Outlander fans are curious about Black Jack
With Outlander off-screens, many fans are going back to previous seasons for comfort.
Some are curious about what happened to Captain ‘Black Jack’ Randall (played by Tobias Menzies) and how he survived the end of season one.
Audiences thought the evil Redcoat had died in Wentworth prison after Claire Fraser (played by Caitríona Balfe) managed to rescue her husband Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) from his torture ordeal.
Black Jack was trampled on by a herd of cattle and it seemed he’d met an end with the Frasers fleeing from the captain’s torture chamber.
However, in season two, it turned out Black Jack was very much alive when he turned up in Paris.
The scene where Claire and Black Jack met saw him in some discomfort as he bowed to her, showing he was still recovering from his injuries.
Many Outlander fans previously speculated on Reddit about Black Jack’s supposed demise in season one, with one person posting: “In the book, they’d been told a bloody, broken, but unidentified body was found in the aftermath of the escape. They assumed it was Randall, but it later turned out to be Marley (the aide Randall threatened to turn Claire over to, killed by Jaime in the show) [sic].”
A second wrote: “I actually didn’t realize Randall was supposed to be dead until I read the books after watching the first season.”
They added: “After the bulls are set loose in the prison, Jamie is rescued and taken there as well. It’s there that they are told Randall was trampled by the bulls and is dead [sic].”
A third commented: “In the books, a trampled body was found at Wentworth Prison. It was unidentifiable, like a “rag doll soaked in blood”. It was assumed to be Black Jack Randall.”
This moment worked out well in the show with only book readers aware Black Jack had survived a stampede of bulls.
Season two also saw Black Jack’s brother Alex Randall (Laurence Dobiesz) in Paris, with Claire fainting in the book after believing it was the devious soldier.
Alex revealed to Claire how Black Jack was still alive, leaving her disturbed at how he’d survived.
She also had to break to Jamie that his rapist and abuser had survived.
Interestingly, it was a plot point the show’s writers debated over as they tried to figure out when to include it in the show.
Speaking previously on the Outlander podcast, executive producer Ronald D. Moore and writer Toni Graphia opened up about the scene.
Moore said: “I remember as we structured this, there was a lot of, ‘When does she tell Jamie that Jack is alive and how and under what circumstances?’
“And it took a while. This was a late development that became this scene in the show.”
He continued: “I remember us playing around with, ‘Well, what was his reaction going to be?’ I remember at some point in the structuring process we thought it would be fun if he was overjoyed at the news, which was in contradiction to where we left last week with, ‘Oh my god, if Jamie finds out he’s going to lose his mind’.”
Graphia added: “He’s going to run out and kill him. We wanted to play that as a surprise.”
Jamie’s happiness at Black Jack’s survival was rooted in the hopes he would finally kill his tormenter himself, but fate had other plans for them with their last confrontation taking place at the Battle of Culloden.
Outlander season 7 is available to buy now on Digital and is streaming on MGM+ via Prime Video now