Defending Roger’s question to Brianna at the end of Outlander Season 5, Episode 10

At the end of Outlander Season 5, Episode 10, Roger had one question for Brianna. While many are annoyed at him, here’s a defense for asking.

Outlander Season 5, Episode 10 was a major Brianna episode. At the very end, she made a decision to show humanity. Or maybe it was just to make sure a certain man was out of her life forever. That was something Roger wondered at the very end of the episode.

Roger had one question. Were Brianna’s actions out of mercy or just to make sure Stephen Bonnet was dead. It was a question that went unanswered, and one that some fans have taken a dislike to. It further adds fuel to the dislike and even hatred for Roger.

I admit that I just don’t understand the hatred for Roger. He and Brianna are the two characters that I connect to the most. Roger most definitely. He’s a man of his time stuck in the past, a time that he doesn’t really want to be in. He’s chosen to be there for Bree and Jemmy, but that doesn’t mean he has to be completely happy about it.

At the same time, he’s a scholar. This is where the defense comes in. Roger’s question was one to try to understand his wife. From an academic point of view, he was curious. As a husband, he wanted to know if Brianna had developed some sort of feelings for her rapist and abductor. He wouldn’t have known it at the time (as the phrase wasn’t developed until after a bank robbery in 1973) but he would have wondered if Bree had a form of Stockholm Syndrome.

When you look at him as an academic, it’s easier to understand his question. He feared for Brianna, for their life together, and for Bree’s recovery after this. Maybe knowing the answer would help him help her move forward after it all.

What I did love about Roger is that when he didn’t get an answer, he didn’t push it. He knew that the conversation was going nowhere. Just the look on her face told him never to ask that question again.

The question was also for the sake of the viewers. Something that I complained about during Outlander Season 1 was not knowing if Claire had chosen not to go back through the stones or couldn’t go through them. The books explained it but the show overlooked it. Just a line about her making a choice or Jamie asking the question would have been enough. This question from Roger was a question many viewers would have been asking.

It also allows a debate among fans. We get to decide whether Bree did it out of mercy or to make sure her rapist was finally gone. Was she taking some revenge or had she developed some feelings for him during her time with him?

I’m not going to get angry at Roger for asking a question many people would have asked. If he’d have pushed for an answer, sure. However, Roger is an academic and he was always going to ask once. It’s in his nature.

And yes, this is about Show Roger. Show and Book Roger are two very different characters now, and I appreciate that. I feel more connected to Show Roger than I ever have with Book Roger, so maybe that helps me see his point of view a little more.

Outlander continues on Sundays on STARZ.