But they won’t find any rest in season 6.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Caitriona, Claire is abusing her ether for cope with her trauma.
CAITRIONA BALFE:When the writers first presented that, I was really interested.
Sam Heughan and Caitríona Balfe in a scene from ‘Outlander’.Robert Wilson/Starz
I was like, “Does nothing ever penetrate?
Is she just Teflon?”
It was nice to actually see the vulnerability and where she suffers and when the pain becomes too much.
And how much worse does it get?
Sam, how long will it take Jamie to notice?
He’s generally very attuned to his wife.
SAM HEUGHAN:Caitriona worked really closely with the writers to get it right.
It is interesting because she is very pragmatic, isn’t she?
And just moves on and carries on doing Claire?
It’s interesting to see her really struggle with that.
Jamie normally would have noticed something.
He’s just distracted.
He can’t help himself with his ego and the Christies and the two of them constantly power play.
I guess he also expects Claire to come to him if she’s struggling.
That’s normally what they do.
They work through things together.
So, it is a total surprise.
It’s a real trap to equate strength with never feeling or never having to fall down.
The real strength is how you pick yourself up, rather than never failing and never falling.
That’s important that we show all of that.
You mentioned the Indian agent job and the Christies.
HEUGHAN:The Committee of Safety and the Browns, I forgot about that!
But it’s more internal; it’s the Christies really.
It’s from the inside.
We’re used to dealing with those external forces.
BALFE:When it’s so close to home, that’s the thing.
What would you say Claire and Jamie’s greatest challenge as a couple is this season?
I don’t think she wants to admit what she’s doing.
But that creates distance because you’re not sharing and being open and vulnerable.
That’s probably the biggest challenge.
HEUGHAN:They’re separated.
It’s not always by distances, it’s by what’s going on in their internal worlds.
They lose sight of each other a bit.
So, it’s definitely their challenge because they’re always stronger together.
But how much might that put him and the whole Ridge in the crosshairs of danger?
He knows he also has to swap sides, and pretty soon.
We’ve been talking about this war for a while now, but it is almost here.
BALFE:War is coming!
HEUGHAN:His hand is being forced.
He now has to make a decision.
He has to move quite quickly.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
