The historical time travel drama "Outlander" returned to television screens Sunday with the premiere of its third season. With its first episode, the show dialed the intensity up a notch and featured a very unexpected major character death.
The episode, called "The Battle Joined," showed the sudden death of series antagonist Captain Jonathan Wolverton "Black Jack" Randall within its first 15 minutes. Actor Tobias Menzies, who plays Black Jack, will still continue to be part of the series, as the more gentle character Frank Randall.
The episode opened with an eerie clip showing the aftermath of the violent battle of Culloden Moor in Scotland. James "Jamie" MacKenzie Fraser, played by Sam Heughan, was then shown to be alive, and piled on top of him. He saw the dead body of his adversary Black Jack. It seemed that his lifeless body put enough pressure on Fraser's wounds to prevent him from bleeding out.
The scene was a game-changing one in the series and one that whose consequences will greatly affect the show's narrative. Still, fans may be surprised that Black Jack's death comes in a somewhat very anti-climactic way, with the character not getting any last minute dialogues.
Before the episode ended, another tragic death took place, with Jamie's close friend and cousin Rupert Mackenzie, played by Grant O'Rourke, being shot by the redcoats after the British soldiers found him.
Meanwhile, Claire Fraser, played by Caitriona Balfe continued to work on their failing marriage. It is shown Claire is unable to recommit to her husband since she returned at the end of the previous season.
The series creator, Roland D. Moore has teased the upcoming events in the series. He said the show always takes cues from Diana Gabaldon's book first. "The book laid out this episodic story of Jamie," he shared. "It began with five chapters of his life from the Battle of Culloden to Lallybroch, to prison and Helwater and ends up in the print shop [where Claire returns to the past]."
The next episode of "Outlander" season 3 will arrive Sept. 17, 8 p.m. EDT on Starz.
