Recap / Outlander S 4 E 11 If Not For Hope

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Recap of Outlander
Season 4, Episode 11

If Not For Hope

Jamie, Claire, and Young Ian embark on an uncertain journey to retrieve Roger from the Mohawk. A pregnant Brianna attempts to strong arm Lord John into shielding her from Jocasta's insistent matchmaking. Murtagh and Fergus' efforts to find Stephen Bonnet lead to unexpected consequences.

Tropes

• Abhorrent Admirer: Brianna is visibly skeeved by the aggressive attentions of Lieutenant Wolff and Mr. Forbes.
• Armor-Piercing Response: Brianna's confidence in her plan to blackmail Lord John into a Sexless Marriage all but deflates when he informs her that despite her witnessing him having sex with a man, he is fully capable of having sex with women as well.
  Brianna: You mean you... with women too?
  Lord John: I was married.
  Brianna: It wasn't a marriage of convenience, then?
  Lord John: I am perfectly capable of carrying out my husbandly duties, I assure you.
  Brianna: [walks away, visibly stunned]
• Arranged Marriage: Since Brianna is unwed and pregnant, Jocasta wants Brianna to marry before the baby comes. Jocasta believes the baby and Brianna's reputation will be ruined if the baby is without a father.
  • Jocasta hosts a dinner party with eligible bachelors to get her niece married, to Brianna's annoyance.
• Art Reflects Personality: Brianna's drawings are dark and gloomy, reflecting her recent experiences and emotions.
• Bait-and-Switch: Lord John initially rejects Brianna's proposal that they fake a betrothal until Roger is found, but soon after he comes in and announces that they're engaged, deterring Forbes from proposing to Brianna.
• Blackmail: When Lord John refuses Brianna's proposal, Brianna threatens to write letters detailing Lord John's sexual dalliance with another man.
• Blackmail Backfire: Brianna threatens to out Lord John Grey, first by threatening to tell his employers and then threatening to tell Jamie. He points out that doing the first would very possibly get him literally killed and still not solve her problem. Not willing to go that far, Brianna backs down. For the second, he points out that she's incorrectly assuming that Jamie doesn't already know of his preference for men.
• Cannot Keep a Secret: Lizzie blurts out the truth about Brianna's "condition" in front of Lord John, despite all that's been done to keep possible suitors in the dark about her pregnancy. This is in addition to her role in the Roger debacle.
• Coitus Uninterruptus: Brianna went into the kitchen for a late-night snack and walked in on Lord John and another man having sex. They do not see Brianna.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Jocasta describes the elopement of Brian and Ellen Fraser much the same way Jamie did in season 1.
  • The story Lord John is telling at dinner is about Margaret Campbell and her fortune-telling abilities.
  • Lord John says that the events of Season 3's ""The Bakra" aren't even the strangest thing that's happened to him in Jamaica. This may be a reference to the novella "Lord John and the Plague of Zombies", which takes place during his governorship of Jamaica.
• Culture Clash: Brianna wants to wait for Roger, whom she loves, but much like Jamie, Jocasta continually tries to impress upon Brianna the importance of not allowing a child to be born out of wedlock.
• Culturally Sensitive Adaptation: In the novels, Brianna witnesses Lord John leaving the slaves' quarters in the middle of the night, implying he'd had sex with one of the slaves. However, Lord John is supposed to be heroic and modern viewers would be sensitive to sex between a slave and a slaveowner (which Lord John is in the novels) being portrayed as non-predatory. The television adaptation instead uses Judge Alderdyce, making the clandestine relationship between two men of roughly equal social standing and power.
• Due to the Dead: Jamie gives a proper burial to Cameron, the slave who was last seen accompanying Roger into captivity with the Mohawks.
• Exact Words: When Brianna learns that Lord John has a son, she says that the boy must be a perfect gentleman if he's anything like his father. With a small smile, Lord John agrees that the boy is very much like his father, knowing that Brianna doesn't know the truth of Jamie's son.
• Foreshadowing: Brianna says that Judge Alderdyce's response to her pop psychology game indicates that he's hiding something important from his mother. Later, she accidentally witnesses the Judge and Lord John having sex. Given the time period, his mother undoubtedly does not know the truth about his sexuality.
• Gang Initiation Fight: Roger participates in running the gauntlet, where the Mohawk form two rows to strike out and attack him.
• In the Blood: Jocasta notes that Brianna is very similar to Ellen MacKenzie, Brianna's grandmother, not only in looks, but also in temperament and disposition. Like Brianna, Ellen was a noted artist and also very headstrong, refusing to wed for anything for love. Like Brianna, Ellen was pregnant when she married Brian, hiding the pregnancy until it was too late for anything to be done other than allow her to marry the man she wanted.
• Internal Reveal: Lord John learns the truth of Brianna's pregnancy, the circumstances that led to it, and the mission that has taken Jamie and Claire on their travels.
• Keeping Secrets Sucks: Claire wanted to tell Jamie about Bonnet being the rapist, but she and Brianna keep each other's secrets.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Jamie imagines how a moving picture about his life would portray him. He thinks he would be seen as a fearsome brute, but the audience is well aware that Jamie's actual characterization across the series is a devoted husband, a tender lover, and a loyal man to his friends and family.
