‘Outlander’ season 2 finale: Richard Rankin sets up Roger
Roger Wakefield is one of the noteworthy additions to “Outlander” for the finale; he certainly is one book-readers have been excited to see. He’s an essential character to the Diana Gabaldon series, but the show took its time getting to him in season 2.
Will it be worth the wait? Viewers will be the judge of that later today (though you can also read our review after the finale airs for more of our insight). One of the things we’re most excited about is to finally hear more from Richard Rankin, who plays the part, in addition to Sophie Skelton as Brianna. Starz has smartly chosen to keep them fairly mum on their roles … at least until now.
Speaking per Entertainment Weekly, Rankin offers up the show’s initial perception of his character, which could be useful to the non-readers out there interested in a little more of his backstory:
“When you meet him, he’s just an Oxford professor. He’s a well‑educated, well‑brought up young man, who spent a lot of his early years growing up in the Highlands in Scotland before he moved off to be educated down south and then, you know, go on to be an academic. So, his experience of life is very different to the other characters that you’ve met in Outlander, especially the 18th-century characters. I wanted to make him as far removed from that world as I could, so you would think he is quite endearing and quite sweet. I have an amazing opportunity with Roger, of taking him on that journey through Voyager. He almost becomes like a hardened warrior himself. The things that he goes through in the following series!”
Presumably, you will be seeing quite a bit of Roger in season 3; the show is opting for this introduction now for a reason. It’s hard to say much more about the character now without spoiling anything, so with that, we’re better off staying silent. We will say this: Watch live tonight. If you don’t, at least stay off social media until you watch it. (If you are watching live, Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe are planning to live-tweet.)
We will have tons of “Outlander” finale coverage over the next day or two at this link; be sure to come back and look for more! Also, sign up over here to secure some other TV news on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: Starz.)