“We’re lulling you into a false sense of security with the Christies.”
Warning: This article contains spoilers about Sunday’s episode ofOutlander.
“Jamie being whipped throughout the show is a symbolic thing.
Starz
Because Allan sees himself as the Jamie Fraser of the Christies.
He feels like he’s a real big man, but it turns out he’s not.”
It’s always that argument of nature versus nurture.
Does that justify some of the things that are to come?
We see them in these very vulnerable situations, and no one should be physically punished in that way.
That’s fairly ominous.
So, just how bad are they then?
“They are two very different people,” teases Heughan.
“Tom is a dangerous man and uses his beliefs to control people.
Jamie is quite forward thinking, and he wants a level playing field for everyone.
But it is this exchange of power.
It’s the first time that Jamie and Claire’s popularity on the Ridge wanes.
Tom has a lot of followers.
Tom Christie might have something to say about that.
Just purely on the fact that we’re all Celts.
It always helps that two Welsh and an Irish formed to create a Scottish family.
There was always a lovely little bond there with all of us.
MARK LEWIS JONES:It’s funny.
It was so lovely.
And when the cameras weren’t turning, it was the polar opposite when we were on set together…
I remember the first day I met them and we just clicked somehow.
Perhaps that’s what makes it easy to slip into the intensity and the weirdness of the family.
Episode 1 starts quite intensely for all three of the characters in the Christie’s introduction.
It always felt like we couldn’t be serious off camera because they would bleed into each other.
Tom is a very self-righteous man, verging on zealotry almost.
What do you think has made him that way, or will we learn more about that this season?
JONES:Oh, more will be revealed for sure.
In a way, he only trusts God.
He’s harder on himself than anyone really.
He hasn’t got some secret life where there’s a life of the luxury.
He is extremely hard on himself.
So he’s quite genuine in a way.
The madness of his beliefs, he truly believes in them, it’s not put on.
Malva seems the most open to new situations and people of the three.
How will the bond between her and Claire and her interest in medicine continue to develop this season?
When she sees Claire, along with an opportunity to learn more, she’s so intensely curious.
To have a woman be able to teach her these things is a dream come true for her.
Right now, Allan is the biggest enigma of the Christie family.
Alex, what can you tell us about him?
VLAHOS:With Tom, with Malva, it’s very clear where they’re at.
And does what his father says.
Whereas actually, he’s incredibly mischievous and a liar.
That’s the very first clear flag for everyone is that Allan lies.
Allan lies to get further in life.
And he lies because he’s clearly not happy with who he is.
Allan feels like he is the dad to his younger sister.
When Tom returns, Allan’s been knocked down a peg and lost his status.
But he still feels like, when he’s with Malva, that he has the controlling voice.
He can see that his sister’s finding her own destiny in her way.
And he dislikes it.
He’s very controlling, possessive.
And having only had him to rely on for the last however many years.
And also again, wanting to break free from that and thinking, is this her destiny?
Is this all that she’s going to amount to?
Are there other people that she can reach out to and create more genuine bonds with?
It’s that push and pull because they are all united in such complex ways.
There’s a bizarre attachment there between them.
VLAHOS:It’s almost like Stockholm syndrome, I guess.
So how difficult is it to film something like that, where you have to be so cruel?
JONES:Malva takes her whipping more in line with Jamie Fraser.
The whole business of it happening was dealt with so well by the production.
They were really careful with the whole thing.
We had meetings about it beforehand and with [executive producer]Maril Davisas well.
There was anintimacy coordinator on board throughout it all.
The beating of Malva has other stuff going on for Tom, and I think Malva knows that.
All of the beatings, they have other meanings.
He’s in awe of this man.
And sees also how he runs his life with such love and a very strong moral compass.
But with admiration comes jealousy, and with jealousy comes hatred, and vengeance really.
Jessica, how much danger is Malva in from her father and her brother?
REYNOLDS:The damage has been done already.
Even before she gets to the Ridge.
So it’s not so much the danger that she is in from her family.
When jealousy seeps itself into someone’s core, it can poison them from the inside.
Allan has started to be poisoned immediately from arriving at Fraser’s Ridge.
JONES:Hurt, hurting.
Hurt people, hurt people, and he’s damaged.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
