“Outlander” Season 4 is slowly breaking away from its focus on the story between Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan) as the narrative is shifting towards Brianna’s (Sophie Skelton) journey. And part of this journey is the transition of the young Fraser’s life from being the stepdaughter of Frank (Tobias Menzies) to the daughter of Jamie.
Indeed, the latest episode of “Outlander” Season 4 already hinted at this transformation when the show briefly brought back Frank as a flashback. The Showrunners appear to be attempting to generate a stronger emotional bond between Frank and Brianna and how their relationship will affect the girl’s perspective of her real father.
In the books, Frank and Brianna’s relationship wasn’t explored too deeply, which is a shame because Frank is such a layered character. Skelton also agrees with how the writers are handling this bond and understands why Frank needed to be there at that moment. Brief as Frank’s appearance was, what’s really interesting here is that by simply bringing back the character, the showrunners provided several emotional depths in “Outlander” Season 4’s “Down The Rabbit Hole.”
Sadness, longing, closure, and even betrayal rises to the surface when one watches that particular scene. Indeed, even Skelton agrees with the last emotion that was mentioned. “But I think people have to remember that Frank really did raise Bree and he did a very good job. There’s that guilt she feels going back. She feels like she’s betraying him,” Skelton explained. Following this, Brianna might find a hard time accepting Jamie as her old man throughout “Outlander” Season 4.
Although Frank wasn’t the perfect father for Bree, he did his best in raising the girl even though he knew from the start that she wasn’t his daughter. Frank was a good man after it’s all said and done, troubled though he was. Now, fans are excited to see what will unfold in the next episode of “Outlander” Season 4 when it airs on Dec. 23. This is doubly true since dangers are lurking from the shadows in the form of Irish pirate Stephen Bonnet (Ed Speleers).