‘Outlander’ Star Sam Heughan Teases More Changes To Books After Bear Twist

“Outlander” readers were thrown when they saw a scene in Sunday’s episode go very differently from the book. In Diana Gabaldon’s “Drums of Autumn,” Jamie fights a bear, but that certainly wasn’t a bear in Season 4, episode 4.

Jamie (Sam Heughan) ends up confronting a Native American man who runs around in a bear hide terrorizing Fraser’s Ridge in order to steal food. He has apparently lost his mind, and Jamie still has to fight and kill him. The Highlander brought his body back to the Cherokee to learn that the man was shunned from the tribe after sexually assaulting someone. That’s how Jamie earns the name “Bear Killer” in the Starz TV show.

“‘The Revenant’! I think that's probably what fans thought it would be," Heughan explained to the Hollywood Reporter, referencing the 2015 Leonardo DiCaprio movie. “But it’s great! We have a few moments like this this season where we are going to surprise the fans, and I think that’s good. Otherwise they know what’s coming, and it’s great to have a few little easter eggs in there, some things to surprise even the most loyal book readers with.”

Outlander 404 — Jamie (Sam Heughan, center) did not fight an actual bear in "Outlander" Season 4, episode 4. Starz

The departure definitely surprised all the “Outlander” readers, but it wasn’t a welcome twist for everybody. Several fans took to Twitter to voice their distaste for the bear scene.

Ok, I guess they can't have Sam Heughan wrestle an actual bear but the substitute sounds really lame to me. #Outlander #CommonGround
— Jennifer Watts (@JenniferEWatts) November 26, 2018

Sorry but this was a jumping the shark moment. It's ridiculous. Use a CGI bear, keep it so in shadow a bad replica won't be obvious. Plenty of ways to keep the actor safe without this absurdity. #Outlander #CommonGround
— Dr. Annette McCarthy (@RsterAM) November 26, 2018

There was no bear scene. There was a fake bear scene that was horrible. And JQM being mauled by a fake bear _. This was the worse episode of Outlander to date.
— Kate (@Kkaiser703Kathy) November 26, 2018

While a real bear would’ve obviously been unsafe, many assumed it would be a CGI animal. Gabaldon addressed one such comment on her Facebook page.

“I kind of think you don't realize the difference between the budget for one hour of television vs. a first-rate movie. Think $2-3 million vs. $95-135 million,” Gabaldon told a fan on Facebook who cited “The Revenant” as an example.

Still, it wasn’t a unanimously hated change. Several fans understand the restraints of the “Outlander” TV show and enjoyed the unexpected change.

LOVED THIS EPISODE! The twist with the bear was AWESOME. Made more sense to me than believing Jamie could actually wrestle a live bear. The outcome was the same. Jamie made peace with the Indians. All and all best episode so far. Just gets better and better.
— Maggie Perez (@Tinkerbell7713) November 26, 2018

Don't worry I love the way the fight with the bear was filmed and imagined : yes it is different from the books but it is a very intelligent compromise as I suppose it was not that possible to do it as in the book ; quite difficult to have a real bear !
— TAGUEMOUT EVELYNE (@BirdEvelyne) November 26, 2018

I expect some fans will be unhappy that Jamie fights a man-bear rather than a real bear. But honestly--how would you even make a real bear fight look... Well, real?
He's still Bearkiller#CommonGround #Outlander
— KJ ☮️💜🌺 (@purpleiris13) November 26, 2018

They’ll have to keep tuning in to see if they approve of the rest of the “Drums of Autumn” adaptation. “Outlander” Season 4 airs Sundays at 8 p.m. EST on Starz.

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