Love him or hate him, Frank Randall was an integral character in the first three seasons of Outlander. Nikki Gastineau details why hating Frank comes easily for her.
I have no love for Frank; zero, zilch, nada. I recently found a Defense of Frank Randall that Diana Gabaldon wrote after fans entered into heated discussions about ol’ Milquetoast Randall. While she didn’t quite understand the vilification of him, she did suggest that women who are unhappy with their own significant others might pin their relationship shortcomings on Frank all the while wishing for their own James Fraser. Damn girl, that is harsh, hurtful and, in my case, absolutely true. I could make a long story short and tell you I loathe Frank because he reminds me of my ex-husband, but I don’t see the fun in that. Here’s my chance to kill two birds with one wordy stone and I’m going to take it. Also, I did make a note awhile back to write this post so here goes.
Let me start by saying that I did feel a pang in my heart for Frank in the first two episodes of Outlander. I really did. He clearly loved Claire and was happy that they were together again and that the war was behind them. Then she disappeared into thin air. As I got deeper into Season 1 and read the books, I found my sympathy for Frank flagging, being replaced gradually by a litany of other emotions.
Frank Confused His Subscription to Ancestry.com With a Honeymoon
Claire’s voice-over in the opening scenes of episode 1 tells us that the trip to the Scottish Highlands was Frank’s idea. She says, “I think we both felt that a holiday would be a convenient masquerade for the real business of getting to know the people we had become after five years apart.” Five years apart would absolutely wreak havoc on a marriage and a second honeymoon would be a wonderful way to rekindle the flames. Frank is so ready to hit the restart button that as soon as he walks into their room, he sets down his bags, grabs Claire and slowly undresses her. No, that’s not right. Let me try that again. He sets down his bags, grabs a book and begins to read. It’s not exactly the stuff of fantasies, is it?
Frank does oblige Claire and they do the squeaky mattress dance, but it is clearly not the first thing on his mind. We next see Frank with Reverend Wakefield discussing Black Jack Randall. They have obviously been there for awhile because Claire has excused herself to a different room to read a book. If one is intent on reclaiming a marriage, why spend your days with an elderly minister (no offense, kind Reverend) in his study rummaging through old papers? Diana tells us that we see Frank through Claire, so was Claire the only one interested in finding what they lost in the war? Does Frank even know that they lost something? Either way, he’s damned in my eyes. He’s either unwilling to work on a relationship strained by years of separation or clueless to the effects of time.
Frank Sees a Ghost and Jumps to Conclusions
I don’t picture Frank as the athletic type but the way he leaps from seeing a ghost to wondering if Claire has been unfaithful makes me think that he should have signed up for a track and field team. Guilty conscience much, Frank? Maybe it’s just me, but any conversation that begins with “if you’ve been unfaithful, that’s OK I’ll still love you anyway” sounds a lot like “please tell me if you were unfaithful because it will make me feel less guilty about my own rampant sowing of wild oats.”
A Wedding is Not a Surprise Party
In “The Wedding,” we see a flashback (flash forward?!) to Claire and Frank’s wedding day. Claire and Frank are walking to a dinner where Claire will meet Frank’s parents for the first time. Frank stops in the middle of the street and asks Claire if she is ready. “Ready for what?” she asks. Frank nods to the Register’s Office and asks Claire to marry him. She looks stunned and asks about a proper wedding and what his family will think. Frank says that he only cares about the family that they will make together.
He doesn’t ask Claire if she would prefer a different kind of wedding or if she’d like to wait until the weekend to think about it. He doesn’t ask her what she wants. He just gives her a choice in the middle of the street and she says yes. My initial reaction, the emotional one, was to see this as a romantic gesture. Frank was saying, damn my family, I want you to be my wife. After the logical side of my brain kicked in, this felt like a train wreck waiting to happen.
I’m sure plenty of people have gotten married on impulse and lived quite happily for years to come. I’m also willing to bet those marriages are more the exception than the rule. The sudden proposal in the street and the hasty wedding that followed seemed more like an opportunity for Frank to catch Claire in a vulnerable moment and snatch her up before they both went off to war to meet their fates and other lonely men and women.
