Outlander’s David Berry: Episode 12 ‘Is a Real Indictment of Jamie’ — Watch Interview

Kimberly Roots

13 December 2024 at 9:02 pm·2-min read

Warning: This post contains spoilers from Outlander Season 7, Episode 12, “Carnal Knowledge.”

Every once in a great while, Outlander likes to remind us that Jamie Fraser does not, in fact, always do the right thing. And boy, was this week’s episode one of those times.

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Lord John admitted to his friend that he’d slept with Claire while both were out of their minds with grief following Jamie’s presumed death. Jamie didn’t believe him, then realized he was telling the truth, then punched Lord John as their interaction got more heated.

The beating continued, with Jamie calling his longtime friend (checks notes) a “filthy pervert,” until they were happened upon by a band of rebel soldiers. Jamie happily handed the battered Grey over to them, despite the rebels’ clear intention to do him harm. (Read a full recap of the episode here.)

“Lord John is very fearful of how Jamie is going to react,” David Berry, who plays the Brit, tells TVLine in the video above. “He doesn’t get the nice romance and reunion as Claire [does]. Instead, he gets a brutal beating.”

The barbarous way Fraser reacts to Grey’s news that he has “carnal knowledge” of Claire is nothing short of “a brutalization,” he continues, “and I think it’s a real indictment of Jamie.”

Perhaps the saddest part? Berry says Grey isn’t all that surprised by what transpires. After all, Jamie is “a Fraser,” he explains. “He’s known to react with violence to a lot of things.” What’s more, “Lord John, in his experience of being a gay man in his time, is not also a stranger to being met with brutalization for the way that he feels or loves. And so, although it is a real disappointment, I don’t think it’s entirely a shock to Lord John.

“But it definitely is,” he adds, “a massive rift that will need to be repaired, moving forward.”

Press PLAY on the video above to hear Berry talk about the episode, then hit the comments with your thoughts! And have you seen our exclusive Outlander cover story?

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