Outlander season 5 episode 5: The Graham Menzies book connection

Was the Outlander character of Graham Menzies inspired on some level by former series star Tobias Menzies? If you watched this weekend’s episode and have not read the books, it’s a fair question to wonder. Everyone on the series loves Tobias and his dual roles of Black Jack / Frank Randall, and it would make sense to name a character in his honor.

Yet, that is not precisely how things happened here at all. Instead, we are looking at a situation in which Graham Menzies always existed within the source material, and the series is doing what it can to play a little bit of catch-up. Graham the character was first referenced back in the Diana Gabaldon book Voyager, but was not brought up on the show during its third season, which corresponded with the book. The writers instead saved some of their plans for him until season 5, and it feels very smart in retrospect.

While a book can play around with scenes and time-jumping rather easily, it can be more difficult to do in a visual medium. With that, the show decided to use Graham as a reason to show some of Claire’s life in Boston this season — it reminded you of the time-travel aspect of the series, and that is something that the writers are keen to do here and there. They also told the story in a way that connected to Claire eventually making the decision to go back in time and find Jamie. It was a ripple effect, but her care for Graham Menzies (and his subsequent death) led to another elaborate chain of events. All of this is important within the lens of the show.

So while we don’t think that Graham as a character will matter all that much in the long-term, he was a valuable device for this episode in reminding us of one thing — the central love story and the feelings that Claire has for Jamie, her one great love. He helped to make this installment one of the best of the season.

What did you think about how Outlander incorporated Graham Menzies?

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Photo: Starz