Want to relive Outlander Season 4 Episode 10? We do a minute-by-minute reaction to “The Deep Heart’s Core.”
[8:02 p.m.] It’s going to take a whole lot of mountain man whisky to get that image of Jamie bludgeoning Roger out of my head. Oy. I’m accustomed to this era of film & television (heck, and this show itself) never holding back, but the sights and sounds of someone having the smithereens beaten out of them is something I’ve never been able to stomach.
[8:04 p.m.] Drip, drip, here comes the drama. And I’m certain we’re going to need whisky for it.[8:05 p.m.] Wee accident by the still, eh? And the seal of lies that will flow freely in this episode hath been broken. That was quick.
[8:06 p.m.] For a fleeting second, I thought Jamie was about to take a shortcut on parenting here using the “there, there lass, you’ll be fine in time” variety. Parenting is not for the faint of heart, after all, and these are not shallow waters Jamie’s jumping into with fatherhood. Alas, shame on me for doubting the King of Men. The ‘ol “walk with me?” works every time.
[8:08 p.m.] Da’s about to reverse psychology all over his modern-day daughter to force the fight out of her and prove a point. Effective, I suppose… but tough to watch. Although, I’m glad they’ve opted to bring this scene from the book to onscreen life.
[8:09 p.m.] “It took courage not to fight.” A solid reminder for all of us that knowing when not to fight can sometimes make you more of a warrior than the moments you choose to fight. That whole fight vs. flight thing isn’t foolproof.
[8:11 p.m.] Um, wow. She just Black-Jacked him and went in for the jugular. Claire certainly detailed all she could about Bree and Frank, but I’m wondering now if Jamie ever inquired what she shared with his daughter about him. His face says he’d sort of hoped and assumed she’d stuck to the rosier details and buried the lead of that time he was brutally raped by another man in prison and left naked and for dead, requiring a herd of Highlander coos and comrades to rescue him. Women have a highly journalistic need for having all the facts. Men never seem to get that.
[8:12 p.m.] These two. They’ve known each other all of six weeks and they’ve advanced expeditiously to the head of the class in the school of father-daughter relationships. No casual chit-chat allowed.
[8:13 p.m.] The child head into shoulder, dad forehead kiss. Is there a safer spot in the world?
[8:14 p.m.] Why hello Roger’s shins! Those pants come with short socks – how dashing! Much like the ring, these pants should get a call-out in the credits as a supporting actor.
[8:15 p.m.] Kudos to the makeup department! They’ve nailed Roger’s fresh-but-healing bruises and puffy eyes eerily well. To think, it’s been a week. How the heck could he even see to walk for the first few days?
[8:16 p.m.] “I can’t die like this… not here, not now.” It’s Roger’s mention of the when more so than the where that’s casually lost on his new walkabout prisoner pal, but not on us.
[8:17 p.m.] Speaking of casual chit-chat… except not at all. Please keep your politics and religion off this little recap, but step with me, if you will, deep into Claire’s shoes for a moment and fathom how in the world you’d be able to emotionally handle being the one to end your daughter’s pregnancy with your first grandchild. That’s the level of anguish we’re tackling here, folks.
[8:18 p.m.] That’s correct, Bree. Just like in basketball, you have to dribble before you can shoot. Yes, I just said that..………………….Are you still here?
[8:10 p.m.] Hope you’re enjoying your time in our little mountain slice of heaven – fresh honey, jovial livestock, family meals, fireside sleeping and whatnot. Because up next, and soon, door #1 – terminate your pregnancy. Door #2 – don’t let the standing stones hit you on your way out. Best of luck.
[8:20 p.m.] “Can ye no be smitten with cousins in your time?” Well, in some states, Da… but not all.
[8:21 p.m.] “And I came here to find you, too.” Oh now stop it. This episode has me all hot and then cold, yes and then no, like a circa-2008 Katy Perry.
[8:23 p.m.] That salad-eating hog is living his best life. Also he’s just surpassed me on vegetable intake this week. Go ahead, piggy, rub it in.
[8:24 p.m.] Yes! More Fraser family meals and farm chores on a running loop to this music! It’s my own personal version of sand raking one of those desktop Zen gardens. Calgon Frasers, take me away. When the soundtrack comes out, I’m going to play this song while I do my “farm chores” – vacuum, stain treat a kindergartner’s clothes, run carpool, the works – and see if it leaves me just as glowy as when the Frasers do theirs.
[8:25 p.m.] Messy cheeseburgers, good music and indoor plumbing. The triumvirate of meaningful life. I love these ladies and their priorities.
