by Cookie N Screen
There is something so sinisterly enthralling about villainous characters that, if done well, gift excellence to a television show. Like the romping Hannibal that illuminates his television show, evil characters are pivotal if they are fleshed out with realism. This is where Outlander and Game of Thrones separates. For example, with Ramsey Bolton, you can loathe him but he is a cartoon character of depravity and rage, set to exert the power shock towards the audience. With Captain Jack Randall, whose similar modus operandi causes alarm for fans, there is a sickening reason and poetic rhyme and reason to his work that fleshes him out as the beast he is - and not merely a device for us to loathe.
As we enter in to the darker elements of Outlander with the penultimate episode, we know exactly the lengths Randall will go to catch and break his prey.
There is something so sinisterly enthralling about villainous characters that, if done well, gift excellence to a television show. Like the romping Hannibal that illuminates his television show, evil characters are pivotal if they are fleshed out with realism. This is where Outlander and Game of Thrones separates. For example, with Ramsey Bolton, you can loathe him but he is a cartoon character of depravity and rage, set to exert the power shock towards the audience. With Captain Jack Randall, whose similar modus operandi causes alarm for fans, there is a sickening reason and poetic rhyme and reason to his work that fleshes him out as the beast he is - and not merely a device for us to loathe.
As we enter in to the darker elements of Outlander with the penultimate episode, we know exactly the lengths Randall will go to catch and break his prey.
Wentworth Prison is an episode that beats with a terrifyingly black heart, sending pulsating terror through impressive performances and astute emotive writing. Jamie is heading to the hangman’s noose with MacQuarrie when riding on horseback to save him comes…….Captain Jack Randall. Knowing the redcoats’ presence is less of a save and more like a fate worse than death, Jamie is despaired when he is locked in a room with his sinister captor. Despite the fact that Claire is so close to rescuing him from Wentworth Prison, Jamie must undergo torture. Yet even when she does arrive, how far will Jack Randall go to exert his control over the married couple?
Despite the graphicness of the torture that isn’t dissimilar to the aforementioned Thrones saga, director Anna Foerstar and writer Ira Steven Behr are clear to not make it a device for alarm in a way to compete against other shows by being shocking. Instead, this is the continuous thread for Randall and Fraser. Intricately implementing his desire for Fraser and certainly not allowing the Scotsman to fall away from his grasp, Randall’s turn into enslaver and torturer was an engaging follow through on his baleful promise. Randall demonstrates everything that violence, especially sexual, is - the need and thirst for control. Here, Randall wants Jamie but because of his darkness, he’ll take him without a thought and put him through hell until he submits to him which, as we know, Jamie will do to save Claire.
Despite the graphicness of the torture that isn’t dissimilar to the aforementioned Thrones saga, director Anna Foerstar and writer Ira Steven Behr are clear to not make it a device for alarm in a way to compete against other shows by being shocking. Instead, this is the continuous thread for Randall and Fraser. Intricately implementing his desire for Fraser and certainly not allowing the Scotsman to fall away from his grasp, Randall’s turn into enslaver and torturer was an engaging follow through on his baleful promise. Randall demonstrates everything that violence, especially sexual, is - the need and thirst for control. Here, Randall wants Jamie but because of his darkness, he’ll take him without a thought and put him through hell until he submits to him which, as we know, Jamie will do to save Claire.
The remarkable performances here come from, as ever, Tobias Menzes and his prey Sam Heughan. Menzes is truly terrific as Randall and is able to be fierce in his calmness, seductive in his crime and powerful in his weakness. Conveying Randall as the brutal man he is, Menzes pushes his talent beyond anything we’ve seen on screen and is a marvellous actor devilishly revelling in the secrets of Randall’s soul. Opposite him, for the majority of the episode, is Heughan’s Jamie. The Laird of Lollybroch has always been this white knighted character so in the palm (which may be the most sickening pun I’ve ever made) of Randall, his body and soul will be broken. Heughan showcases the twisting emotions and embellishes the different thoughts so delicately well that your heart will pang for his plight. Determination to escape to giving in to the temperament of Randall for the sake of his wife Claire, Heughan’s Jamie is embroiled with poignancy and fear - a victim and a hero, all mixed as one. The pair’s games against one another illuminates the screen evocatively well.
“You’re a fucking sadistic piece of shit” bellows Claire which is possibly the best summary of Randall and this episode. How next week handles the torturous elements is what will level Outlander above the ranks of Game of Thrones and Vikings. The show, despite flopping between enthralling and fluffy episodes, has delivered some of the most important and vital scenes in the history of television. Handling the rape and the aftermath of sexual violence is how it’ll solidify it’s stance as crucial impacting television.
“You’re a fucking sadistic piece of shit” bellows Claire which is possibly the best summary of Randall and this episode. How next week handles the torturous elements is what will level Outlander above the ranks of Game of Thrones and Vikings. The show, despite flopping between enthralling and fluffy episodes, has delivered some of the most important and vital scenes in the history of television. Handling the rape and the aftermath of sexual violence is how it’ll solidify it’s stance as crucial impacting television.
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