Recap / Outlander S 4 E 2 Do No Harm

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Recap of Outlander
Season 4, Episode 2:

Do No Harm

Jamie and Claire visit Aunt Jocasta at her plantation, River Run. When tragedy strikes at the plantation, Jamie and Claire are caught between what is right and what is the law of North Carolina.

Tropes

• Big Fancy House: Jocasta lives in a huge, sprawling plantation house.
• Burial at Sea: After Stephen Bonnet killed Lesley, Jamie reluctantly buries him in the river.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Jocasta talks about the time Jamie spent managing his cousin Jared's wine business.
  • When trying to decide what to do with Rufus, Jamie suggests she help him the way she helped Colum.
• Culture Shock: Claire, being from the 20th century, is shocked to see slavery, especially seeing slaves abused and lynched.
• Damn With Faint Praise: Jocasta demurely mentions that Jenny had described Claire as spirited, headstrong, and prone to giving her opinions regardless of whether she was well-versed in the topic or not. Claire politely replies that the same can be said of Jenny.
• Disabled Means Helpless: Averted. Despite being blind, Jocasta still is very much in control of her affairs. She has made many accommodations to allow her to seamlessly interact with others in spite of her inability to see, including setting a system with Ulysses, her manservant, to serve as her eyes in unfamiliar situations.
• Exposition Party: Jocasta throws a party at which she surprises everyone by announcing Jamie as her successor for the plantation.
• Fate Worse than Death: Invoked by Ulysses who tells Claire that by not allowing Rufus to die, she's setting him up to be tortured to death by the slave owners who want to send a clear message to the slaves about the dangers of raising a hand to their masters.
• If Only You Knew: Campbell and Wolff complain about rebels causing trouble over taxes. Wolff gloats about sending troops to quash these factions, saying that the populace should be grateful for the Crown's guiding control developing the country into a proper civilization. Of course, they have no way of knowing that a few short years, those rebels will band together and expel the Crown from the country for good and will develop the country for themselves.
• It's All My Fault: Jamie feels very guilty after the river attack and feels he is responsible because he freed Bonnet. He's also worried about the people Bonnet will go on to harm because Jamie helped him escape the authorities.
• Make an Example of Them: Ulysses fears this would happen to him and the other slaves since Rufus was not killed immediately. Ulysses says the overseers would tear the limbs from Rufus's body as a warning if other slaves try to disobey the law.
• Manly Facial Hair: Ian says that he's letting his facial hair grow out. Looking at Ian's relatively smooth face, John Quincy jokes that Ian probably has a long wait. He says that he himself is naturally hairy, taking after his dad. They then joke about native women finding hairy men a novelty as their men are naturally less hairy.
• Mercy Kill: Jocasta, Ulysses, and Jamie are eventually able to convince Claire that the kindest thing she can do for Rufus is to give him a painless death rather than risk all of the slaves being killed and Jocasta's plantation being razed to the ground.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Claire tries to save Rufus from his hook injury, but it only causes more problems. She ends up having to poison Rufus to save him from the fate of being lynched alive.
• Outliving One's Offspring: Jocasta has outlived all of her children and is hoping to pass her fortune on to Jamie so that the money and property stay in the MacKenzie family line.
• Race Fetish: John Quincy and Ian enjoy talking about native women and speculating on what it might be like to be with one.
• Rejecting the Inheritance: Jocasta bequeaths Jamie as the heir to River Run, but since Claire and Jamie are against slavery, they refuse.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Claire doesn't care about the rules of the slave owners of Jacosta's community. She swore an oath to protect life and she's determined to do so for Rufus.
• Slave Liberation: Discussed with Jocasta by Claire since she opposes slavery but Jocasta owns over a hundred. She, along with Jamie, tries to get them freed by Jocasta. However, it turns out this is impossible, since North Carolina law requires the slaves must have done something, like save a life, and the slave owners must put up a bond for every slave, which is far beyond Jocasta's means. Jocasta later frees her loyal butler Ulysses who did save her life.
• Smelly Skunk: Rollo and Ian chase after what they believe to be a badger only to be sprayed with a foul smelling liquid from the animal's hindquarters. Having never heard of skunks before, Ian doesn't know what to do and Jamie wonders if the animal is venomous given the strength of the smell. Jocasta is visibly amused and sends Ian to meet John Quincy Meyers to get rid of the stench.
• Sure, Let's Go with That: Given Claire's strong opinions on slavery, people assume she's a Quaker (who strongly believe slavery to be immoral and push for its abolishment). Claire will say that she's Catholic but that she shares the Quakers' anti-slavery beliefs.
• Sympathetic Slave Owner:
  • Jocasta owns nearly 150 slaves. She prides herself on treating them kindly. Jamie says he's glad to hear that, as some people treat their slaves like livestock. Jocasta laughs at this, noting that a slave costs a great deal more than livestock. She then goes on to say that she considers them her friends and wonders where they would be if she hadn't bought them and given them a home and a purpose. The entire time she's speaking, Claire looks like she might be ill at any moment. Even Jamie has to roll his eyes when Jocasta declares that her slaves are so happy to work for her only a few have tried to run away over the years.
  • When Jocasta unexpectedly announces him heir to her estate, Jamie questions whether or not it might be a good thing since together they could at least keep this small group of slaves safe and happy, perhaps working to free them as soon as they can. However, he changes his mind when he's required to act as Jocasta's representative of justice after a slave strikes a white overseer. This means he is expected to condemn that slave to death for acting in self-defense.
• Thicker Than Water: Jocasta is ready to sign everything over to Jamie simply because he is her sister's son. Jamie is nearly in tears upon seeing Jocasta because she reminds him so much of his deceased mother.
• Torches and Pitchforks: An angry mob storms River Run to lynch Rufus.
• Torn Apart by the Mob: What Ulysses says will happen to Rufus if he's still alive when the overseers get their hands on him.
• Unseen No More: Jocasta has been mentioned in passing several times throughout the series by Jamie, Jenny, and Murtagh, but season 4 is the first time she appears on screen.
• Unwinnable by Design: After Jocasta bequeaths River Run to Jamie, he mentions he wants to free all the slaves, as he and Claire do not wish to own slaves. Farquaad states that freeing the slaves would be financially disastrous for Jocasta since she would have to put up a bond for each slave. Additionally, all the slaves would have to get permission from the county court and prove they saved a life to be worthy of freedom. Naturally, Claire and Jamie agree that nothing will change under the laws, as the laws were created to make freeing slaves extremely difficult.
• Upper-Class Twit: Campbell and Wolff bemoan the colonists who are complaining about taxes again. They wonder how these people think they're supposed to turn this country into something worth while if they're constantly rebel against one thing or the other. They can't seem to imagine people not wanting to give all their hard earned money and goods to people who do little to help them in return.