Frank Randall Black Jack
Deep breaths, everyone. For months now, Outlander ‘s Black Jack Randall, a sadistic Redcoat who makes Jeffrey Dahmer look like a mewling kitten in comparison, has had Jamie Fraser in his sights. Jonathan “Black Jack” Randall was listed on the family tree as a great, great, great, etc., etc. Grandfather of Frank Randall. But in truth he was an uncle that married his dying brothers girlfriend to give his baby a name. That being said on the Starz series Outlander the character is played by the same actor, Tobias Menzies. Jack Randall very closely resembles his descendant, Frank Randall. The likeness is such that Claire Beauchamp mistakes Jack for her husband upon arriving in the past. Though a handsome man like Frank, Jack's skin is darkly tanned from years of exposure and he wears his dark hair long. Aug 26, 2020 Black Jack Randall is easily the most evil character in Outlander - and he's done truly horrifying things to most of the main characters. By Philip Etemesi Aug 26, 2020 From the first to the third season, Outlander 's Jonathan 'Black Jack' Randall made his mark as one of TV's most brutal villains.
Though she didn't love him as much as Jamie on Outlander, Claire truly cared about her first husband, Frank Randall, and spent lots of time trying to get back to him and then trying to protect him once she'd decided to stay with Jamie. So what now? What happens to Frank in the Outlander books? Though they remained married and coparents for 20 years, their relationship never really recovered after Claire disappeared through the stones and then eventually came back. Whether you think that he deserved it or not, Frank's story ended in tragedy. Warning: book spoilers ahead!
Jonathan Wolverton Randall, commonly known as Jonathan Randall, Jack Randall, and 'Black Jack', is Frank Randall's direct ancestor and the main antagonist of both the first Season of the Starz 2014 original TV series Outlander and the historical time travel Outlander novel series of the same name by Diana Gabaldon. In the second season of the show, he is just a supporting minor character.
Frank Randall Black Jack Books
Unlike Jamie, who is a paradigm of good, and unlike Black Jack Randall, who is the living embodiment of evil, Frank is a little bit of both. He's capable of being kind, gentle, and extremely loyal. But he's also prone to snobbishness and pettiness and he clearly resents Claire for having preferred someone else over him. While he is sorting through all of these demons and Claire tries to get over her love for Jamie for nearly two decades, the couple's marriage falls completely apart. In the show, this deterioration on Frank's part is played to perfection by Tobias Menzies, as he slowly realizes he is doomed to play out this loveless marriage for the rest of his daughter Brianna's life.
In the books, Claire is completely unable to sit at home and be the pretty housewife and mother that mid-century Boston demands. So she enrolls in medical school, as viewers saw in Episode 2 of Season 3, and befriends Joe Abernathy, a black man, as they bond over being mutually ostracized from their classmates and colleagues. In the book version, Frank becomes openly hostile to this friendship near the end of his life, even after all the years he spent with Claire, trying to learn how to deal with one another.
In the books, the last day of Frank's life ends in a knock-down drag-out fight with Claire over their daughter, Brianna. Frank announces that he is finally going to leave Claire. He's accepted a post at Cambridge in England, which he intends to accept. And he intends to take Brianna with him, though Claire is welcome to visit whenever she likes. I think you can imagine how well this particular argument went over. Obviously Claire said absolutely not, and then the fight escalated into a discussion over their marriage. Claire tells Frank she knows about his mistresses, and that she's counted six over the years. She also mentioned that she told them if Frank wanted to leave her she wouldn't stop him. He never did.
Frank accuses Claire of having an affair with Joe Abernathy, a transgression made all the worse because Joe is black (the horror). Yes, Frank indulges in a lot of ugly racism and sexism here that I try to forgive because it is his last night on earth, but he makes it really, really difficult. Finally, Frank asks Claire if she would miss Jamie as much as she does if Brianna and her bright red hair were not a constant reminder of him. Obviously, yeah, she would still miss him. So Frank takes off in a huff for a drive. He slips on some ice and dies. Will it play out this way on the show? Menzies has always made Frank a very sympathetic character so far, so it's difficult to say, but I think we can safely assume that, regardless of how he goes and under what circumstances, Frank is not long for this fictional world.
Frank Randall Black Jack Skellington
Because this is the work of Diana Gabaldon, of course the death is dramatic and filled with unresolved angst and tension. While Frank's death takes a tragic toll on Claire and especially Brianna, if he hadn't died, would Claire truly have looked into the truth about what happened to Jamie? And if she had, would she really have been able to leave? She promised Frank that if they were to be together, she would leave Jamie in the past and stop looking into him. So is it callous if I say, thank goodness Frank eventually dies? At the very least, it'll help bring Claire once step closer to Jamie.
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Black Jack Strain
Avoiding the inevitable fate of characters from the past — even characters you despise — is tricky to do when time travel is involved. Spoilers for the Season 3 premiere of Outlander follow. With Frank Randall being well-versed in his family's history, Claire knew that Captain Black Jack Randall was supposed to die during the Battle of Culloden. However, her being from the future doesn't always give her all the facts, since she also thought that Jamie had died in that battle and discovered in the Season 2 finale that her assumption was (mind the pun) dead wrong. But when it comes to Jonathan Randall, the history books were right since, Jamie kills Black Jack Randall on the battlefield in the Season 3 premiere of Outlander, defeating his foe for the final time.
Even without reading the third book of the Outlander series, Voyager, viewers should have known the man lying on top of Jamie in the beginning of 'The Battle Joined' is Black Jack Randall. Because even in death, Randall is unsettlingly and poetically, connected to Jamie. So it's only fitting that Jamie is not only responsible for Black Jack's death, but that Jamie is still with him as he fights for his own life. And if you have any concerns that, like Jamie, Black Jack survives, there's no need. After tormenting Jamie and Claire for two seasons, Black Jack Randall is truly dead on Outlander. Hoorah! There's no denying that this sadist has had it coming for a long while.
Black Jack nearly kills Jamie during the battle, but the Scotsman is able to deliver the fatal blow to the man who viciously whipped and raped him — getting at least some justice. Even their final collapse on one another on the battlefield is reminiscent of the abuses Randall perpetrated on Jamie. But Black Jack will not be able to hurt Jamie or Claire ever again, as history predicted.
The only downside to Black Jack Randall dying on Outlander is the loss of Tobias Menzies being able to so skillfully portray this twisted character. Yet, Menzies time on Outlander isn't over yet with Frank being alive in Claire's timeline. Frank's fate is unfortunately doomed like his ancestor's, but viewers will have to adjust to seeing the kinder, gentler Randall again in Season 3 — at least for a little while.