Think about how different it is from Jamie and Claire’s wedding. Neither of them really have a choice in the matter, but Jamie is determined to give Claire a wedding that she will remember for the rest of her life – exactly the amount of time he intends to be by her side.
He sends the Highlanders on a wedding scavenger hunt in order to make the day perfect. Angus and Rupert threaten bodily harm to the blacksmith to get Claire’s ring. Murtagh is nearly talked to death by a widow in order to get Jamie’s wedding kilt. I’m still not entirely sure what Ned has to do to get Claire’s dress from the hoors but he seems no worse for the wear. And in those few moments that pass between Jamie and Murtagh in the stable, Jamie says that he wants a wedding that would make his mother proud. Not only does Jaime care about Claire, he cares about how his family, even those who are no longer alive, will receive her.
On Hearing of a Fantastic Journey
When Frank and Claire are reunited, Frank tells Claire that she doesn’t need to tell him anything and that he is just happy she has returned. Claire insists, though, and she spends an evening telling him of her time with Jamie. As the sun rises, Claire finishes her story and Frank struggles to process what he has just heard. He says “it’s quite the leap of faith, but it is one I am prepared to make.” He tells Claire that he loves only her and insists he doesn’t care what has happened. He pleads with her to restart their life together until she tells him that she is pregnant. For a moment Frank believes that the child is his and then, as he realizes the truth, he flies into a rage, hovering over Claire and looking all the world like Black Jack Randall. To Frank’s credit, he does return later and says that he wants to raise the baby together.
Despite having just given Frank a tiny bit of credit, I’m going to take most of it back. Book readers know that Claire brings up the idea of adoption with Frank before she goes through the stones. He tells her that he doesn’t believe that he can ever “feel properly toward a child” who is not of his own blood. He wants to give Claire a child and he wants to see the child grow and know that it is part of her, part of him.
So, what changed? When I see this scene, rather than a tender moment of sacrifice I see, instead, the moment where Frank acknowledges that he cannot father children and that this is his last best chance to have a family. For a man so steeped in history and ancestral ties, this unborn child represents a new branch on his family tree and, for that, he is willing to look beyond whatever transpired between Claire and Jamie.
When Claire tells Jamie about her time travel he is stunned, but he listens to her story with amazement and wonder. He asks questions. He tells her that it is difficult to believe, but he will do it because he trusts her. He then, in an act of selfless love, takes her to the stones so that she can return to her own time. Perhaps because of that grand act, or because of the many smaller acts of love and kindness Jamie has shown to Claire, she chooses to stay with him.
True Love Has no Conditions…Until it Does
Frank tells Claire that he wants to live a life with her as man, wife and child but that he has conditions. “We will raise this child as our own – yours and mine.” Secondly he tells Claire that “while I draw breath on this earth I cannot share you with another man.” He goes on to tell Claire that she cannot look for traces of Jamie in libraries or books and that she must let Jamie go. Claire agrees but is, clearly, a conflicted woman. Frank then sets flame to Claire’s clothes.
Bonus points to Frank for finally stoking a fire but, again, points must be deducted for his mistaken belief that the flames would erase Claire’s memories of the life and love that she shared with Jamie. The villainous cherry on top of the conditional sundae that Frank prepared for Claire was that they would live this new life in Boston so that they wouldn’t be hounded by British press and the story of the lady taken by the fairies. Because I never give Frank the benefit of the doubt, I also assume that this is a way for him to more easily assume the role of Brianna’s father without all the nagging suspicion from friends and colleagues regarding the flame-haired Viking-child roaming the hallowed halls of Oxford.
Jamie was jealous of Frank and he said so on many occasions, but he never asked Claire to wipe her memory of him. Think of the scene in Season 3 on the Artemis when Claire spots a trunk in the corner of their cabin. She opens it and finds that it contains her clothes from Paris. In a time when those clothes could have been sold for precious money, Jamie wouldn’t allow it because they were his last tangible reminder of Claire.
In an interview, Caitriona Balfe said that Jamie is the man most women want but Frank is the man with whom we find ourselves. I think there’s a great deal of truth in that. And, in a vacuum, Frank isn’t all that bad. He’s clearly committed to Claire and is willing to put some effort into the relationship. He swallows no small amount of pride in agreeing to raise another man’s child as his own and to provide for his little, dysfunctional family. In many cases that would be enough to make a marriage work. Claire is not living in a vacuum, though, and she forever views Frank through the lens of her love and passion for Jamie. It’s not fair, but life often isn’t.
