[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Outlander, Season 7, Episode 11, “A Hundredweight of Stones.”]
Outlander finally adapted one of its wildest book plots for the screen in Season 7’s gripping installment, “A Hundredweight of Stones,” as Claire (Caitriona Balfe) dealt with the presumed loss of husband Jamie (Sam Heughan).
After being told he’d perished in a ship crossing the sea from Scotland to America, Claire was left with a tough decision to make, marry Lord John Grey (David Berry) or face potential death after authorities suspect her of seditious behavior. Ultimately, agreeing to wed Lord John, Claire finds herself faced with heightened emotions, and both she and Lord John find comfort over the loss of Jamie in one another, consummating their new marriage.
While it’s fair to say this was a one-time deal between the characters, the monumental occasion certainly struck star Balfe. “We worked very closely with the writers to try and find the best version of doing it,” she tells TV Insider of the storyline. “I think it was a hard thing for me to wrap my head around. The man that she loves the most in the world… how is she just turning around and finding comfort with someone else?”
“In the book, obviously they’re very drunk,” Balfe notes, “but to find that version of how it happens and how could this possibly be something that transpires between these two very different people who aren’t attracted to each other, but yet make it about something that they share and this grief that they share… It’s about comfort, but it’s about pain.”
When it came to approaching Claire’s onscreen intimacy with Lord John, Balfe reveals, “It was tough to film. It was really tough,” but she credits her costar for the pivotal event, noting, “David was an incredible partner. I really had to rely on him. And actually, Vanessa Coffey, our intimacy coach, was so helpful in that.”
Approaching a scene like this with Berry was foreign territory for Balfe who adds, “I think for Sam and I, we’ve been working together for so many years that we have sort of a shorthand and an understanding, and Jamie and Claire’s relationship is so established already. Vanessa was amazing in those scenes and David was really great.”
As for how it all came together onscreen, Balfe says, “I think it’s funny because obviously in the edit it is quite cut up and spliced, but we had to figure out what that journey was. So for us, it was very much about finding the literal linear line of it. How does one come into a room and approach that? How does it end up happening? And then for our showrunner and our editors afterward, they can find that story in their own way.”
Regarding Claire’s state of mind at this moment, Balfe points out that she’s struggling with her emotions and how she believed she’d feel should she ever lose Jamie. “One of the hardest things for Claire is that she doesn’t feel like she thought she would feel. She always felt that if Jamie died, if something happened, she would understand it. It would be a loss, a physical spiritual loss that she would feel instantly. And because she doesn’t, I think she feels almost betrayed by her own body and her own physicality.”
When alcohol doesn’t numb it, she turns to Lord John, but even his closeness doesn’t allow the pain to abate. “It is a whole journey,” Balfe sums up. And that journey takes a rollercoaster turn when Jamie suddenly reappears alive in the episode’s final moments, with Claire rushing into his arms.
So little time passes before they’re interrupted by William (Charles Vandervaart) overhearing Claire, Jamie, and Lord John mentioning his true parentage, as well as a crowd of red coats seeking out Jamie. In other words, there isn’t really enough time to share details with Jamie about Claire and Lord John’s recent union, let alone their one-time tryst.
“It’s not too good, is it?” Heughan notes, adding that when it comes to Jamie’s impending reaction, “He doesn’t love it.” Understandably, Heughan explains that Jamie is going to need some time to process the information once he can receive it, and even then, the actor teases, “It’s really difficult for him to get his head around. I mean, he missed the boat, right? He just missed the boat. That’s all that happens. But he comes into this new situation where things have changed drastically with not only his wife but also his best friend, or someone he trusts a lot.”
How will it all pan out? Only time will tell, but Heughan notes, “I think it really is a catalyst [for] something that plays out throughout Season 7 and actually into 8 as well… it’s not a happy time.” Stay tuned to see how it all plays out as Season 7 continues on Starz, and let us know what you thought of the latest twist in Jamie and Claire’s story in the comments section, below.