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'Outlander's Mark Lewis Jones on the Smoldering Love Tom Christie Has for Claire Fraser
Season 7 of Outlander begins with Claire Fraser (Caitríona Balfe) being taken from Fraser’s Ridge to Wilmington to stand trial for the murder of Malva Christie (Jessica Reynolds). Of course, Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Young Ian (John Bell) are also among the party, but what is surprising is Tom Christie’s (Mark Lewis Jones) insistence that he come along to ensure Claire’s safety.
And he is a man of his word. That is until Claire is taken aboard a British vessel to care for the governor’s pregnant wife. Then she is out of his reach. But when Jamie—who had been shanghaied along the way and rescued by Young Ian— finally gets to Wilmington, he discovers he can't save Claire without giving into British demands to fight on their side, which he has no intention of doing.
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So, it is Tom Christie to the rescue. Tom volunteers to speak with the governor and confess to Malva’s murder. Jamie doesn’t like the idea, but he has to finally accept that Tom is the solution to saving Claire, which is the most important thing in the world to him.
“I don't think it's one minute that Tom thinks that Claire killed Malva,” Jones tells Parade in a one-on-one interview.
So, for Tom, it is a matter of honor. He had tried his best to raise Malva to be a respectable young woman, and even though she wasn’t his biological daughter but actually his niece, he is shouldering the responsibility for her. Especially when he tells Claire, “I give my life for one who is worthy.”
“I think there is an honor there and I think he does try to do the right thing— certainly by [his son] Allan (Alexander Vlahos) and Malva,” Jones continues. “He tries to be the best father you can be, which isn't great but it's the best he can be. And he does take Malva on, even though she's not his biologically.”
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It was Tom’s desire to give his children a new lease on life after his wife was hanged for murder, so when Tom was transported to America to serve his indenture when Ardsmuir Prison was shut down, he arranges for the wealthy man who holds his papers to bring Allan and Malva to America.
“He does take them to a place to start a new life, but it's a life of piety,” Jones says. “It's a life of strict order, and neither of his children fit into that life, so it’s a real struggle. And neither does Tom really. It's too strict, it's too pious, there's too much fear.”
At Ardsmuir, Tom only knew of Jamie. He knew him to be a fair man, but when he meets Claire, well, she is a force he hadn’t reckoned with.
“With Claire, there’s this thing that’s been awoken and he can’t put a name to it,” Jones says.
Related: Why Caitriona Balfe Is Afraid to Direct Sam Heughan in Outlander
Tom is bewitched by Claire, and he’s sure she’s a witch initially, but the attraction is too great, so he will be damned!
“I think he fought it tooth and nail,” Jones says. “He pushed it away. She was potentially a witch. She was just a real person witch, and yet he couldn't help himself. He had absolutely no choice over it whatsoever. But he fought with every fiber of his being to put those true feelings of love away.”
Up until meeting Claire, the nearest Tom came to feelings of love was for God, but Jones says that in truth, Tom feared God more than loved him.
“His relationship with God was based on fear, his relationship with his children was based on a really dark bit of his history, where Malva represented in a way what his wife was, which was another witch,” he explains. “And neither of these children behaved in the way that he wanted them to behave. There were many, many skeletons in the Christie closet, so in his relationship with Jamie he felt inferior to him. There were really dark feelings inside Tom, and this person Claire, who really fascinated him and intrigued him, he was drawn to it like a moth to a flame and he got burned severely.”
Related: Sam Heughan on the Changes in Jamie for Outlander Season 7
But even in getting “burned,” Tom found some salvation. Because of his willingness to sacrifice all for Claire—both Jamie and Tom know she didn’t kill Malva—they come to a sense of mutual respect.
“It means the world,” Jones says of Tom’s earning Jamie’s respect. “I think it means the absolute world to him to be respected genuinely. He knows Jamie well enough to know that Jamie will be honest with him, so when he asks the question, ‘What would you say at my funeral?’ it's not out of flippancy. He wants to know, and he's prepared for the worst, and he gets something that means the absolute world to him that Jamie would respect him.
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“We get a glimpse of it much earlier on in season 6 when Jamie says, ‘He’s as stubborn as a mule, but if I was at war, I would want him on my side.’ That’s paraphrased, but it’s words to that effect, which is I would want him on my side. So, there's already something between them even though they are antagonists.”
You won't want to miss the next episode of Outlander, in which Malva's true killer is revealed!
New episodes of Outlander are available to stream weekly on Fridays at midnight on the STARZ app, all STARZ streaming and on-demand platforms, and internationally on the Lionsgate+ premium streaming platform in the U.K. New episodes will air weekly on the STARZ linear platform on Fridays at 8 p.m. ET in the U.S.
Next, Outlander Stars Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe Adorably Bicker Over Their Pet Peeves
