While Claire and Jamie went to Jocasta’s wedding, Roger and Brianna had to save Fraser’s Ridge from locusts. Brianna’s ‘invention’ was the most disappointing thing ever on Outlander Season 5, Episode 6.
I will admit that I was disappointed in the writing for Brianna throughout the majority of Outlander Season 5. It wasn’t until around Episode 9 and 10 that the show started to turn things around, but even then, it wasn’t all that great.
And I am disappointed in that overall. Brianna is one of my favorite characters and she can be a strong woman. The show focused too much on her being a mother and a wife instead of everything else that she is.
One of the things I wanted more for from Brianna was her engineering skills. We got a hint of them during Outlander Season 4, but that was it until later in Outlander Season 5. There was this chance to give us something during the locusts, but it was wasted.
Brianna’s ‘invention’ was wafting sheets on Outlander Season 5, Episode 6
I will admit that I still love the placement of the locust storyline on Outlander Season 5, Episode 6. It was a chance for Roger to step up and show just how much he’s learned about living in the 18th century. He protected everyone’s crops from the locusts, including most of his father-in-law’s.
He did the majority of it by himself. It was only when he needed to figure out how to spread the smoke around the crops that he needed some help.
There was a glint in Brianna’s eye making it clear she had an idea. And there was hope that she would have this brilliant engineering idea. Instead, she just came up with the idea of wafting sheets to help spread the smoke.
And yes, sometimes the simplest option is the best. I’m not denying that. The disappointment was in this buildup. We got this hint of a major moment of engineering brilliance. The writers baited us with that look on Bree’s face just to then give us a person wafting a sheet. It’s arguably something that everyone else should have had when thinking about how to blow smoke around the crops to protect them.
The Outlander writers struggled to write Brianna’s character, and this is one of those moments that proves it. Hopefully, there’s more for Brianna and her engineering skills in Outlander Season 6.
What did you think of Brianna’s “invention” to help deal with the locusts? What would you like to see from Bree on the sixth season? Share your thoughts in the comments below.