Outlander fans, you’re not alone. Stars Caitríona Balfe, Sam Heughan, and executive producers Matthew B. Roberts and Maril Davis feel your pain about this dramatic season seven. (Spoilers ahead.)
In episode 711, titled “A Hundredweight of Stones,” we pick up after Lord John Berry has proposed marriage to Claire following Jamie’s presumed death at sea, so Claire won’t be arrested and hung for being a spy. A despondent Claire agrees to go through with the marriage.
Even William is confused why Claire agrees to marry Lord John, but John says he owes it to Jamie to protect Claire. “At the expense of your own reputation?” William asks. “How could you possibly owe him that much?” Oh, if you only knew, young man.
Later that night, Claire cuts herself with a knife and says “blood of my blood,” which is what Jamie said to her when they last talked. She screams out of both emotional and physical pain, which prompts Lord John to check in on his bride. The two embrace, and then she attacks him out of pain and sadness and anger. He takes it, explaining he will not mourn Jamie alone tonight. Claire says Jamie isn’t his to mourn, but he feels obligated.
The two consummate their marriage in what is one of the most heart-wrenching scenes ever seen on Outlander. “Everyone had big thoughts and feelings about that scene,” executive producer Maril Davis tells Glamour. “But to me, it was a no-brainer. It had to be shown. I think it just shows the lengths or the depths of grief that’s happening, that these two people who would never normally be together are thrown together in their joint grief and their need to connect to Jamie.”
Davis acknowledges that if you haven’t read the books, it’s a very shocking, unexpected moment, but it was never a question not to show John and Claire so intimately. “It felt like we had to show some version of them together,” Davis says. “But once again, to me, it just illustrates how deep this grief goes and how much you’re willing to do to hold on to some part of Jamie.”
When Claire and John wake up the next morning, she asks him how long it’s been since he was with a woman, and he says about 15 years. “It wasn’t me who you were making love to,” Claire says. “We both know it.”
Claire asks John what happens now—but one thing she’s adamant against is going through the Stones to return to her time. She later explains to Young Ian that she wanted to be a part of creating this new nation with Jamie; this way, she can see it through for him, Bree, Roger, their children, and everyone.
Later, even though Claire is reluctant to attend public-facing events with her new husband, she obliges and makes her first appearance wearing a wedding ring. That night, when Claire is sitting alone by the fire, John comes in with a selection of new invitations they’ve received requesting their presence. It’s a stark acknowledgement of Claire’s new reality, until her world is once again turned upside down when Jamie storms in, very much alive. (Turns out, he never got on that fateful ship.)
The Frasers immediately reunite in a lip lock for the ages, but their reunion is short-lived when John tells Jamie that his son, William, is here and Jamie must go. But as they leave, William is right outside the door and says, “Son?! Who the hell am I?” He also lashes out at John, accusing him of outright lying about his identity. And before anyone can catch their breath, the Redcoats arrive, and Claire smiles as Jamie escapes with John.
It sets up quite a loaded episode 712, as William deals with the fallout of the shocking news and Claire must bring Jamie up to speed. Although technically Claire and John’s marriage is not legal since Jamie was never dead, “what’s going to happen when Jamie discovers that she’s married to his best friend?” executive producer and showrunner Matthew B. Roberts tells Glamour. “That’s the anticipation. That’s the tension.”
But until then, we hopped on a Zoom to chat with Caitríona Balfe and Sam Heughan to get their thoughts on one of Outlander‘s most jaw-dropping episodes yet and get a preview of what’s to come.
Glamour: Caitríona, what was it like bringing that scene with Lord John to life? Was there any talk about whether you even had to show Lord John and Claire being intimate?
Caitríona Balfe: In the original scripts, I think there was [one version] where Jamie is imagining it. We sort of talked to the writers and found a way of getting it to a point where it was the best version of [what that scene needed to accomplish], where we feel the pain and we feel that these are two people who need to release their emotions. It is not a sexual thing necessarily, but it is a need to sort of mourn and express their pain.
Talk to me about working with David Berry on such an intense scene.
Balfe: Hats off to David, because I probably struggled with figuring out how we were going to do this a lot more than he did. David was an amazing scene partner. We also worked with [intimacy coordinator] Vanessa Coffey, who has been amazing. Sam and I have obviously been doing these sort of scenes for years, and we have such a shorthand, I feel like we know exactly where Claire and Jamie are coming from most of the time. But this is so out of her character, so it’s such a hard one to sort of grasp. But it’s also amazing, right? That seven seasons in that you’re getting thrown something that’s as risky and challenging as that. It wasn’t an easy week at work, but it’s great you get asked to push yourself and force yourself into these crazy situations.
Sam, are you able to watch a scene like that once you have the final cut? Or would you prefer not to?
Sam Heughan: Obviously you do re-watch them, and it’s normally when we’re doing press—to go back and watch. It’s so hard to watch them as they air or while we’re working, but I watched all the episodes in [season 7] part two recently, and it was just…I mean, that scene between Caitríona and David is so remarkable. But you also see other scenes that you’re not even involved in and you’re like, “Oh, these performances are so beautiful.”
Let’s talk about the scene where William discovers Jamie is his father. Charles Vandervaart said we haven’t even seen the extent of how dramatic this reveal is going to be for him.
Heughan: I guess William does kind of go on the rampage really and loses control of it. [And as a result of everything that will happen], Jamie doesn’t think, and he just reacts. It’s from some deep-rooted place of hurt and pride and jealousy. And then we have a real Outlander moment where Jamie and Claire come together and go at it. They ultimately find some sort of resolve, but what’s so amazing about these two characters is that they’ve had these moments before where they are really challenging each other, but they’re healing each other in some ways, too. That’s what’s so beautiful about their relationship—that they do work things out together. This is probably the biggest challenge they’ve faced for a long time. And also, Jamie’s relationship with John Grey is hugely put in jeopardy. And, of course William, as well.
Balfe: For William especially, he’s been so sheltered up until this point, and this completely rips the rug from under him. There’s a sequence of events that has huge ripple effects for the rest of the season, and for Jamie and Claire and their idea of their own history.
The post Outlander’s Caitríona Balfe, Sam Heughan, and the Producers React to the Claire and Lord John Sex Scene appeared first on Glamour.
