'Outlander' Recap: Time Is Running Out for Roger and Bree
After last week's chaotic and game-changing revelations, the Frasers have been torn apart again—this time by Jamie's (Sam Heughan) violent attack on Roger (Richard Rankin), whom the protective Fraser father mistakenly thought was responsible for raping Bree (Sophie Skelton). Claire (Caitriona Balfe) is keeping her distance from Jamie in a way we've never seen before, and Lizzie (Caitlin O'Ryan) is distraught about her mistress' grief and her own mistake.
Here's what happened as Jamie and Claire set out to find Roger and make up for Jamie's mistake.
The forgiveness Bree doesn't have for Jamie right now, she'll willingly give poor Lizzie. We all know Lizzie was just trying her best, but she's understandably feeling wretched about having set the whole catastrophic chain of events in motion.
Jamie's roleplay technique of trying to help Bree with her guilt over not fighting Stephen Bonnet, though it came from his own anguish and experience, has hurt his daughter more than he can imagine. Bree is rightly furious at Jamie, and lashing out because of her pain, but it's sad to see Jamie's short-lived happy fatherhood interrupted by a rare misstep for him. He's so good at standing up for his family and taking care of the people he loves, and he's not going to take Bree's rejection lightly.
It's not just his violence towards Roger and the words he said to Bree that cause him sorrow; Jamie also regrets having put Bree in the position he and Claire themselves were in for such a long time: not knowing whether their loved one was alive or dead.
"When you have children of your own, you'll understand: You never stop worrying about them." This, from Claire, is interesting. She gave Bree up to come back in time for Jamie, and even left her modern life behind for the love of her life. But, fretting about Bree, she's keeping her distance from Jamie and Young Ian. Claire and Jamie have argued before, but it's been a long time since anyone has really come between them like this.
We haven't seen Marsali and Fergus in a while. While he's an enterprising fellow, Fergus is having trouble finding work because of his missing hand. So Marsali asks Murtagh to let Fergus join the regulators; her husband's not himself, and he won't be again unless he finds something to do.
Back at River Run, Bree is going all Girl With the Pearl Earring. Her portrait of Phaedre becomes a subject of contention with her aunt's party guests, all of whom are awful and/or terrible; it's clear some don't believe an enslaved person could be a worthy portrait subject.
Lieutenant Wolff can barely keep it together in Bree's presence, and Pippin from Lord of the Rings—sorry, Forbes (Billy Boyd)—is also hoping to throw his hat in, um...the ring (sorry). Aunt Jocasta has set up a Bachelorette situation, and Bree is stumbling through, trying to figure out how to reject these slavering suitors...
...until Lord John Grey arrives. He's there on Jamie's request, and comes bearing a letter from Jamie for his daughter.
LMAO at Lord John obviously imagining being in his imaginary mind-forest with Jamie.
Bree is being her most Claire's-daughter-esque with Aunt Jocasta, warning her that she won't be married off to one of these eligible bachelors. She's also being her most I'm-from-the-future-ish, declaring that love is more important than the security and future Jocasta wants her to consider. But Jocasta reminds her that there's a huge difference between being unmarried and pregnant in the 1960s and in the 1800s—if Bree's child is born out of wedlock, his whole life will be much more challenging.
The episode's most frightening task falls to Murtagh, since Jamie asked him to kill Stephen Bonnet. At the inn, Murtagh and Fergus spy the Frasers' antagonist and knock him out, but as they take the pirate's body outside, two officers recognize Murtagh and arrest him. Jamie's revenge mission has put his friends in danger again.
Bree's desperation is allowing all her worst tendencies to fly. She asks Lord John to marry her, or suffer his secret liaison with Judge Alderdyce becoming public knowledge. This is deeply cruel, even given her grim situation—and aimed at someone she barely even knows, let alone someone who, unbeknownst to her, has done so much for her father. She's in choppy waters and in pain, but this is one of the least Jamie or Claire-like things she's ever done. It's classic speak-first, think-later Bree.
But afterwards, she apologizes; she wouldn't actually have blackmailed Lord John. He's also sorry not to be able to help her, but hopes she understands why he can't marry her. He tells Bree that her parents will be able to find Roger, but she explains that she's unsure whose baby it is—so even if her parents find him, he might not want to be involved with the child—and he looks anguished.
Back to Pippin—I mean, Forbes—who is eagerly waiting at the house to propose to Bree. But no sooner has Bree stepped through the door than Lord John comes running in, announcing that they're going to be married. Unsurprisingly, he's come to the rescue of the Frasers again. That makes me sad, actually. While it's not Jamie's fault, Lord John has become somewhat of a Band-Aid for the Fraser family's problems, and that doesn't seem fair.
On their travels, Jamie, Claire, and Ian find the skeleton of Roger's fellow captive. Searching the woods around for other human remains, they come up empty-handed and surmise that Roger might still be alive.
The trio bury what's left of the mystery corpse. They're all solemn, but Jamie is more affected by the discovery than the others, remarking that the dead man was, at the very least, someone's child. Our Scotsman is still deeply bothered by what happened with Bree. So she finally takes the opportunity to talk to her husband and apologize for being distant; she's full of anger at the world, but not necessarily him. But she's been shutting Jamie out, and she tells him it's a habit from her former life with Bree, keeping secrets just between the two of them.
Out comes Dream Jamie, a magnanimous and unselfish Jamie who's not angry at Claire at all for keeping Bree's rapist's identity secret and not resentful at all of everyone else's part in the misunderstanding that led to Roger's fate. Instead, he's just jealous of Frank, and the relationship he had with Bree. Jamie hasn't had any practice at being a father, so he doesn't know how to deal with complicated problems like this. Luckily, Claire is there to help him understand Bree's unfettered, unwise words—they're just the same as his own rash impulses.
Meanwhile, the Mohawk riders have reached their village. Roger is terrified, not knowing what's going to happen to him. Men gather in two lines and feed Roger into what's essentially a gauntlet of violence, attacking him one after the other. It's a disturbing scene to end on—both because of Roger's suffering and the bizarre implication that the Mohawk are senselessly violent. I hope we'll get some clarity on this next week.
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