[8:26 p.m.] WHY YOU GONNA GO AND DO ME LIKE THAT, OUTLANDER?!? Normally, my essential oil-loving self would recommend she dabble a little lavender oil on before bedtime to help entice slumber. But since I’m already flashing back to when Jamie would dream it was Claire coming to him in his sleep, only to have the face nightmarishly morph into Black Jack’s, perhaps not. *Shudders*
[8:27 p.m.] One has to wonder whether Lizzie will ever feel comfortable losing her own virginity given she’s lived through the agony of her mistress’ assault (and thinking that’s her only experience) in all its painful, graphic detail.
[8:28 p.m.] Bree’s brain is processing at the speed of Alexa, I can see it. Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it…
“FOREBODING MUSIC” – compliments of closed captioning. Ah hell, ya think?
[8:29 p.m.] Me thinks this happy-go-lucky Cracker Barrel breakfast is about to be short-lived. But mmm bacon. I can smell the bacon.
[8:30 p.m.] “I think I’ll, uh, wait outside.” Me too, Murtagh. But let’s grab the ham and biscuits to take with us. How fantastic that Murtagh’s the one with the best social graces of this bunch. I also love that, oh sure, now Ian gets to stay.
[8:31 p.m.] Jamie, stop. Jamie, stop. Jamie, stop. Never mind – Bree handled it. I’m relieved Claire’s not going all Tammy Wynette “Stand By Your Man” here. Because your baby might have a barbed tongue, but your man done mucked things all up to hell.
[8:32 p.m.] And again, FOREBODING MUSIC. “It was him.” This scene. I can’t watch… and yet, I can’t look away. Or rewind it soon enough to watch all over again. And damn that ring again. For real, Frodo, ENOUGH.
[8:33 p.m.] Go back and watch Jamie’s face in reaction to hearing Ian’s admission of selling Roger to the Mohawk. Pretty much this.
Also, for those of you just tuning in, this is not the Golden Globes. That’s on another channel. This is the Golden Gloves. And to catch you up, Bree’s two for three on cold-cocking meddling friends and family members. Lizzie, you might want to join Murtagh and me outside with the ham and biscuits. I’m just sayin’.
[8:34 p.m.] “You do not get to be more angry than me.” Two things are happening here: Bree’s finding that, this time, she’ll resort to the fight. And two, Sophie Skelton is making it abundantly clear why she can hold her own as Bree, thank you very much.
[8:35 p.m.] And we’re walking, we’re walking, we’re walking. I never took Roger the historian for a hike-the-whole-Appalachian-Trail kind of outdoorsy lad, but here he is about to conquer it. In culottes and short socks no less.
[8:36 p.m.] The man came 200 years to look after her, so 700 miles to do the same for him seems reasonable. Plus, she walked all over Scotland with a busted ankle and a visible bosom! Girl’s got this.
[8:37 p.m.] You getting the impression from all the “dear god, seriously?” looks Claire and Murtagh keep tossing about that they just want to go off for a drink together and commiserate on the collective arsehatery that has driven us to this place?
[8:38 p.m.] I love that Bree’s likened her da and cousin to Dumb and Dumber (the haircuts are equally questionable) and knows that their best chance of success is to send a capable, strong woman to accompany them. Well, duh.
[8:39 p.m.] Wait, what? Aunt Jocasta?! Leave them with Murtagh! He’s for sure the best caregiver 18thCenturyCare.com has to offer. Then again, Murtagh seemed mighty intrigued by at the prospect of reacquainting himself with the love of his life’s sister, sooo… chop chop, ladies, time to hit the road!
[8:40 p.m.] Scooch over, Fraser’s Ridge goats – where you sleep, so, too, shall Jamie Fraser tonight. And possibly a few nights thereafter.
[8:41 p.m.] I really wanted Bree to pull out one of those big head caricature drawings of Roger you’d get on the streets of New York or at a carnival. After all, he certainly acted like a clown. On the other hand, I’m just glad she possesses some drawing skills. If I were in her shoes, I’d be like – here’s my husband… have you seen him? Well, have you, have you?
[8:42 p.m.] That’s a heck of a talk track Bree just tasked Claire with delivering upon finding Roger. “Oh hey, it’s you. What a relief. So glad you’re [sort of okay]. Bree? Um…oh…right…about her. See, here’s the thing. Bree’s not with us. She’s hundreds of miles away gestating your baby. Well, we think it’s yours. Because an hour after you deflowered her in the Pep Boys, she was raped. And you weren’t there because you all got in a tiny scuffle and you ran off like a temperamental toddler. Hrrmph. Walk [700 miles] with me?”
[8:43 p.m.] Oh Ian, this is North Carolina, not Arkansas.* Also, file this dialogue under “unnecessary”– book scene or not.
