‘Outlander’ Star Mark Lewis Jones on Tom Christie’s Sacrifice for Claire

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Outlander Season 7 premiere, “A Life Well Lost.”]

Outlander is back and delivered plenty of emotions in its Season 7 premiere episode, “A Life Well Lost.” As Jamie (Sam Heughan) raced to save Claire (Caitriona Balfe) from potential death, his fellow Scotsman Tom Christie (Mark Lewis Jones) stayed close by her in order to keep watch.

While she remained imprisoned for allegedly murdering Tom’s daughter Malva (Jessica Reynolds), Tom sought justice in the form of a fair legal process. When Claire is whisked away to care for Governor Martin’s (Eugene O’Hare) pregnant wife, she sends a letter back for Tom, conveying her desire to have Jamie come and rescue her.

It’s his involvement that allows the Frasers to be reunited and ultimately set free when he makes the gallant choice to sacrifice himself by confessing to the crime neither he nor Claire committed. While Tom is partly responsible for the predicament Claire and Jamie find themselves in, his sacrifice ultimately stems from his feelings for the Fraser family matriarch.

(Credit: Starz)

“I’m not sure he’s racked with guilt. I think he’s filled with love,” Jones tells TV Insider about Tom’s choice to confess so he can save Claire. “It’s always felt like he’s been waiting for this one opportunity to show love, and it presents itself in the shape of Claire.”

“I always feel that he’s been heading towards [that] really,” he continues. “In Season 6, he’d been incredibly uptight and pious with Claire in particular, and that was in order to hide his true feelings. When we get to Season 7, he’s in a position where he can reveal how he really feels, not just with Claire, but with [Jamie].”

The men have a touching moment as well just before Tom goes to the ship Claire’s aboard to reveal he’s confessing for the sake of freeing her. “They do come to a place of mutual respect,” Jones says. “You wouldn’t say there’s love between them, but certainly respect.” And at the end of the day, Tom’s actions allow him to “play the ultimate hero,” he adds.

(Credit: Starz)

When it came to Tom’s heartfelt confession to Claire aboard the ship, Jones says, “Up to that point, he’s had a tough life with it all — the jail and the kids and the wives — and in a way, it all comes to a head in the most simple way: just two people in a small room.” It’s during his confession that viewers discover Claire’s physical similarities to Tom’s long-dead wife, the true parentage of Malva, being that of his brother, and the lack of love in Tom’s life until he met Claire.

She pleads with him to rethink his decision, noting his life has value, knowing it will likely end should he be tried for the murder he’s claiming to have committed, but he refuses to back down. He tells Claire he knows his life has value, and that’s why he’s able to stand by her now and take the blame.

“Caitriona’s wonderful to work with,” Jones shares. “The whole thing is so peeled back and revealing and vulnerable, especially for Tom. But I think for both of them, at that moment, there’s nothing to hide behind. And when I first got the script for that episode, I was delighted we were being given the opportunity to really go for it and deliver what the writers have given.”

As for Jones’ experience with the series, he says, “It’s been fantastic since the beginning with both [Caitriona and Sam] and the others. They’ve both been fantastic to work with. It was a really lovely experience, and I’m so glad that the response has been what it’s been because it was a gift.”

And just like the gift Tom gave to Claire, fans are surely grateful for the sacrifice he made in order to bring the show’s leading loves back together again. For that, we must tip our hats.

Outlander, Fridays, 8/7c, Starz