Outlander: Blood Of My Blood Episode 4 Recap: A Woman's Gotta Do What A Woman's Gotta Do
A woman's work is never done. And in 18th-century Scotland, this week's Outlander: Blood of My Blood makes clear, that work includes coming up with a whopper of a lie in order to protect those you hold most dear.
Episode 4 finds both Ellen and Julia throwing themselves headlong into plans that require them to keep up major ruses. Julia's involves making Simon Fraser believe he's the father of her baby. Ellen's requires her to pretend to want to marry Malcolm Grant while secretly pining for her true love, Brian. Are the ladies successful, in this episode at least? Yes! Am I verra worried about what will come for both of them in the future? Also yes!
Speaking of worry: Henry's war trauma becomes a bigger problem in both the past and the way, way, way past, and Brian finds a kindred spirit somewhere he didn't expect. Read on for the highlights of "A Soldier's Heart."
JULIA'S NEW PLAN | Simon Fraser returns to Castle Leathers after being away for a month. While he's been gone, Julia's progressing pregnancy has become more of a pressing concern for her. "I've done what I can to keep our baby safe," she writes to Henry, "but I will never stop trying to get back to you." In that vein, she rubs a nettle-like plant all over her skin and makes Simon think it's a rash she gets from time to time; disgusted, he immediately grants her permission to go to a nearby apothecary for help. However, he wants his hired thug to take her. Brian immediately clocks the disappointment on Julia's face and steps up to volunteer as driver, instead.
Simon's OK with it, likely because he's got other problems on his mind: Namely, none of the Grants seem to want to ally with him against the MacKenzies. The old man is sure that Ellen is an "old maid" who is "tarnished goods" — if not, why would her brothers so immediately suspect her of running off with Malcolm Grant at the gathering? He's determined to sully the redhead's reputation.
'MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON YOUR SOUL' | Speaking of Ellen, she's just been told that she's expected to attend a Beltane festival with Malcom, as his betrothed, and she is irked. Ellen fumes at Colum, telling him to spin whatever tale he needs in order to get her out of the marriage. After all, now that he and Dougal have been chosen head of the clan, do they actually need the Grants' support anymore?
Colum lets her know two very important pieces of information, and he's not subtle about them. First, Malcolm's father, Isaac, is rumored to have had others who've backed out of marriage pacts "disappeared into the heather" (aka killed). And second, Red Jacob made some really bad financial decisions and essentially left his family destitute. "We've a month of so before we resort to selling the family silver," Colum tells his sister, who refuses to believe the father she held in such high esteem could do such a thing. Her marriage could help, Colum continues: The Grants have money, and as an added bonus, she could become a spy on the inside at Castle Grant. Incensed, Ellen says that her loyalty would transfer to her future husband. "So if it comes to that," she warns Colum, "may God have mercy on your soul."
EVERYTHING IS RENT | As Quarter Day approaches, Isaac Grant sends Henry and Arch out to collect rents with the imperative that each tenant pay a shilling more than normal, just because. (Starting to see why the Grants are so financially solvent!) The endeavor starts off badly: A tenant refuses to pay and calls Henry "sassenach" in the not-loving-Jamie-Fraser way, and pretty soon they're beating each other up. The violence triggers a flashback to the war in poor Henry's traumatized brain, which in turn brings us to a memory of another night he had a nightmare in the apartment he and Claire shared.
She found him crouched at the end of the bed, back against the footboard, thinking he was back in a trench that was under attack. She was able to calm him by singing "Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty," though from her tears and the look on her face, you can see she was realizing they had a major problem to deal with here. After he calmed a bit and laid his head in her lap, she took off her Saint Anthony medallion and pressed it into his hand. "Keep Saint Anthony close wherever you go, and he'll watch over you, too," she whispered.
Henry has the necklace with him in the 18th century, we see after Arch wonders why the bladier was screaming "Jullia" in his sleep. Henry brushes it off as a nightmare; after Bug moves on, Beauchamp strokes the medallion and sings himself to sleep.
