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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Outlander, Season 7, Episode 10, “Brotherly Love.”]
Outlander made way for two major returns in its latest episode, “Brotherly Love,” as Lotte Verbeek and Graham McTavish reprised their roles as Geillis Duncan and Dougal MacKenzie.
But while fans may have been clued into their latest appearance, the context around it became clear as this installment unfolded. As fans were teased in the previous episode, Roger (Richard Rankin) was searching for his son Jemmy (Blake Johnston-Miller) and was directed towards Geillis. It turns out that there have been whisperings in the village about a “fairy man” who he thinks could be Rob Cameron (Chris Fulton).
Sending out for the men who crossed paths with this “fairy man” a group of Highlanders come knocking on Geillis’s door, among them is Jamie’s (Sam Heughan) uncle, and Roger’s ancestor, Dougal. But instead of being familiar with one another, it turns out that this is the first time Dougal and Geillis are meeting.
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Oddly enough, their grown son, Buck (Diarmaid Murtagh) happens to be present for the whole event, adding an extra layer of surrealness to the whole situation. Only Roger is the one to fully understand what’s going on, as Buck isn’t aware of his connection to either Geillis or Dougal. And similar to Roger, the audience is taken on a fun journey as Dougal and Geillis strike up an immediate attraction to one another.
“The writing is always so good,” Verbeek muses. “[In] Outlander, there are very lengthy scenes with a lot of words for some scenes. And then for this one, not a lot is being said. It is just all in that moment that you feel like something’s about to happen here,” Verbeek continues.
“It’s lovely for the audience because they bring the knowledge that the characters themselves don’t have at that moment,” McTavish chimes in. As fans will recall, Dougal perished in Season 2’s finale, “Dragonfly in Amber,” after Jamie and Claire (Caitriona Balfe) jointly drove a spear into his heart.
Meanwhile, it was believed that Geillis had perished by being burned at the stake for witchcraft, but she managed to escape and revealed herself to Claire decades later in Jamaica. Their reunion in Season 3 wasn’t a happy one though as Claire was forced to kill Geillis to protect her daughter Brianna (Sophie Skelton).
So, while viewers may know these characters’ fates, their return onscreen for this pivotal meet-cute reminds us of the possibilities that time travel gives viewers in this world. “So, they get multi-layering of reactions that can be played with, which is great,” McTavish adds. “But yeah, I was very excited about that particular meeting. And to have your own son at the meeting is quite a bizarre moment,” he notes.
As for Verbeek, she hopes the moment is satisfying to fans, adding, “I hope we did the moment justice… it was very fun to play for sure.”
Whether or not fans will see more of the duo before Season 7 is through, McTavish says, “Well, we can’t say too much about any of that. Can we really? That’s the problem that we’re always faced with constantly having to not speak about things.” Whether they return or not, it doesn’t take away from this fun reunion.
Let us know what you thought of Geillis and Dougal’s meet-cute in the comments, below, and stay tuned for more on Outlander.
Outlander, Season 7, Part 2, Fridays, 8/7c, Starz (Midnight on the Starz App and On Demand)
–Additional reporting by Kelli Boyle