I was married to a man who embodied most of Frank’s better traits. He was a limp handshake dressed in a brown suit sort of guy that wasn’t going to rock anyone’s world, but probably wouldn’t single-handedly destroy it either. In fact, our marriage might have lasted longer than it did had we not experienced, to borrow another author’s term, a series of unfortunate events.
Those events caused me to view him in a light that was most unfavorable. He was still the same person, but viewed from a different angle, he became foreign, unfamiliar. A dear friend once told me that the opposite of love is not hate, but apathy. As our marriage fell apart I realized that my anger was not a product of falling out of love; it was instead a recognition of all the time that I had lost trying to make my life feel “right” and knowing that it never would. It was realizing that, in the face of what could be, what is didn’t really stand a chance.
And herein lies my hatred of Frank. It truly isn’t him. It’s me. It’s Claire. It’s having experienced what life could be and being left with what it is. Tennyson wrote “’tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” It’s a fine sentiment, but it rings a little hollow when the lost love is James Fraser King of Men. The loss becomes grief and sometimes the weight of that grief results in a thrown ashtray (but wasn’t it glorious?) and angry outbursts. Sometimes, the grief becomes hate and loathing and loved ones, judged perfectly fine by the rest of the world, become the enemy.
So, yes, I do despise Frank Randall. I hate him so much that it pained me to watch him in Season 3. I hated to see Frank and Claire’s mutual loneliness play out on my television screen because I remembered all too well what it felt like to live in that emotional space. I did watch though because sometimes it’s good to be reminded that shadows come from the light. The shadows in Claire’s life came from the light that burned bright for Jamie and the love that waited for her on the other side of the stones, and it was one hell of a thrill ride watching her return to that light.
Where do you stand on Frank? Do you hate him? Do you pity him? Are you on the fence?
Do you think that Blake Larsen should stop wearing that ridiculous Frank t-shirt (wink, wink)?
Nikki joined Outlander Cast as a writer in 2016 when she realized that her friends would no longer tolerate her constant talk of Outlander. Each time you read one of her blog posts, you are working to save those friendships. Both Nikki and her friends thank you. If you would like to read more of Nikki’s mostly nonsensical and occasionally heartwarming writings, you can visit her personal blog at sassynik.com. If you’d like to see pictures of beer and wine in lovely locations you should follow Nikki’s Instagram account. You can find her at @nikkigastineau on both Instagram and Twitter.
Amen, sister. How many woman live with such control in a marriage? It’s quite sad spelled out in black and white. Thanks for your insights.
I love your POV. I am sorry that you experienced an unhappy marriage and am glad you came out the other side. I agree wholeheartedly with your opinion of Frank. You express my feelings exactly in regards to his controlling nature in his relationship with Claire. With Frank and Claire it is all about him. Jamie and Claire’s relationship has an equality of love and balance. Each gives to each other love and support to be their best selves. Each to thrive and grow. A beautiful thing to see and read.
I do enjoy reading your musings on all things Outlander. Thank you so much for your work.
Thank Joanne. I am always so happy to see your beautiful comments. “Love and support to be their best selves”…yes…yes…and yes!!!!
Well sister, we have something in common, but I didn’t divorce the Frank. Yeah, complications fouled the marriage and complications, ie family, continue the union. It’s not all bad, but it sure isn’t Claire and Jaime. I love how you write and put all into perspective. I get the “oh yeah, me too,” moments, and the analogies put a smile on my face. Thank you. I can’t wait to read more.
And sometimes, “not bad” is a hell of a lot better than miserable or intolerable.
Thank you for reading and commenting and, maybe, for giggling along with me for a little bit. I appreciate it.
I like the way you think.
I hate Frank because he only values Claire as an extension of himself. And I was married to a man just like that for 7 years.
Frank wanted Claire as “my wife.” Not as in partner but as a possession and a vessel for childbearing. He accepted her when she returned from the past because he had been unsuccessful in replacing her with someone else, and to be honest it was a bit easier because she was already pregnant.
