‘Outlander’ Cast Reveals a Notorious Character Survived in Scene That Never Aired
What To Know
- Outlander cast and crew revealed they filmed an alternate scene in which the villainous Captain Black Jack Randall survived.
- The studio and network wanted to keep Black Jack alive, but author Diana Gabaldon shot it down.
- The series finale recently aired, with production filming multiple endings to prevent leaks.
Outlander cast members recently revealed a notorious character, Captain Black Jack Randall, survived in a scene that was filmed but never aired.
During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Sam Heughan (Jamie), Caitríona Balfe (Claire), showrunner Matthew B. Roberts, and executive producer Maril Davis detailed the plot twist that never came to fruition.
In the Season 3 premiere, Jamie kills Black Jack (Tobias Menzies) at the Battle of Culloden. But things could have ended very differently for the villainous character.
“When we know we’re going to do something big, we call Diana [Gabaldon] (author of the Outlander books) and go, ‘Hey, we’re gonna go down this path. How do you feel about it?’” Roberts recounted. “We want to, of course, get her sign off on it. If she hated something so desperately, we wouldn’t go that way.”
He added, “We really wanted to keep Black Jack alive, the studio and the network really wanted to keep Black Jack alive, so we call her and asked her. She said, ‘I really wish you wouldn’t do that.’ So he died.”
That’s when Heughan recalled, “You filmed it. I remember, filmed Black Jack’s eyes opening again on the battlefield.”
To that, Davis pointed out that they had been “hoping” for a different answer from Gabaldon — so they filmed it just in case. Roberts reiterated, “She said no, so he died.”
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Of course, Black Jack had already been “resurrected” once, when Jamie and Claire learned in Season 2 that he hadn’t died from his Wentworth Prison injuries. So a second resurrection might have been a bit much. (Then again, Jamie survived countless near-death situations through the years.)
On May 15, the series finale of Outlander aired, finally revealing Jamie and Claire’s fate. Production took a similar approach for the Season 8 finale, as they filmed several endings to avoid leaks.
What do you think of the idea of Black Jack Randall surviving? What are your thoughts on the Outlander series finale?
Outlander, all 8 seasons streaming on Starz
