Outlander season 6 premiere should silence the show's critics
with the shocking rape of lead character Claire Fraser, who was kidnapped and assaulted by Lionel Brown and his men before she was rescued by husband Jamie and the men of Fraser's Ridge.
While the horrific attack was handled carefully – the camera focused on Claire's face and was intercut with scenes of her imagining an idyllic life with her family in the 20th century as a way to cope with the assault – the show did draw criticism for showing yet another rape on screen.than in your average period drama. Since the show began in 2014, Claire's character has been threatened with sexual assault multiple times , all before the season five rape.
Of course, the reason why so many assaults appear in the series is that they were all first featured in author Diana Gabaldon's"There's a lot of rape in Diana's books," executive producer Maril Davis toldin 2018 when Bree's rape was due to be broadcast ."Obviously we've seen some of it and every time we try to figure out what is best for the story. We certainly want to be sensitive to the character who is going through this situation.
The opening episode of season six picks up weeks after the events of the season five finale, and it's made clear very early on that Claire isn't coping well at all. Tormented by memories of the attack, and the other assaults of her past , Claire uses her new discovery of anaesthetic ether to give herself the peaceful, dreamless sleep she desperately needs, all while pretending to her family that she is fine.