He would have found it difficult to enter academia in a suitable position had he divorced Claire. For any reason really, but particularly if she were pregnant at the time.
So yes. I hate Frank. Still.
Hmm…valuing Claire “as an extension of himself”…I love that and, of course, I absolutely believe that to be true!
I don’t hate Frank, but I don’t like him either. The overwhelming emotion I feel for him is pity. That being said, I think he’s an arrogant ass. The quickie wedding is where that started. He behaved as though what he wanted was the only important thing. To hell with what Claire wanted. As you said, he didn’t even ask her. The anger he exhibited when he saw the ghost, whom he thought was Claire’s lover, was a further indication of his true feelings for her. Frank acted as though he owned Claire, and when they “started over” when the war was over, he acted like she should be grateful that he still wanted to be with her. In my experience, people who consider themselves smarter than others think they are God’s gift to the people with whom they share their lives and treat them as inferior because they are so not as smart as they are. Anyway, I’m glad Claire gave him the cold shoulder at every opportunity. It was sad when he died, but it was not sad too because it was the punctuation at the end of Claire’s lonely, half-person existence. All that being said, I think Tobias Menzes is a wonderful actor to have portrayed arrogant Frank and evil Black Jack.
Yes, yes, and yes! Also, you reminded me that I probably should have taken a few words to compliment the brilliance of Tobias Menzes! His portrayal of BJR AND Frank made me hate him, made me care enough to hate him, and that is terrific acting.
Thank you for putting to paper all the emotions surrounding Claire and her love for two men.
I felt the same about Frank I also realized he was a bit controlling towards Claire, whereas Jaime could never control her he stepped back and let her be herself.
Frank also tried to sabotage her before he died knowing she would look for Jaime by putting a fake grave in the kirkyard. Even in death he wanted to control her.
I keep saying he was a lot more like Black Jack than what met the eye.
There is something special about a man who, when faced with a powerful woman, wishes to partner with her to combine their powers for good (and the occasional mischief) rather than to tamp down her power so that she doesn’t outshine him. Thanks so much for taking the time to read and comment. I really appreciate it!
You’re not alone. There were so many parallels with Frank and my ex, down to what they did in the military. Every time I look at Frank I get that pit in my stomach. Only difference between the two is that my ex would have never jumped on the bed..he would have kept his nose in the book
I feel like we need to fist bump or high five in solidarity! Mine wouldn’t have read a book but he certainly would have turned up the volume on the football game. 🙂
I agree with this blog.
Thanks for reading Pam!
I hate Frank for not telling Claire about his discoveries that Jamie could be alive, for being selfish hiding this so precious information. This is definitely not loving.
Talking about my marriage , I can tell I managed to transform a once “Frank” into a fine “project” of Jamie Fraser (unfortunately not exactly physically – he’s more like Frank hahaha) and saved an almost broken relationship, what was more to a miracle from God.
As Diana has said. Readers will take out of it what they want. I dont agree with your views. All one eyed and as you went on… listing all the things frank did wrong it just got more and more clearer. You said it perfectly at the start “women who are unhappy with their own significant others might pin their relationship shortcomings on Frank all the while wishing for their own James Fraser. Damn girl, that is harsh, hurtful and, in my case, absolutely true” Defence of Frank is written by the same author of the outlander series of books. She did go through and explain a lot of accusations against him but one eyed bloggers like yourself choose to ignore the author!! Of all people! She could change Jamie to be a poker card player who runs off with his dealer in the last book if it took her fancy ? Once again I find myself regretting wasting 5mins of my valuable time reading silly fangirl ramblings.
Not only did you waste 5 minutes of your valuable time reading my fangirl ramblings, you wasted another three minutes telling me what a waste it was!!! 🙂 Readers always have their own takeaways from stories despite what the author wants them to take away. My opinion (and it’s only an opinion) of Frank is informed by what I read and what I’ve experienced. It’s easy for me to dislike Frank because I dislike my ex in the same way and for the same reasons. Mine is just one view of Frank and there are as many differing opinions as there are Outlander fans. Thank you for taking the time to read and comment and share your opinion. I appreciate it! 🙂
Diana is also pandering to the sudden plethora of Frank fans that the show brought. She wrote him as a cheating husband, who viewed his wife as nothing more than arm candy. Whether she says so or not.