*I love you, Arkansans.
[8:44 p.m.] Blink and you missed it, but in the middle of this warm matronly embrace, Jamie just skirted right around the back of that horse. And after how badly he’s botched this whole Roger thing, every part of me was hoping that horse would kick him in a few precarious places.
[8:45 p.m.] So many road trips! I wonder if they waited until the last minute to pack like I always do. Also, I hope they’ve loaded up plenty of snacks. I prefer Combos and Smartfood, but based on their earlier conversation, I’m guessing that’s not an option. But going with Uncle Murtagh so makes up for it.
[8:46 p.m.] Alternate titles for this episode included “Roger’s A Walk in the Woods,” “Roger’s A Walk to Remember” and, my personal favorite, “We’ve Burned One Quarter of a Precious Episode Showing a Man Walking.”
[8:47 p.m.] Wow, was that spring water Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth perhaps? Roger fell much further than Bree did and look at him go! Not a limp to be had! So spry and Baywatch-like! Only 700 miles to go!
[8:48 p.m.] This can’t end well for you, lad. And not just because I’ve read the books. More so because, unlike The Hunger Games, the odds are not ever in your favor. The Redcoats Mohawk are on your tail, Claire Roger.
[8:50 p.m.] Oh my, Murtagh, what wonderful hands you have. Ahhh love, exciting and new. Come aboard… we’ve all sort of been expecting you, you re-imagined Drums of Autumn storyline, you.
[8:51 p.m.] “Um yep, what she said.” We’re with you, Ulysses – that’s one hell of a letter, written or paraphrased verbally.
[8:52 p.m.] “Of course you may stay with us.” Take the purple room, Bree! Purple for days![8:53 p.m.] Honeyyyyyy, get the Epipen! No wait, it’s just another one of those damnable standing stones (now that’s convenient!). Same buzzing difference. Side note – are those the same stones from the crazy premiere opener?
[8:55 p.m.] Unlike two episodes ago, I find myself now yelling “Roger, touch nothing!” loudly at the screen. But I empathize with his angst of what to do, all the way down my full-length pants and into my toes. It’s like watching Claire all over again… sort of.
Closing Thoughts:
JHRC, what a doozy! We’ve been left with a cliffhanger the size of the Fraser’s Ridge Olan Mills backdrop, though I suspect with two seasons still to go, Roger’s about as likely to go through those stones as Bree is to marry her prepubescent-looking cousin (sorry, John Bell). Also, who knew that inadvertently spending a few days with Laoghaire would be the least traumatic thing Bree would experience in the 18th century?
In between a few throw-away moments (cough, Ian, cough; walk, Roger, walk), the Outlander powers that be doled out some dynamic gems. Chief among them were father and daughter comparing grief and recovery paths in the wake of an assault, Claire’s tender but direct care of her daughter and that entire ensemble scene in the cabin (how was the ham, Murtagh?). I can imagine the challenge show producers and writers face today with trying to strike a delicate balance between giving a storyline the runway needed for it to play out completely and rushing a conclusion too quickly. Similarly, I suspect the Outlander team – with only 13 hours at their hands to bring a rather dense book to screen – felt tasked with the same. I worried we’d trudge through too many episodes with the secrets of last week still hanging in the air like the stench of Roger’s well-worn socks. For this reason, I’m relieved we didn’t have to live out the “she knows he knows, but does he know she knows we know?” nonsense too long and cut right to the chase of airing everyone’s dirty laundry this week.
I know we all suspected our days of staying cozy in the homestead on the ridge eating various pork byproducts and watching Claire garden her days away were numbered, but I’m still going to miss this middle part of the season immensely. The part where trouble and trauma befell our beloved crew, but they tackled it at home with meaningful conversation, time spent together and comforting hugs. Oh so many hugs. With only three episodes to go, I’m not sure I’m ready for the obligatory “Quick! Run over here… now let’s go there! Wait, now here!” part that accompanies every Outlander season to kick in and suck up the rest of our precious time in Season 4. I better start stretching and hydrating now. So. Much. Walking.
Until next week, friends…
If you’ve missed any of our Season 4 episode recaps, you can catch up with them here:
Episode 4.01: “God Bless America”
Episode 4.02: “Do No Harm”
Episode 4.03: “The False Bride”
Episode 4.04: “Common Ground”
Episode 4.05: “Savages”
Episode 4.06: “Blood of My Blood”
Episode 4.07: “Down the Rabbit Hole”
Episode 4.08: “Wilmington”
Episode 4.09: “The Birds & The Bees”
A complete library of recaps from Seasons 2-3 is also available here.
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