Outlander: Sam Heughan had a “strong reaction” to Jamie donning the Redcoat

Outlander fans, specifically book fans, have been cautiously anticipating this Sunday’s upcoming episode for one major reason: the moment Jamie puts on the Redcoat uniform. It’s a moment in the book that really shook fans, and now show-watchers can experience it, too.

Over the course of the series, we’ve seen Jamie have to fight for his life, home, and family against the Redcoats. But the new episode, “The Ballad of Roger Mac,” will show him actually wearing the uniform. I know, I know: major jaw-drop moment.

As we’re all aware, in exchange for getting nearly 10,000 acres of land, Jamie now basically owes a debt to the British government. The community of Fraser’s Ridge has been the source of so much happiness lately, but I always knew that this moment would come. It’s going to hurt so bad when Jamie is called in to pay that debt on the battlefield. Will it feel like he’s betraying his principles?

In a phone interview with Vanity Fair, Heughan talked about having to embrace this part of the story after everything he’s been through with the Redcoats (ugh, my mind goes back to the horrible Black Jack Randall).

"He’s really made a deal with the devil. I pushed for it. I really wanted to see Jamie in this coat, because it symbolizes everything that he’s fought against—from Culloden, the British rule over the Scots, the suppression of all of their culture, and Black Jack Randall and Ardsmuir prison. It just represents everything that Jamie’s fought against."

I don’t know how Jamie will pull this off, especially if he has any flashbacks of Black Jack Randall or the Battle of Culloden. This could get rough.

In any case, putting on that Redcoat uniform certainly brought up some emotions and feelings for Heughan, despite that fact he wanted to take Jamie on this journey. “I had a really strong reaction to it—a real revulsion. It just felt so wrong. There was definitely a physical reaction. […] I wanted Jamie to look good in it—powerful.”

I mean, Sam Heughan looks good in anything so…there’s that. We’ve seen Jamie sporting a kilt for a majority of the show, so I can only imagine what putting on that uniform must have felt like. Strict, restricting, proper…pretty much everything he’s never even worn or tried to be.

As difficult as it is to see him wearing it, I think he looks pretty good.

I don’t know about the rest of you but I am hyped for this Sunday’s episode. It’s been a long time coming, and better yet, we are back on the battlefield. The war scenes are something Outlander has always excelled at, and I’m excited to see how this all goes down.

Plus, it’s Heughan’s favorite storyline since season one!

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