OUTLANDER finally reunited Claire and Jamie at the end of the last episode, but fans had to wait two weeks before seeing the outcome of that brief scene…which ended with Jamie fainting from shock. The big question, of course, is how that reunion will actually play out. After being separated for 20 years, will the former couple pick up right where they left off? Caitriona Balfe (Claire Fraser) shared her thoughts on Claire’s decision to reunite with Jamie and how they will react to seeing each other again (aside from the fainting, that is).
“I don’t think [Claire would have gone back in time] if she didn’t believe in her heart that if she still feels the same way, that [Jamie] will [too]. But I think she’s also someone who’s slightly pragmatic because I think she tries to prepare herself for the possibility that he has lived other lives, or maybe there’s somebody involved [with him]. But she’s giving up everything. One of the challenges for me this season was wrapping [my] head around ‘ok, how does someone make that decision [to leave your daughter] when they don’t know what the outcome is on the other side?'”
But I also think it’s that thing when you get to a certain point in your life and you’re being haunted by something, if you don’t try and find out — if you don’t try and do something — then you’re just going to live this shadow life for the rest of your time. But obviously Claire going to Jamie and making that decision…I’m sure that entire journey she played every single scenario over and over in her head. The beauty is that it’s nothing like she would have imagined. She takes a huge leap of faith, but I think she doesn’t have any other option at this point.”
As for how the reunion itself goes, Balfe said that “what we always talked about with the writers is that in your own lives if there’s somebody that you haven’t seen in a long time, sometimes you can end up putting those people on pedestals. For Jamie…he has no inclination that Claire is going to walk through the door. The man is completely blindsided. But the beauty of it is anyone who’s been in a long-distance relationship can understand — even on a micro level — if you haven’t seen somebody for a while, you see them again, and it’s like ‘ahhhh, I’m so excited to see you’. And then you’re thinking ‘I’m not quite sure how to act in your presence’. It takes some time to get used to each other again. And I think that that’s the way it is with this reunion.”
“They want to hold each other, but then they don’t even know how to talk to each other, how to touch each other. I think for both of them it’s not even just about each other. Neither of them have been intimate with anyone in a very long time. They’re almost like teenagers again. And it’s almost like that first time again. It’s complicated and awkward and kind of clumsy. But I think that makes it feel real and it’s really charming and I actually really liked the way that the writers decided to approach it in that way.”
As for what’s to come for the couple beyond their initial reunion, Starz hinted that “Jamie’s new business dealings jeopardize the couples’ hopes for a simple life together.” When asked about Jamie’s job, Balfe teased that “the repercussions of his activities — and also maybe Claire’s interference in his activities — causes them to have to leave Scotland yet again. And I think that that obviously then has a huge impact on the rest of their lives.”
OUTLANDER airs Sundays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on Starz (U.S.) and at 9:00 p.m. on W Network (Canada).
