Could Nell Hudson return on Outlander this season … or down the road?
On the surface it would be easy to say that Jamie’s second wife would be done from the show forever for many different reasons, starting with the fact that she’s not the most-popular character in the world … intentionally so. This is a woman who hates Claire and has for decades — and she also just so happens to be one who pulled a gun on her and Jamie near the end of tonight’s episode after learning of her return. Beyond that, we hear that she is largely absent from the Diana Gabaldon novel Voyager after the events of this story tonight. Given that she’s already had her confrontation with Jamie it makes some sense that there wouldn’t be much more of her — while we do think he cares about meeting her demands in order to sever off that marriage, he also has some other issues to worry about at the moment, including what is happening to Young Ian.
While it would seem relatively easy at the moment to write off Nell Hudson for the rest of the year, we do know better than to completely do that … if for no other reason than that this is a show that has already showed a willingness to shake things up here and there. Remember that Murtagh, despite being dead in the books, still presumably roams around in the land of the living. While we haven’t seen the character since the events of the prison earlier this season (and many years ago in the show’s timeline), we don’t think that Outlander kept him alive only to kill him off-screen. You can read more about this over at the link here. That’s certainly a much bigger change than anything that could happen with Laoghaire, but it’s worth citing as evidence that things can change here.
If the series thinks that they could use Laoghaire again in so shape or form, odds are they will find a way to make it happen. If it is to serve as a foil for Jamie and Claire, who knows? She could prove useful if she ends up pushing our two heroes even closer together or offers up some more insight into Marsali. Lauren Lyle is going to be sticking around on the series for a while in this role.
For the record, Hudson herself is staying mum as to whether or not she is returning to Outlander this season — she tells TVLine that she’s “not at liberty to say.” (For the record, you can also see Hudson on Victoria season 2 airing on PBS in the new year — it’s a really great season! We feel like you’ll enjoy it if you liked the first go-around of the series.)
As for a season 4 role…
Let’s just say you never quite know what could happen. Somehow, someway, there could be a chance for someone to run into her in Scotland.
What do you think: Is there room for more Nell Hudson on Outlander, whether it be now or down the road? Share in the comments!
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