I don’t hate Frank. I pity him. He thought his wife had been kidnapped and probably murdered for about three years. Imagine if your spouse turned up and told you that they simply chose someone else, and would’ve let you believe they were dead forever, but came back because their ‘true’ love was now dead? If my husband had become a bigamist in my absence and came back hoping to cry of my shoulder without bothering to apologize for cheating on me, I wouldn’t be sympathetic. And I wouldn’t have taken him back. I don’t like Frank, but he did get a raw deal, and he dealt with it in the best way he could. And even more impressive, he didn’t take out his anger on Brianna. He never let her think she wasn’t loved. Not just anyone could achieve that.
Well when you put it like that… 🙂
Those are all incredibly valid points. And no, I don’t think I could have done what Frank did.
“please tell me if you were unfaithful because it will make me feel less guilty about my own rampant sowing of wild oats.”….my thoughts exactly! Great writing!
Thanks Erin!
Thanks Nikki. I enjoyed reading your post; you’re a great writer. Now I will look to read more of what you have to say about one of my favorite topics, Outlander.
Thanks Dina! I’m glad that you wound up in this little corner of the Outlander universe. I’ve said quiet a few things about Outlander in the last couple of years so I hope you find something else here that makes you giggle go a little melty (those are my favorite things to write).
Thanks for your thoughts. I think that the marriage between Frank and Claire [2nd time round] must have been hell. The sheer indifference they must have shown each other would have been awful to live with. That Bree never notices amazes me because children are so aware of atmosphere. Frank certainly found Jamie didn’t die and held that back from Claire. That shows a mean streak. When he fought with those robbers in Scotland, and when he got so enraged at Claire when he realised the child wasn’t his, shows he has a lot of BJR in him. The one thing that always gets to me is , why did Claire stay with him. She had money of her own [inheritance], and she was smart. She really didn’t need Frank. And why, oh ,why, did she not look for Jamie herself. I sure would have, promise or no promise. Actually I wouldn’t have gone back through the stones till I was sure Jamie was dead. As for me, I had my own Jamie, a wonderful marriage of 51 years. He is gone now and I find life very difficult without him. I’m sorry for women and men who don’t have that.
I married a Frank at 20, but slowly we adjusted to a marriage of equals with give and take sprinkled generously with love. In the end, I was the stronger one only because my husband was dying from the effects of Agent Orange. I had my own Jamie from a Frank.
I was doubtful of Frank when he spent so much of the honeymoon seeking information about his ancestor. But he totally lost me when meeting with the reverent (in the book) and she poured tea from a tin pot and burned her hand. Claire cursed from the pain. Frank embarrassed by Claire’s curses apologized. He never once asked Claire if she was alright.
What a wonderful insight into are very complicated relationship. I love how you dissected then put it back together with the points of reference to your own relationship. Very powerful writing. You should be proud!
You had me at “Frank confused his subscription to Ancestry.com with a honeymoon” Haha! 🙂 Another amazing blog post, Nikki! Thanks so much for writing it! I’m married to a “Frank” and can totally relate with everything you wrote. Maybe that explains why I am so obsessed with this show (and Diana’s books)? Outlander helps me escape from reality! Even though I had read all the books for the first time before Season 2 and was aware of the storyline, I almost completely lost it when the first half of Season 2, Episode 201 was Claire going through the stones back to Frank! Nooooo! 🙁 I also enjoyed the thrown ashtray scene in Season 3, but the scenes of their crappy marriage were sad to watch. I do agree that Tobias is an amazing actor, but I can’t stand Frank!
I will start this with the following statement, I am not a fan of Frank.
For me the biggest issue between Frank and Claire is the age difference. Claire is 18 and Frank is 30, that is a big age difference!!! Everyone does a great bit of growing up in their 20s, and I think Claire was looking for a stable home life and Frank offered a stable life. As Claire puts it I was part of her Uncle’s baggage. Frank was a funny bugger in the war, and he can’t/won’t tell Claire about his experience, and he didn’t seem to want to listen to Claire’s stories. I personally think that Frank cheated on Claire during the war.
