Has Jamie’s character development stagnated on Outlander?

It’s no secret that Outlander has focused a lot on making Claire a strong woman. Season 4 focused on Brianna and Roger’s development too. Has this led to Jamie’s character development become stagnant?

The Outlander EPs have never been ashamed to admit that they’ve focused a lot on Claire’s character. While the novels are Claire’s story about Jamie, the EPs view it as Claire’s story and you can tell. This wasn’t a problem for Jamie at first, but has it led to stagnated character development for him?

Season 4 didn’t just see more of Claire being a strong woman. The writers had to focus on Brianna and Roger, too, developing their characters in ways that Seasons 2 and 3 couldn’t. Young Ian got his development and then there was an episode for Fergus and Marsali. Even Lord John Grey got more development, especially when it came to his relationship with Claire.

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Something had to give with all these other characters taking focus and, unfortunately, that was Jamie. Just his actions against Roger and his attitude immediately after saving Roger from the Mohawk made it clear that Jamie hasn’t really changed that much over the years.

He’s always been loyal and protective of family. He’s put others before himself when he’s needed to. Knowing he was in the wrong in not even asking Roger his name, it wasn’t too surprising that he let Roger beat him up. But it was after that where it was clear Jamie’s character development had become stagnant.

Jamie never even considered everything that Roger had gone through. Despite knowing that Roger was from the future, he didn’t even think that Roger wouldn’t necessarily know about the dangers of the time. Sure, we’ve all heard of the dangers but would we all take them completely seriously until faced with the actual danger in the past?

Another moment that stands out was when he was sulking in the forest. He was more like a teenager or even someone in his 20s, still trying to figure out the way of the world. I felt for Young Ian, as he and Claire weren’t talking. While Claire had the chance to work through her thoughts and we got to hear her reasons, we never did with Jamie.

This episode could have done with a little more focus on Jamie. It would have been excellent to see Young Ian talk to his uncle about the tension between the couple.

There were various times I didn’t see a more mature Jamie. Just as I thought we’d get something (learning about how to free the slaves, time with Willie), we seemed to gloss over the potential development and backtrack slightly. I can’t see much difference between late-Season 2/early-Season 3 Jamie and Season 4 Jamie.

As the show continues, I’d love to see more development for Jamie — more focus on him as a man, a husband, a father, and a grandfather. Outlander Season 5 certainly has a lot of potential but will the writers give us what we need?

What do you think of Jamie’s character development? Are the writers forgetting about him? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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