Outlander stars fought for a Brianna-Marsali friendship

On the latest episode of Outlander, Brianna (Sophie Skelton) has a bit of a panic attack over her infant son Jemmy, who she believes may have been kidnapped by the man who raped her, Stephen Bonnet. Since hearing of Bonnet’s escape from the clutches of death, Brianna has been on edge, especially when she hears that an Irishman was playing around with Jemmy. Happily, that comes to nothing, and afterwards she and Marsali (Lauren Lyle) sit down to have a drink to calm the nerves.

You can see the start of a beautiful friendship here, one that Brianna will definitely benefit from. Ever since coming through the stones, she’s been battling one thing after another and hasn’t really had a friend outside of her family. Having Marsali by her side is exactly what Brianna needs!

However, Outlander executive producer Maril Davis told Variety that it wasn’t always the plan for these two be friends.

"[Bree’s] relationship with Marsali, we talked about it — would it be fraught? Would they like each other or would they be at odds? And we kind of went the path of then bonding together. They’re in similar positions and those two actresses have such great chemistry on screen. I’m thrilled with what Lauren did this season, she’s been amazing and it just gets better."

What makes this friendship even sweeter is that actresses Sophie Skelton and Lauren Lyle fought for it to happen. “I think originally the writers wanted there to be more animosity between them and we really fought against it,” Skelton recalled. “It’s like, c’mon, it’s a female-led show, let’s show that women can support each other and get along. So we really fought for them to be bonding as sisters. I love the scene where Marsali calms Bree’s fears about [her rapist Stephen Bonnet]. It’s a lovely moment, a nice quiet moment, getting two women from completely different time periods coming together in this really simple conversation. I like that relationship.”

I think we often forget that Brianna is not from the 18th century, so her fitting in and forming friendships is a huge thing. And the fact that she and Marsali can bond despite the huge differences is wonderful!

Richard Rankin, who plays Roger, gets to experience the same thing with Fergus (Cesar Domboy).

"These characters have been there previously, but you get to see a lot of new relationships, like Brianna and Marsali, like Roger and Fergus. You know the characters already, but you don’t know those relationships, and I think that’s something that expands the season. It happens throughout the season and it keeps it fresh, keeps it new. It’s an interesting new dynamic in the season and really opens things up and gets at real life."

Obviously, Outlander was originally built on the time travel romance between Jamie and Claire, but any show that wants to last needs to deepen its bench. According to Skelton, Outlander fans can look forward to a scene with Fergus, Marsali, Brianna, and Roger later this season. “We were quite taken aback that in all these years, we’ve never had a scene all together and it was lovely. You forget that they are related. It’s nice for them to all be together.”

Aw, now that is something I can’t wait to see.

Speaking of things I can’t wait to see, I never knew I wanted to see Jamie bust a move. But that’s exactly what happened in “The Company We Keep.” You’re telling me not only is Sam Heughan perfect in every way, but he can also dance?!

Heughan talked about the dancing scene to TV Line, and how it compared to what was in the book.

"In the book and in the script, it was a sword dance. I wanted to do a Highland Fling, because I felt like we’d seen the sword dance in the show. Duncan [Lacroix] did a really great version of that [in Season 1]. So actually what I’m doing is the Highland Fling, which is a dance that they do around the battlefield. It’s all about kicking off the chains of the British, there’s this this sort of leg kick, and the hand [positions] are about the stag. It’s about prowess, but it has a message as well. It’s one of sort of rebellion, so I liked that."

I think the most adorable part of the dance scene is Claire’s reaction to it. “It was fun,” Heughan said. “The situation is, they’re letting loose for a little bit, and it’s kind of cool that Claire gets to see Jamie do that for the first time. She’s like, ‘Oh, he can actually move!’ [Laughs] Pretty tough, because the boots I’m wearing are impossible to dance in, and you have to be really up on your toes. It’s kind of hard in those big boots. But I had a friend of mine who helped teach me; she’s a Highland dancer.”

Here’s to more Jamie Fraser dancing scenes in the future!

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