Jamie and Claire are much closer in age she is 27 and was a combat nurse, and Jamie was 23 and had also been to war. They could bond because of the closeness in age and their war experiences. They would be able to comfort each other from their experiences.
Two more things, I agree Blake needs to put the Frank Tshirt to bed. I do not worship at the altar of Diana Gabaldon, so when I hear that Frank is a better man than we know etc. all I keep thinking about is Snape from Harry Potter and at the end you realize his sacrifice, but I still don’t like him.
I don’t like Frank and never have. Reasons are for what many have already discussed here.
I am going to add one more and one I have not seen discussed much at all in any thing I have read.
When Claire left Jamie and came back to 1948 she was showing every sign of depression. Listlessness eg going through new apartment in Boston. Clothing: the difference in how she dressed while pregnant in Paris and than while pregnant and cooking breakfast in Boston. Unkept, robe hanging off, her hair uncombed. Many more examples during first few episodes of season 3.
There is a picture that was not shown in the show but I have seen online with Claire lying in bed fully dressed with Frank looking on. The writers did a very good job of showing this depression.
I really don’t think Frank ever once thought about what she was going through. It was all about him. I want the wife back that I had scenario. She was not allowed to discuss what happened. She was not allowed to look at the history. He took her away from everything that was familiar. She had to go on like nothing happened. Which is the worse thing in the world for a depressed person. No wonder she was nasty and withdrawn.
Oh the difference between Frank and Jamie with this. Jamie always allowed her to discuss her past life and listened to stories about Frank. And we all know even tried to send her back once and succeeded in sending her back the second time. I don’t think Frank even once would have thought she would be better off with the “other” man.
Claire dragged herself out of that depression with no help from anyone especially Frank. To me this is one of the strongest things that she ever did.
This is a good point. Claire is not allowed to talk about what has happened to her. “Never talk about the past.” Which, yeah, maybe is supposed to help her focus on the present, but it also does not allow her to mourn. She has to internalize losing all that she had. It’s no wonder she had troubling connecting with Frank again. If he had allowed her to share that with him when she needed to express those emotions, I believe it would have helped their relationship overall. I feel like Frank may have cheated during the war, but I’m not sure about after she got back. If he wasn’t, he was definitely up to something. I don’t hate Frank. I think he made mistakes. I think, especially in the show, that he was jealous of the spectre of Jamie in Claire’s memory. (If that makes any sense.)
I think Frank would not have really known what Claire was going through with her depression, actually perhaps not even Claire could have put it into words; especially during that time period. I’m sure the people at Harvard would not have liked to hear that. When you are going through that, it doesn’t occur to put a title on the problem, you just live day to day. I was not fond of Frank and his reaction to Claire’s announcement of pregnancy was scary. I often wondered why Claire didn’t tell him about BJR, it isn’t in the books either.
Great musings Nikki and wonderful comments that followed.
Book Frank is different from show Frank. I think that the show writers, in trying to make Frank more “worthy” so that Claire would want to return to him, failed miserably. Show Frank was about as exciting as a wet noodle. Sitting on the bed with the book was all it took for me.
When I first read Outlander in the 90s I had no idea what was coming and remember how I was cheering Claire on to get back to the stones. Of course, that was only until I got to know Jamie.
My other thought is something I have never seen discussed before. That is about the different kinds of love. We have read (and heard) Claire say that she loved Frank. We have also seen the connection (both in Diana’s wonderful writing and the off the charts chemistry with Sam and Catriona) between Jamie and Claire that tell us they are sole mates. So, what did she really feel for Frank. Was it more a love for a friend or can you feel something deeper for a spouse that is not what Jamie and Claire had. And once you have had the latter I think it impossible to accept anything else.
I don’t like Book Frank. I don’t like Show Frank. I have many reasons underlying these sentiments. Here is the biggest one: I don’t like who Claire is when she is with Frank. She lives her life repressing half of herself. And she knows it. And tells herself it’s the best she can hope for. Bullpucky. Jamie’s Claire would never settle for less than her full self. She ticks him (and us) off all the time because she demands equality. Examples abound. The fight by the river. The resolution of the spanking. The night he comes home with bite marks. The whole plan to avoid Culloden. The killing of Dougal. And on and on. Claire (with Jamie, and in her professional life) is badass. Frank is a selfish, self-absorbed, lying, withholding, cheating, racist wimp. And she is grateful that he allows her to raise her daughter with him? NO. Claire, please be Claire.
