MovieChat Forums > Outlander (2014) Discussion > Is there a deeper idea behind the two Ra...

Is there a deeper idea behind the two Randalls?

posted 4 years ago by Erland (30)
4 replies | jump to latest

Claire's husband Frank Randall and his ancestor Captain Jack Randall look as copies of each other and are played by the same actor. But they are extremely different characters. While Frank is a basically kind, good guy and (at least initially) loved by Claire, Jack is very evil, sadistic and power hungry, an extremely frigthening person, the main villain of the series, it seems.

I wonder if there is a deeper idea behind this similarity in looks and difference in character. Some kind of intricate plot device. Or why did the author make them like this?

PS. Up to now, I only watched Season 1 and Episode 1 of Season 2 on Netflix, so try to avoid spoilers please :)

[–] OratiaGlake (1254) 4 years ago

Ah...you will find out! 😉

[–] strntz (12467) 4 years ago

I think the purpose is to give Cleh a bit of conflict. One one hand we have the totally nonredeemable scum Captain Jack, and then we have the contrast to Frank, who *is* a good guy albeit one with some human frailties certainly.

It must have been difficult for Cleh to look into Frank's face and not see Captain Black Jack Randall. I think that was the reason.

[–] Erland (30) 4 years ago

Yes, I think this was a little sadistic of the author, against both Claire and Frank...

[–] Ziggy (1802) 4 years ago

I think you've already seen it. The first couple of times Claire sees Black Jack (after their initial meeting), she trusts him completely and almost thinks that his sadistic nature is a joke. It gets her into trouble.