Outlander: 10 Things That Make No Sense About Jack Randall

Jonathan “Black Jack” Randall was the key antagonist in the first three seasons of Starz series Outlander. He was an 18th-century military captain in charge of His Majesty’s Eighth Dragoons. Randall was so brilliantly evil that Rolling Stone ranked him 31st in the “40 Greatest TV Villains of All Time” list.

The villain enjoyed sexually assaulting his victims and also found amusement in torturing them endlessly. He also had some of the best one-liners out of all villains in the history of Hollywood. Randall eventually paid for his sins as he was killed by the protagonist  Jamie Fraser in Season 3. Here are things that never made much sense about him.

10 Marrying Mary Hawkins

Randall ended up marrying Mary Hawkins—the fiance of his brother Alex—in the episode “Hail Mary.” He did this after plenty of convincing from Claire and Alex. Claire wanted Randall to marry Mary because if he didn’t, her future husband Frank wouldn’t exist. Frank was a descendant of Black Jack Randall. She thus used all devious means to convince the villain to marry Marry.

Alex himself wanted Black Jack to marry Mary because he was dying. He knew Mary was dying and he didn’t want her to take care of the child on her own. However, Randall was mostly portrayed as gay throughout the series. He raped two men and even failed to get aroused when with Jenny. Why would he agree to marry Mary? More importantly, why would he do what Claire wanted, given how much he hated her?

9 He Didn’t Do Anything To Prevent His Death

Since Claire was from the future, she knew exactly when Black Jack Randall would die and she made sure to let him know when he allowed her to leave the prison. Just before Randall assaulted and raped Jamie, he escorted Claire out of Wentworth Prison. Angry and knowing what was about to happen, she told him his fate.

Randall didn’t seem too bothered by the unfortunate prophecy. He pushed her away and proceeded to torture Jamie. And despite knowing that he’d die in the Battle of Culloden, he still proceeded to fight in it. A man like him who loved life should have done something to prevent that, even if it would have been in vain.

8 Betraying His Troops

As Alex’s health was quickly declining, Black Jack Randall was forced to seek help from the person he didn’t really like—Claire. She had built a reputation for herself as a healer and he knew she was the only person who could save Alex.

Luckily for him, Claire was willing to treat Alex because she knew he was nothing like his evil brother. But in order for her to do so, Randall had to give out crucial information about his troops. Surprisingly, he agreed to do so despite the fact that this would mean a loss for his men. The real Jack would have never agreed to such a trade. He probably would have just let his brother die.

7 His Obsession With Jamie

As a military leader who constantly faced off against so many enemies, it didn’t make sense for Randall to be as obsessed with just a single enemy for so long. The excessive torture that he meted out on the man was underserved since Jamie hadn’t really committed any serious grievance to him or his family.

Black Jack Randall constantly punished Jamie like he had taken everything away from him. He was even unbothered when Jamie’s father died of shock because of his actions. Despite raping Jamie and giving him emotional trauma, he still wanted to have a connection with the protagonist. If he had feelings for Jamie, why hurt him that much?

6 Letting Claire Go

In the disturbing Season One finale titled “To Ransom a Man’s Soul,” Black Jack Randall set Claire free from Wentworth Prison. In the previous episode, she had been caught after sneaking in to visit Jamie.

Jamie agreed to offer himself sexually to Randall in exchange for her release. But why did the villain make this deal? He knew Jamie didn’t like him and there was no way he’d offer himself willingly? Why didn’t he just keep Claire and torture Jamie anyway? He hated both of them and the fact that he had all the power yet he saw it fit to make a deal was unlike him.

5 Not Taking Jenny

In the twelfth episode of Season One titled “Lallyroch,” Jamie and Jenny were reunited after a very long time. Jamie always believed that Randall raped her but Jenny told Jamie exactly what happened on that date four years ago. Apparently, Randall had indeed tried to rape her but he struggled with achieving arousal.

She went on to laugh at him. This angered the villain, causing him to knock her head against the bedpost, leaving her unconscious. When she woke up. Randall and his troops had left. But why would he leave her behind, given the interest he had shown in her? Leaving without her would also have meant risking retaliation since Jenny might have come looking for him.

4 Kneeling Before The King

In Season 2, Episode 5, titled “Untimely Resurrection,” Claire came face to face with Black Jack once again. Before he could say any bad things to her as he liked doing, King Louis XV joined them.

He immediately went ahead to humiliate Black Jack, Both Claire and Jamie appeared to enjoy the moment. Louis instructed BlackJack to get on his knees and beg, for no good reason. But he obeyed. This was followed by laughter from both Jamie and Louis. The fact that Black Jack didn’t offer any resistance, especially since Jamie was present, was baffling.

3 Murtagh Fraser Doesn’t Kill Him

Claire first met Black Jack Randall in the pilot episode titled “Sassenach.” When she was running in the woods after hearing gunshots from the Redcoats, she saw Black Jack kneeling. She confused him from Frank because she wasn’t aware she was in the past. He then introduced himself as the Captain of His Majesty’s Eighth Dragoons then he began interrogating her.

When she told him her surname was Beauchamp and let out an expletive, Black Jack assumed she was a prostitute and tried to rape her. Luckily, Murtagh Fraser arrived and knocked Black Jack over before taking Claire. But why didn’t he kill him yet the two were enemies? The fact that he was trying to rape a woman was even a more justifiable reason to kill him.

2 Proving A Point

in “The Garrison Commander,” Black Jack Randall boasted to Jamie how he once whipped Jamie for trying to escape. He reminisced how he had commanded a corporal known for meting out harsh punishments to give Jamie a hundred lashes. However, Jamie endued the whippings.

Since there were many onlookers, Randall took over the whip and proceeded to give Jamie an extra hundred lashes. This was all shown in a flashback scene, He admitted to doing this because he wanted the onlookers to fear him more. But at that point, his brutality was well-known. Why did he need to prove it to the onlookers?

1 Not Killing Jamie

Black Jack Randall had plenty of opportunities to kill Jamie but he never did it. Theirs was almost like a Batman and Joker relationship. They kinda needed each other, but for what specific reason?

Randall had many enemies to worry about and the fact that he kept sparing one for his own amusement didn’t make much sense. In all those moments that he held Jamie captive, he could have killed him and focussed on matters of the battlefield. But even when he had been told how he’d die, he didn’t kill Jamie to prevent the protagonist from taking his life in the future.

About The Author

Philip Etemesi
(1213 Articles Published)

Philip Etemesi is an author, journalist, screenwriter and film critic based in Nairobi. Kenya. As a child, he preferred watching movies like The Goodfellas instead of Home Alone. His girlfriend constantly has to pull him from the front of the TV but he just keeps returning. Stubborn dude! An animal lover, Philip also has a pet giraffe called Refu.

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