Spoilers lie ahead for Episode 4 of Outlander Season 4, called "Common Ground."
Outlander's fourth season was bound to be packed from beginning to end if it was going to fit in all the key points from the fourth book in Diana Gabaldon's saga, and it was inevitable that some changes were in store to make everything work. In "Common Ground," one more significant change was revealed when Jamie, Claire, and Young Ian were seemingly menaced by a bear on Fraser's Ridge. Readers expected the story to culminate with Jamie fighting and killing an actual bear, but Outlander went in a different direction.
Instead of pitting Jamie up against an actual bear, Jamie found himself facing off against a Cherokee wearing a bear skin and wielding bear claws on his hands. It was a bloody fight against a man driven mad by the wilderness. Although Jamie did earn the title of "Bear Killer" as he did on the pages of Drums of Autumn, it wasn't because he killed a real bear. Sam Heughan revealed that he considers it a great change to the book and said this:
I think it's an interesting twist that actually begins the story with the Native Americans. It's actually wonderful, this honor or understanding between Jamie and the Cherokee. He gets a name, he's now Bear Killer, and their relationship becomes amicable, which is pretty big moving forward.
Sam Heughan also raised the point that readers will know what's coming unless the show throws in some surprises. As a book reader myself, I was definitely surprised with the reveal that Jamie was facing down a man rather than a bear, especially after a horse and then John Quincy Myers were seemingly slashed by the claws of a bear!
In fact, it wasn't until Claire noted the bite on Myers that was definitely more human than bear that it even occurred to me that Outlander was pulling a switcheroo. The fact that Jamie killed a man rather than a real bear doesn't really need to fundamentally change the narrative, so we readers shouldn't panic that the fact that Jamie became "Bear Killer" by killing a man dressed as a bear means the entire plot of the season has to change.
"Common Ground" revealed that the bear was actually a Cherokee man who had raped a woman and was subsequently banished from his tribe. Separated and isolated from his people, he went insane and began wreaking havoc in the woods. Jamie killing the madman means the region is safer for the Native Americans as well as the Frasers, and the two groups seem poised to establish a respectful and mutually beneficial relationship.
Interestingly, the change from page to screen is not one that happened at the last minute. Sam Heughan had this to say in the chat with THR about how the big fight scene was scripted:
No, when we got the scripts, it was there from the beginning. We were shooting that in the depths of winter, and it was so cold. It was minus 7, I was just in a shirt, and we were shooting at night. It was some pretty tough stuff. But I loved that Jaws moment of not seeing the bear but just hearing it. Jamie and Claire are living in a cabin in the woods, and they're really on the fringes of wilderness, and it is dangerous. There are a great many dangers there. It's a great chapter in their story.
The Outlander team apparently never intended to pit Jamie against a real bear, which was probably for the best. Sam Heughan already had a tough time filming the scene in the cold without a whole lot in the way of clothing to warm him up. Throwing in the effects needed to give him a real bear to fight might have drawn out the encounter longer. Besides, did the scene really need a real bear to be properly scary?
This was only the latest of multiple changes from the book to the screen, so we'll have to wait and see what else is in store. Outlander opened its fourth season by changing something quite notable that will play into a terrible tragedy for a very unlucky character in the not-too-distant future, and the timeline has certainly been tweaked. Even the most diehard fans can't say for sure what's in store.
To find out, tune in to Starz on Sundays at 8 p.m. ET to catch new episodes of Outlander. For some alternate viewing options coming up, take a peek at our midseason TV premiere guide as well.
