Outlander fans who have read the novels weren’t surprised at tonight’s scene, but others may have been. Here’s why that controversial Jamie and Claire scene was a brave choice.

In some senses, TV series shouldn’t have to worry about getting bogged down in political correctness in order to tell a story, in particular one based historically in the past. TV characters represent human beings who are fallible, who make choices that make us angry, and that make us wish they had acted differently. In other words, kind of like real life in modern times.

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Many of us have been in that situation where a loved one made choices we don’t agree with, but based upon our age, the culture in which we were living, or other factors, we may or may not have said anything about it. Even when those choices go against what we might consider to be our moral code, we still love that person. What’s really hard is the love, disappointment, and anger that all go hand-in-hand when confronted with a situation like this. All those emotions, and in fact any emotion, is an honest reaction. You simply can’t tell people how to feel; you have to let them process it in their own way.

This all brings us to tonight’s episode with the infamous spanking scene. Claire disobeys Jamie’s orders to stay put and out of sight, and she ends up getting captured by British soldiers and taken to Fort William where she ends up alone in the clutches of Black Jack Randall.

From Claire’s perspective, Jamie wouldn’t let her go along with him because he said it was too dangerous. Jamie doesn’t explain his concern, doesn’t communicate, and Claire exercises her free will to make her own decision, and she decides to head for the stones.

From Jamie’s perspective, he doesn’t have to explain to his wife, or anyone else for that matter. People on the trail should have inherently realized the danger a single action could put the group in. When someone in charge, or who has a superior survival skill set, tells you to do something, you just do it. He is also overprotective of Claire, and didn’t want her to come along to the meeting with Horrocks. He doesn’t explain his reasons; he just expects them to be followed.

In the end, executive producer Ron Moore took a chapter right out of Diana’s Gabaldon’s novel and graphically showed the fallout, retribution, and forgiveness of those actions. So let’s talk about that “spanking” and why it was a brave choice.

On page 2: Six reasons why it was a brave choice.