• Like Father, Like Son: Lord John notes that being willing to do something they don't actually want to do for the safety of their child is something Brianna has in common with Jamie. Brianna asks to marry Lord John to ensure her child is safe and not exiled from society. Jamie offered to have sex with John in exchange for an assurance that John would act as Willie's father and keep the boy safe.
  Lord John: [sighs] You are your father's daughter. That's certain.
• Love Father, Love Son: Averted. It would be easy to understand if Lord John transferred his affection from unattainable Jamie to socially acceptable Brianna who looks and acts remarkably like her father. However, after initially refusing, John makes it clear that the arrangement is a temporary ruse, he is not interested in any physical interaction, and his true affection will always lie with Jamie.
• Marry for Love: Jocasta tells Brianna how Ellen, Jocasta's sister and Brianna's grandmother, would not marry any man she did not love. Ellen was pregnant with Brian Fraser's child and eloped with Brian before the child was born.
• Midnight Snack: Pregnancy cravings in the middle of the night is how Brianna happens upon Lord John and Judge Alderdyce.
• Morton's Fork: Mr. Forbes presents Brianna with four jewels and asks her which she thinks would look best as a piece of jewelry. Realizing that whatever she picks, he will present it to her as a token of marriage proposal to stake a claim on her, Brianna claims not to have much knowledge of gems and asks Mistress Alderdyce for her opinion.
• No Bisexuals: Despite being from the 20th century and knowing that Lord John was previously married to a woman, Brianna is surprised to find out that he's capable of having sex with women. Somewhat justified in that while the 60s was a time of sexual revolution, homosexuality and all of its variations were still heavily frowned upon and the mainstream society still knew little about it beyond men who preferred to sleep with men.
• Parents as People: Jamie worries that he cannot be a true father to Brianna and will never live up to her beloved Frank. Claire points out that Frank had Brianna's entire childhood to learn how to be a father and he definitely made mistakes, but had time to be forgiven and make things right as often as needed. Jamie, who has never had the opportunity to raise his children, is simply experiencing a steep learning curve.
• Pistol-Whipping: Murtagh pistol whips Bonnet to capture him. The plan almost works until militiamen arrest both Murtagh and Bonnet.
• Plot-Driving Secret: Claire admits that if she'd simply told Jamie the truth about Stephen Bonnet as soon as she found out, the mix up with Roger might not've happened and they wouldn't be out searching for him now.
• Prince Charming: When Lord John arrives, the other hopeful suitors visibly deflate, knowing they have little hope of competing for Brianna's affections against someone much younger, more handsome, better connected, of higher social standing, and wealthier. Additionally, Lord John is also a diplomat who can charm anyone with only a few words and is friends with Brianna's parents. Brianna is more than happy to focus her attention on him to discourage the others.
• Rejected Marriage Proposal: Right before Forbes can propose to Brianna, Lord John comes in and announces his engagement to Brianna.
• Running Gag: Brianna is the third Fraser to whom John has had to exasperatedly explain that he is "fully capable of performing [his] husbandly duties," having already had variations of this conversation with both Jamie and Claire on separate occasions. Each time, he is comically irritated that they question his ability to satisfy a wife. Justified in that bisexuality was all but unheard of in the mainstream 1770s.
• Scarpia Ultimatum: A subverted G-rated version. Brianna threatens to out Lord John Grey unless he agrees to marry her. Lord Grey reminds her that taking such an action would with all certainty get him killed and ruin his family's name. Reminded that the stakes in 1770s are much higher than in the 1970s, Brianna backs down, apologizing. Lord Grey ultimately agrees to declare a public proposal of marriage to keep her safe, out of respect for the friendship he has with Jamie, Brianna's father.
• Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: Brianna still pines for Roger and will not marry anyone else while waiting for Roger to return, but Jocasta realistically tells her that Roger is possibly dead and she should move on.
• This Is Unforgivable!: Despite being willing to forgive everyone else involved in Roger's captivity and having several characters point out that Jamie was only trying to protect her, Brianna is unwilling to even entertain the idea of forgiving her father. She's even gone back to calling him Jamie instead of Da.
• The Teaser: Roger is taking a shower in a 20th-century bathroom. It appears Roger went through the stones until he wipes the steam from the mirror, and Kaheroton shows. The Mohawk recaptured Roger and he was dreaming of his freedom.
• "Wanted!" Poster: Fergus finds a Wanted poster of Murtagh in a tavern. Later, two militiamen arrest Murtagh because they recognize him from the Wanted poster.
• Warning Mistaken for Threat: When Brianna threatens to out him if he doesn't marry her, Lord John Grey tells her he's half tempted to accept her proposal as it will teach her a lesson about playing with fire. Brianna furiously retorts that it sounds like a threat. Then, after a brief stare down, it dawns on her that he's very subtly telling her that a marriage to him would not be the Sexless Marriage she's hoping for.
• Wrong Assumption: Brianna is intent on getting Lord John Grey to accept a marriage proposal because she believes that because he is gay he will have no interest in sex with her. He corrects her, explaining that he is fully capable of performing his "husbandly duties."