Why did the Outlander TV series give us some of Frank’s time?

Theorizing the use of Frank on Outlander Season 1, Episode 8

During Outlander Season 1, Episode 8, we got a storyline created purely be the show. It was a look at Frank in his own time, as he waited in Scotland for Claire. Why did the show decide to include this?

I can’t say for certain. As I’m not officially connected to the show, I don’t get to know why the writers choose to go a certain way with storylines. However, I can share why I think the writers opted to invent this storyline.

There are three reasons that I can think of. The first is linked to the fact that it’s Tobias Menzies. As one of the biggest known stars on the series at this point, the writers would have wanted to find a way to keep the actor in. Frank wouldn’t show up again until much later in the story, so the writers had to develop a way to keep him in the story for Season 1. This was how.

Fleshing out Frank’s character more

It wasn’t just about the actor but about the character. After all, Menzies also played Black Jack Randall, so there were plenty of ways to keep the actor in the show.

Developing the character was important. With less time on the show than in the books, we didn’t have as much time to get to know Frank in the first episode. And the show writers knew that Frank would come back up later. To have some empathy for him, we’d need to get to know him earlier.

I do suspect that this is why the storyline at the start of Season 2 was adapted to include Frank. The show wouldn’t be able to fit all of the 20-year separation into Season 3, so we needed to see Claire’s return at the start of Season 2, giving us more time to get to know Frank before Season 3.

Seeing what Frank was doing

While Outlander fans are here for Claire and Jamie, there are others who want to know about other characters. We gain a connection to the side characters and want to revisit them. Frank is an important character, so it’s important to know what Frank did when Claire was in the past. At what point did he decide to return to Oxford and get on with his life?

This is what Outlander Season 1 offers. We get to see Frank staying for Claire for six weeks. But eventually, he had to accept that there was a chance she had run off with someone; that she wasn’t coming back. He needed to get on with his life.

We see him sort of hit rock bottom. He’s willing to believe anyone who may have information, and he walks into a trap because of it. That’s the turning point for Frank. He knows that he needs to move forward. It’s ironic considering he’s a historian, but he can’t keep looking back.

What did you think about Outlander adding Frank’s storyline in? What did you think of the invention? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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