Category: Outlander

Like I did with WENTWORTH PRISON, I’ve included Sam Heughan’s work along with Tobias’. I really do feel it was both Tobias and Sam who made those two episodes what they are. Tobias was positively horrendous as Black Jack Randall, and Sam was heartbreaking as Black Jack brought Jamie down to zero with his torture and rape. This episode also marks a watershed moment in television where male on male rape was so graphically depicted. Full disclosure here: I am a rape victim. I was raped when I was 13 and always felt confused about why my body did what it did during the assault. It wasn’t until years later I heard the body’s response is autonomous of the brain and makes no sense in how it is reacting to rape or sexual gratification. The journey Jamie takes in trying to understand what happened to him was my journey. Trying to figure out was it rape or did I misunderstand what happened and why. Sam Heughan’s bravery in allowing himself to be dragged back to that place for as long as the shoot took is something I’ll always thank him for. His willingness to to it right, not take a cheap shot like Tobias’ other show GAME OF THRONES did so often when the question of rape came up. OUTLANDER has not shied away from the uncomfortable. It shines just as much a glaring eye on the darkness as well as the light with Jamie and Claire’s (Caitriona Balfe) romance and their love making. I want to thank Ron D. Moore and Ira Steven Behr for not pulling any punches with either Wentworth Prison or To Ransom A Man’s Soul. For those of us (I’m a woman by the way) who have gone through sexual assault, it was finally good to have it shown for what it is. I would mention the source material in the book written by Diana Gabaldon, but knowing in the book it’s told via first person in that Jamie only relays to Claire what happened it’s not like Jamie having his own agency and actually seeing what happened to Jamie. The only gripe I think I have with the creators is the lack of deleted scenes on the home video release or extended episodes. I’ve listened to the podcast and heard what Ron D. Moore said about what his limit was, however, given what both Tobias and in particular Sam gave to his performance, I think it would have been exceptional to see more of his work.