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Transforming Outlander: Developing Jamie’s PTSD for the series

By Alexandria Ingham

Outlander -- Courtesy of STARZ -- Acquired via STARZ Media Center
Outlander -- Courtesy of STARZ -- Acquired via STARZ Media Center /
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Outlander Season 2, Episode 2 gave us a full episode in France. It also developed the novel storyline for Jamie’s PTSD. Here’s a look at that development in this week’s Transforming Outlander.

During Outlander Season 2, Episode 2, we got to see Claire and Jamie begin their life in Paris. It wasn’t going to be an easy start, especially with Jamie suffering from nightmares. In this week’s Transforming Outlander, I’m looking at how the series developed the PTSD storyline.

Those who had read the books will know that Jamie barely suffered from nightmares in the second book. At least, Claire didn’t talk about it too much. The bulk of the recovery was done during the first novel, and I’ll be honest to say that I was disappointed in that. I loved that the show opted for development and change.

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After spending the first episode finding their feet in France, the Frasers started their new life. However, it wasn’t an easy one. From the opener, we saw that Jamie was struggling with nightmares of Black Jack Randall. He and Claire may have believed that Randall was dead, but he was still alive in Jamie’s mind.

It would later come out that Jamie was suffering because he wasn’t the one to kill Randall. He wanted to enact his revenge and learning that Randall was alive would help him deal with the trauma that happened to him. But that would take a few episodes.

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Watch Outlander with a FREE 7-day trial of Amazon Channels! /

In Outlander Season 2, Episode 2, we got a chance to see how Jamie was dealing – or not dealing. It was a chance to see how he was trying to hide the fact that he was suffering from nightmares, viewing himself as a weak many because of his PTSD. He wouldn’t even open up to his godfather, Murtagh.

Outlander — Courtesy of STARZ — Acquired via STARZ Media Center
Outlander — Courtesy of STARZ — Acquired via STARZ Media Center /

Someone like Jamie wouldn’t just get over the trauma. While we saw it still affected him in later books, he wouldn’t have just pushed it down after initially talking to Claire. It would affect him in the night, as his subconscious tried to make sense of everything that happened. For me, this was something the show got just right.

While Jamie suffered, Claire also struggled to deal with her life in Paris. This storyline was taken more from the book, showing how she struggled to go from someone doing everything herself to having servants. We got the chance to see her deal with nothing to do and finally find a place at the hospital for the poor.

Transforming Outlander: The change from 1968 to 1948. dark. Next

What did you think of stretching out Jamie’s PTSD more in the series? What did you enjoy about the transformation of “Dragonfly in Amber” in Outlander Season 2, Episode 2? Let me know in the comments below.

Transforming Outlander continues on Claire and Jamie weekly as we look at the second season.

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