Sam Heughan on controversial Outlander finale, what’s coming in season 6

This past Sunday, Outlander wrapped up its fifth seasons with a sprawling, intense, controversial episode. “Never My Love” featured lead character Claire Fraser (Caitriona Balfe) being kidnapped, beaten and raped by men upset by the medical advice she was giving their wives. For a show that has already featured a fair amount of sexual violence, this raised some eyebrows.

Balfe has talked at length about the episode, and the input that she and costar Sam Heughan (Jamie Fraser) had as producers. Now, speaking to Elle, Heughan gives his take. “We sat together and worked through it every day,” he said. “I think it comes down to me and Caitriona pushing in one direction and Jamie [Payne, the director] being such a great collaborator and visionary.”

Given how unsettling this subject matter is — it’s lifted from the sixth book in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series — careful attention was due. “It’s very disturbing and graphic and challenging, so we wanted to get it right,” Heughan said. Caitriona should be very proud. She’s done some great work there. And we have to thank the director, Jamie Payne, and Toni [Graphia], who wrote it. It was a lot of discussions [about] trying to get the tone right; we were all very aware of how graphic the trauma Jamie goes though at the end of season 1 was. We didn’t want to do that. In this day and age, we can’t do that anymore. But we didn’t want to lighten it by making it a fantasy of escapism or too comfortable. It [had to be] off-kilter and not quite right.”

"We wanted to be sure we were honest and truthful to the narrative, but also to the situation she’s in. It was a really fun process, and it was intense. We knew we had something that was going to be quite powerful. This whole season has been strong and surprising for the viewers, and I think this finale is our strongest yet."

While Claire was going through her ordeal, her mind disassociates and she imagines herself back in her own time, with her family and friends all sitting down for a Thanksgiving dinner. But nothing about the disassociation is quite right. That’s how the show dealt with featuring such a brutal storyline without making it so upsetting it crossed into the realm of bad taste.

Heughan and Balfe did a lot of work to make sure these sections played just so. “We first read the script and it felt right, but it’s hard to imagine the tone of something on a piece of paper,” Heughan said. “[There were] a lot of mood boards, a lot of pictures trying to work out what it meant for Claire to go into this world, what she was doing and why she was doing it. Detail is probably the best part of it.”

"For me, the biggest challenge was, what does Jamie look like in her escapism? Initially costuming wanted Jamie to be in ‘70s clothing, and I thought we shouldn’t, because Claire knows Jamie can’t be in the future. Also, I wanted to see less of Jamie. I didn’t want to see him fully realized—I wanted him to be a symbol. He’s not fully realized or fully formed because it’s in Claire’s head."

Despite the heavy topics the episode explores, the cast enjoyed filming something so out-of-the-ordinary for a while. “It was fun, and the first day when we saw all the cast together in their different outfits, there was a lot of hilarity,” Heughan recalled. “To see Duncan Lacroix (Murtagh Fraser) in his corduroy trousers—he looked so good. And Young Ian in his military uniform. But it’s always related back to their stories in real life and what’s going on with them, so even though it’s a sort of fantasy escapism, it’s all based in emotional reality.”

Back in reality, Claire was rescued by Jamie, as well as their stepson, nephew and son-in-law. “It was cool to see him turn into Red Jamie—just ruthless,” Heughan said of his character. “As soon as he goes for them and needs to protect Claire, there’s no thought involved anymore, it’s just sheer rage. Or cold anger.”

"It would’ve been good to do a longer version [of the episode] to give more time for the viewer to keep up, but in a way it keeps moving forward. And I love the way it ends. The family’s together, but they’re very fractured and there’s a lot of healing to be done on all accounts. So many of them are suffering from various things that have happened. They are together and they’re strong together, but it’s by no means cured."

When he look back at the season as a producer, Heughan is most proud of his work on the finale, and can’t say enough enough great things about his costar’s work on it. “I know Caitriona was very nervous about it, but I felt we got it in the right place. It was a great collaboration between everyone.”

But as an actor, Heughan is most proud of the seventh episode, “The Ballad of Roger Mac,” the episode where Jamie’s godfather Murtagh dies in his arms. “It gave me and the character a dramatic decision to make,” Heughan said. “I had a lot of influence with the symbolism of the redcoat. In shooting it, there were certain things I had to push back on or ask for more time on for Jamie, and when he loses Murtagh we had to do some reshoots. It was great to have the writer and director’s ear, to work closely with them to get the best out of the story.”

So what’s next for Outlander? Well, normally the show would be gearing up to shoot season 6, but things may be stalled a bit now that Hollywood has effectively shut down thanks to the coronavirus. But the Outlander team is still hard at work. “I’ve read a couple of episodes,” Heughan said. “I’m excited to discuss further with the writers and other producers to see where the story takes us. It is all a bit obstructed at the moment, obviously, with the situation. But we’re still working away. We’ve got great plans. Within the next month or so we should know more, firm up things including the schedule, the scripts, and storylines.”

"There is a war coming. We know that. I think we’ve always done really [well] with the action sequences. Certainly I think it’s one of my stronger points in the show. It’s nice when we get a bit of everything."

He also promises that there may be a couple things coming down the line to keep this next Droughtlander from being completely unbearable. “There might be a little something to tide you guys over. But there’ll be more [on] that in the future.” We’ll take whatever we can get.

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