As much as we want to see more Claire and Jamie together and connected, Outlander Season 5 needs more time on Brianna and Roger’s relationship. It’s not up for negotiation.
Outlander is Claire’s story about Jamie. At least, that’s the case for the books. However, like life, the books (and now the show) have grown. Brianna and Roger have gained more of a focus and Outlander Season 5 is going to need to spend a little more time on their relationship.
This isn’t something up for negotiation. One of the reasons many people aren’t interested in Roger and Bree is because their relationship and their characters haven’t had the time to develop. It’s not easy in a show that is 13 episodes long and has 800+ pages of original content to adapt. With focus on other characters like Fergus, Marsali, Murtagh, and Lord John Grey, it’s also not easy to spend time on the core characters (and yes, Brianna and Roger are becoming core characters now).
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But we need the time on Brianna and Roger. Throughout the fourth season, many fans (book and non-book fans alike) shared on Twitter and Facebook how much they wanted to see Brianna and Lord John Grey together. This is despite knowing that Lord John is gay — they’d prefer to have Brianna with a gay man instead of her husband and possibly father of her baby. There’s one reason for this: more time to develop that relationship.
Brianna and Roger are supposed to be a couple to root for and we didn’t get enough of them together. We never really have.
In the second season, Brianna learned about Jamie. In the third season, the two spent their time searching for Jamie and were together at the end of one episode after Claire’s departure. The fourth season was a chance to show us more of their growing bond and instead we mostly just got their fights.
As much as I enjoyed their characters and found the development of their individual journeys intriguing, I didn’t get enough time to feel anything for them together. There wasn’t enough time to really see them connect. There’s the start of chemistry between them but there wasn’t enough time to really believe Brianna’s hope that Roger would return or Roger’s fight to get back to Brianna.
If the show wants us to fight for the two together, we need to see more of them. That bond needs to develop more, especially now they have a child together. Outlander Season 5 is going to have to spend time on them as a couple and not on their separate journeys as much.
What did you think of Outlander Season 4? What would you like to see from Brianna and Roger together? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Outlander Season 5 begins filming next week. Follow Claire and Jamie on Twitter for more updates as we get them.