True to its nature, Outlander returned with its Season 7 mid-season premiere, and there wasn’t a shortage of exciting time-traveling twists to get into. Chief and perhaps, most significant among them was Roger (Richard Rankin) and Buck (Diarmaid Murtagh) being displaced in time to a period they were not expecting to arrive in. Having traveled through the standing stones at Craigh Na Dun to find Roger’s son Jemmy (Blake Johnston-Miller), who was kidnapped by Rob Cameron (Chris Fulton). Roger and Buck find themselves in a time period where Jamie’s father, Brian Fraser (Andrew Whipp), is still Laird at Lallybroch, with a younger Jenny (Kristin Atherton) helping run the household.
Speaking with TV Insider, about what their efforts to rescue Jemmy so far, Rankin says, “I think it’s just shock after shock after shock, and I think all of these things helped to develop a very sort of interesting and refreshing plot line for Buck and Roger.” This malfunction offers audiences the chance to see and remember certain characters in a warmer light than they normally would have given the passage of time and various events that have taken place since. On that note, Rankin adds:
“The stuff with Brian and Jenny is good because I think the fans are going to really like these callbacks because they’re all obviously very familiar with these characters. And I think to see them back in that context… that’ll be quite a delight for the fans to see.”
‘Outlander’s Mid-Season Premiere Was Packed Full of Surprises for Everyone
Much of the mid-season premiere included one surprise after another for Roger and Buck. None more startling perhaps than the shocking reintroduction of Geillis Duncan (Lotte Verbeek). “To have them show up in this little adventure, I think, will be good fun,” Rankin adds regarding all the shock revelations. While Geillis’ return caught Rankin’s eye, Brian’s did the trick for Murtagh who gushed, saying: “I think the way it’s done overall, how the episodes are edited, it’s so much fun. A door will knock, and we think we know who’s going to answer it and all of a sudden the axis has spun an entirely different way.”
Claire (Caitríona Balfe) and Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan), returned home to Lallybroch, in the time period Roger and Buck expected to arrive in. A surprising twist was Claire’s decision to tell Jamie’s family the truth about her being a time-traveler. It was a revelation that took Atherton’s Jenny, Jamie’s sister, by surprise, so much so she asked Claire to perform a miracle and heal Old Ian Murray (Steven Cree). While Jenny’s inner dialogue was not played out while Claire unveiled her secret, Roger’s was front and center as it began to dawn on him that his time travel expedition had malfunctioned this time around. “It’s a bit of a change, isn’t it? It’s definitely a new angle. I liked it. I thought it was good fun. I thought it brought a lot of humor into the scene,” Rankin muses. And it’s a change that Murtagh agrees with, saying, “It didn’t upset the flow of the scene. It was actually really organic.”