POOR HENRY | Not all is doom and sadness during Henry's trip: After remembering discussing the national lottery with Julia, he comes up with the idea of a drawing to entice Isaac Grant's tenants into paying more money. The winner will get free rent for a year. Though Arch scoffs at his travel partner's ingenuity, the lotto works: Henry collects more than double what he was expected to bring in.
Isaac Grant likes the big bag of cash but does not like Henry going off script like that; he warns the Brit never to do it again. After Henry leaves, Grant tasks Arch with watching Henry more closely.
In another flashback to London, an ashamed Henry apologized to Julia the night after his episode. "There's something broken in me," he said, crying, calling himself a "burden" to her. She dismissed that notion, asking him to "let me and this baby be your guiding light." And though earlier in the hour he'd joked that their child was definitely going to be a boy, he told her that he had a name in mind if it was a girl: "Claire. It's French for 'clear and bright." She hugged him close. "Like our future," she agreed.
In that future, which is everyone else's past, Henry visits the brothel where he'd earlier been looking in vain for Julia. The kind sex worker who'd flashed him her boobs before realizing that he wasn't there for that looks surprised to see him, given how disinterested he was in the business of the house the last time. He pays her and quietly admits that he has nowhere else to go "for a moment's peace," starting to cry as he tells her the woman he's seeking is his wife. She strokes his shoulders a bit and plays with his cravat, but he stops her and asks if they can just rest together on her bed. "The time is yours, my love," she says gently, "however you wish to spend it." Then Henry, who is barely holding himself together, lies down with his back to her, the saddest little spoon you ever did see.
A NEW ALLIANCE | On the way to the apothecary, Brian notes that Julia's rash gets better the longer they're away from the castle. She brushes off his observations, asking instead why he still lives at home when his dad is such a jerk. He tells her he left for a year but came back because he missed Davina's haggis — an easy answer, but maybe not a 100 percent truthful one. They get easier with each other as the drive goes on, and ultimately he stops the wagon and they proceed on foot... toward Castle Leoch.
Brian confesses that he needs her help: He needs to get a message to Ellen, but he can't take the risk of any other MacKenzie knowing he's there. If she'll act as intermediary, he'll help her escape. While she weighs her options, she admits that she's pregnant. "With me on your side, no harm will befall you," he says, reminding me a lot of when Jamie made a similar promise to Claire in Outlander Season 1. "You need a friend, lass," he continues. "You have one in me."
Julia makes it inside and finds Ellen in her room. She quickly gains her trust and follows the redhead out to meet Brian by sneaking through the root cellar door. They rendezvous with Brian, who says he needed to see her face to ascertain if she still loved him. "What do my eyes say?" she asks. "That your feelings havena changed," he answers, swearing that his haven't changed, either. They pledge to find a way out of her betrothal, he strokes her hand with his thumb a few hundred times, and then they hear someone coming. So they quickly make plans to meet up at the Beltane festival, he kisses her hand, and then they part.
'SUCH JOYOUS TIDINGS' | On the way back to Castle Leathers, Julia and Brian strike a deal: They'll both go to the Beltane festival, where she'll be a liaison for him with Julia, and she'll also keep an eye out for her Henry. "We have a bargain," he says.
Meanwhile, back at Leoch, Ellen brings Colum a list of potential wedding guests. She swears that she's had a change of heart — "nothing is worth this chasm between us," she tells him — and she says she'll marry Malcolm without resisting.
Later that evening at Leathers, Simon summons Julia to his bedroom. "You must be careful with me, for I'm carrying something precious," she tells him, informing him of the pregnancy. He's overjoyed about "such blessed news" and makes sure that Davina knows. "Such joyous tidings, my laird," the housemaid replies.
Now it's your turn. What did you think of the episode? Sound off in the comments!