2. Episode 8: Seeing Brianna as the light in the darkness
This isn’t the number one moment?!? What?!? I know that’s what you’re thinking, but there’s a bigger moment from the same episode that stands out as the top Roger moment from Outlander Season 5 for me.
This moment is number two. Throughout the episode, Roger has struggled with flashbacks of being hanged. Everything is as a silent movie, torturing him with replays of being dragged to the tree and being awake as the barrel is knocked from beneath his feet. All he can do is grab the rope in hope that he can somehow save his life.
Not being able to sing is a constant reminder of what happened. The loss of his voice is the physical trauma, but there’s so much going on in his head. He can’t see past the darkness.
It’s only when he really contemplates suicide. He looks over the cliff edge and he allows himself to play out the memory in full. The color starts to come back, sound is heard, and he gets to the end. He starts to see the light in the darkness.
Last words don’t matter. Last thoughts are most important, and for Roger, his last thoughts were Bree.
So, what’s the number one moment?
1. Episode 8: Saving Jemmy from being burned
It’s all about when Roger used his voice in this episode. Roger refused to talk. It wasn’t that he couldn’t physically talk, but there was a mental block. He buried his weapon, as Young Ian said to him.
The trauma was too much. While everyone else carried on around him, he was stuck partially in the past. He couldn’t move forward and refused to speak until he could.
That is until he saw Jemmy reach out for the boiling kettle. All thoughts of trauma disappeared. His parental instincts took over and he shouted out to Jemmy. It made everyone jump and it certainly terrified Jemmy, but better a terrified child for a few moments than a burned and scared one for life.
Within eight episodes, we’d watched Roger take the blood oath and be a father to Jemmy. That all stood out in this moment because no matter what was going on in his life, the only thing that mattered was Jemmy’s safety.
What were your favorite Roger moments from Outlander Season 5? Share them in the comments below.