This article contains affiliate links; if you click such a link and make a purchase, we may earn a commission.‘Outlander’ Episode 5's Biggest Confrontation, Explained by the Actor Behind It

Rachel KingFri, April 3, 2026 at 3:00 PM UTC

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Kieran Bew on Outlander’s Midseason ShowdownRobert Wilson - STARZ

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Spoilers below through episode five of Outlander season eight.

There have been many antagonists at Fraser’s Ridge over the last few seasons of Outlander. When Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitríona Balfe) returned to home at the beginning of season eight, they might not have been expecting peace and quiet, especially with the American Revolution going on, but they probably weren’t expecting a brewing uprising among their tenants.

That might never have happened if it weren’t for the arrival of Captain Charles Cunningham, a new character this season played by English actor Kieran Bew. “There have been so many good villains—obviously kicked off by Tobias [Menzies as Captain Black Jack Randall] in season one—so the bar was set pretty high to come in and do something compelling and interesting,” Bew tells T&C. “Working opposite Sam, with the character Jamie being such a strong, honorable person—that's great to work against, especially for somebody as verbose, confident, and politicking as Cunningham. He sees opportunity everywhere, so he's going to try and be charming. As an actor, you're incredibly lucky if you get to play somebody who has that many different layers and subtext.”

Cunningham with Hiram Crombie (Antony Byrne), his business partner at the general store.Robert Wilson - STARZ

Presented as Hiram Crombie’s (Antony Byrne) new business partner at the trading post on the Ridge, the former British soldier made a decent first impression on the Frasers, despite his past affiliation. He didn’t deny being on the opposite side of the battlefield when asked; he’s a Freemason; and he even lives with his mother (Frances Tomelty). But by episode three, all bets were off as Jamie puts the puzzle pieces together and discovers what Cunningham is really doing on Fraser’s Ridge. In the blink of an eye, their affable relationship shifts as Cunningham admits the truth: he was directed by his commanding officer, Major Patrick Ferguson, to recruit local backcountry men to the King’s army.

While Jamie resigned from his post in the Continental Army at the end of season seven, that doesn't mean he will condone a British militia forming among his own tenants. He’s also contending with the future foretold in Frank Randall’s historical account of the Revolutionary War, The Soul of a Rebel, in which Frank writes that Jamie dies at the Battle of Kings Mountain in South Carolina’s backcountry.

“The manipulation shifts to, ‘Look, this is actually the deal and this is the truth, so now you can work with me because it's the best idea.’ It's just another tactic,” Bew explains. “The scene was choreographed by the director so that we were constantly moving around the room, which marries the shifts that are going on, the discoveries Cunningham is making, how am I going to stay alive, how am I going to keep my opportunities here, how am I going to stay on top and still manipulate him. And Jamie does walk out of the place questioning whether Cunningham is right or wrong.”

Charles Cunningham (Kieran Bew) and the other Freemasons during the Lodge Night scene.Robert Wilson - STARZ

By episode five, the tension between Jamie and Cunningham reaches a breaking point. The Lodge Night scene is one of the tensest of the season so far. Contrasting the blunt warfare of the Siege of Savannah, the looming sense of something terrible is about to happen undercuts the meeting with something far more sinister. After all, the Freemasons are supposed to be a fraternity about brotherhood and community. But this meeting feels anything but safe, so much so that Jamie manages to escape it by hoodwinking one of the members into leading a prayer while he ducks out. When the prayer is over, Cunningham is furious to look up and see Jamie is gone. As many of the men rise up and follow Cunningham out of the building, it raises the question of how he managed to turn so many of Fraser's Ridge's men against Jamie so quickly. Kew believes it was the power of “clever politicking.”

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“I think he genuinely believes that the commerce he's brought to the town is good for Fraser's Ridge, and he has gone to individuals and worked out what they need and supplied those things,” Bew says. “He doesn't just have his own finances. He has the king's money, military money, and he came and invaded the space and took charge of it. He's worked on these people as individuals to convince them that his version of Fraser's Ridge and politics is the right way to go. They have been convinced—perhaps innocently—that what they're doing is right, even though it is against their honorable oath to their landlord and their friend. I think this is how politics can shift at times. That's one of Cunningham's talents: finding out what people need.”

Jamie gathers those loyal to him in the woods. But by nightfall, Jamie tracks Cunningham down at the trading post for a one-on-one confrontation. Involving rope and a revolver, the moonlit-scene echoes Western showdowns set a century later. Although while the fight looks brutal onscreen, Bew assures that everything was good behind-the-scenes.

“In between takes of strangling each other and whacking each other, we were just laughing at how normal it felt to be pretending to strangle each other on a Tuesday night in Scotland, rolling around in a lightning storm,” Bew recalls. “We were having such a laugh fighting each other. I'm glad to see it's got as much bite as it has, because it was really fun.”

In the clip below, Cunningham reveals to Jamie that Major Ferguson ordered him to bring Jamie in, dead or alive. By the end of the fight, as he’s holding Jamie at gunpoint, Cunningham thinks “dead might save [him] a lot of bother.” But as Bew suggests, it’s possible that this could have gone another direction. “I think he considers Jamie useful. He's more useful alive, and if he can convince him to work together, they'll get more out of the situation,” Bew says. “Charles is always trying to get the best out of the situation. Killing Jamie might be a waste.”

In the end, it doesn’t matter. A gunshot is fired, but we already know Jamie is safe…for the time being. It’s Cunningham who falls to the ground, with Buck MacKenzie (William Buccleigh MacKenzie) standing with a rifle drawn behind him. The two men manage to get Cunningham to Claire’s surgery. He survives, just barely, but Cunningham appears to be paralyzed. It raises the question of what that condition means for Cunningham, both as a threat and what part he has to play still on Fraser’s Ridge for the rest of the season. “Going through that kind of injury, you're instantly considering your options for the future, and I think that's exactly what he does,” Bew says. “It's disarming. He's not dead. He's not out of the game yet. He's got to regroup from the injury, but I don't think it's going to slow him down.”

Outlander is currently streaming on Starz.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”