And bravo to those who leave “Frank” behind. He is not worthy of any of you “Claires.” Don’t ever give him the satisfaction of believing that he is.
End of rant.
I need a like button for this.
Dear dear Nikki, I absolutely loved reading your feelings toward Frank. I was conflicted in my dislike for him and wondering if I was being fair to him. Now, thanks to your amazing insights, understandable feelings and beautiful humor, I understand my feelings about him. I did not have your experience. But felt the same as you about Frank. I will remark upon one of my feelings about his sexual attitude. It seemed to me that Claire orchestrated the encounters. The show leaned this way more than the books in their sexual experience in the castle ruins she would come to know very well. She was in charge. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. You’re marvelous!!
Hi Nikki:
Great thoughts and observations, I enjoyed reading them.
You just might hate me, but I have to say I don’t hate Frank: I think the character is flawed, and quite real. (I like reality in a character, and in the Outlander Universe there’s a lot of heroes and villains. To me Frank’s a welcome change)
You made me laugh about the remark about the Randall’s second honeymoon. Jeez, I wanted to slap BOTH of them. Frank with his ancestry and Claire with her plants.
Really, both of them were so boring. (Their honeymoon, really?)
To me, Frank’s not a bad man: He’s just not smoldering Jamie. In fact, I thought both Frank and Claire were a very well suited couple in the pilot. Both of them were pragmatic.
It was only later that Claire showed herself to be emotional and that unfolded largely with Jamie.
Claire changed quite a lot as a character, but I can’t blame Frank for it: The character is bookish and grounded. He just didn’t change when Claire had.
It’s hard to hate a character who simply accepted Claire and Jamie’s child as his own (and Bree adored him)
You were right: Jamie was the lover women want, Frank is the one women settle for.
That’s just reality.
I just have a quick question for you and tell me what you think, on the whole viewers hate Frank. From what I hear, he is barely mentioned in the book. I wonder if the whole reason he was even written as a character was simply a plot convenience: Claire needed to be a sexually advanced woman, since Jamie was a virgin. In 1945, that meant she would had to have been married.
Hence Frank.
What do you think?
One of the many reasons I love Outlander is it helps me understand the context of my life. I have found some peace and understanding for my marriage which used to feel more Jamie’ish but has shifted
to be more Frankesque.
One simple contrast between Frank and Jamie that speaks volumes is on the respective wedding days. Frank refers to Claire as Mrs. Frank Randall while Jamie toasts Claire Fraser. Selfish vs selfless.
Love this blog and all the insights.
Anticipating S4!
Oh Nikki, I love this blog so much, you do explain through your eyes what probably a lot of women can probably relate to, settling. I was lucky to have found my king of men, I was his everything, he was mine. I especially related to Claire’s grief, her depression and her portrayal of it in the show. It reminds me of the scene in The Hours where Julianne Moore’s character is on the bed in the hotel and the water rises and surrounds her, both are incredibly vivid, you don’t need to be told, you feel it keenly . I’m waiting with anticipation for the start of season 4 and your minute by minute recaps, tingling toes!!!
I’m a bit late to the Outlander party, thank goodness I’ve finally discovered the show. I haven’t read the books yet but I 100% agree with this post.
I watched Frank and was turned off by his controlling nature. That wedding proposal was horrific. Way to set your future wife up for success with your family because they will blame her for marrying you on the sly. Even though it was Frank’s idea, they’ll blame her. That’s just how families work. I also found it problematic that when she returned, he was completely uninterested in hearing about where she’d been or what she’d been through. She needed a friend more than anything and so did Frank. They could have been there for each other but he insisted on pretending nothing had happened. Contrast that to Jamie who tells Claire to tell Frank that he’s grateful. Jamie is grateful to Frank for raising his child. Where’s Frank’s gratitude for Jamie for giving him a child?
Bringing his mistress to the house on the day of Claire’s graduation was also inexcusable. He could have had dinner with his wife and daughter to celebrate Claire’s achievements and seen his mistress later. He was with that other chick for years so what’s one night?
Not a Frank fan.