that occur sometime soon and will Murtagh be in danger because of it? We hope not, but you never know when it comes to Stephen Bonnet.
- After Brianna chose to keep her baby, her reasoning has us wondering if Roger could actually be the father. And if he is, does that put more pressure on Jamie to find him?
Outlander, Sundays, 8/7c, Starz
