Outlander's John Bell And Izzy Meikle-Small On How Rachel's 'Worst Fear' About Ian Comes True In Episode 6

This post contains spoilers from "Outlander" Season 8, Episode 6. Proceed accordingly. 

"I read this concept of alpine divorce recently," John Bell says near the start of our conversation about this week's "Outlander." "Have you heard about this?"

I haven't. From his square in the Zoom window, Bell explains, while his co-star, Izzy Meikle-Small, and I listen. "The guy will just storm ahead, when [a couple] is walking in the mountains, and that leads to breakups," he says. For Bell's Ian and Meikle-Small's Rachel, Episode 6 "sort of feels like that," he continues. "It's like, 'I'm going. If you can keep up, great.' But actually, that's not who he is. And it takes them both coming together to work that out."

But oof the emotional travails the couple has to go through before they're back on solid ground. The hour finds Ian consumed with worry for his former wife, Emily/Wahionhaweh and her children — one of whom is Ian's son, Swiftest of Lizards — following bloody raids carried out by the Continental Army. Meanwhile, Rachel worries that her husband never would've chosen her had he not been ordered to leave the Mohawk village... and he doesn't do much to make her feel better (at least, not at first). 

Eventually, Emily and her children are revealed to have survived, and she tearfully asks Ian to take Swiftest of Lizards back to Fraser's Ridge in order to keep the boy safe. Ian and Rachel agree. (Read a full recap here.) 

Read on to see what Meikle-Small and Bell think about the relationship-testing episode and where Mr. and Mrs. Murray shake out by the end of it.

TVLINE | What I love about this episode is that even forthright Rachel, who this whole time has been saying what she's feeling, still hasn't fully communicated to Ian how much the situation with Emily bothers her. And Ian kind of has blinders on to her pain until the end of the hour.
IZZY MEIKLE-SMALL | It feels really realistic, in a relationship, to be like, "Oh, you know, I'm communicating that this thing bothers me, but I'm also gonna kind of play it cool and not show you how much it really bothers me, and just hope that you figure it out." And then [he's] just not figuring it out. [Ian is] going to see his ex-wife, and is it initially going to leave [Rachel] behind, and she's like, "Oh, you just like really don't get it, do you?" So she's slowly being like, "Actually, no, you know? It does bother me. I'm trying not to let it bother me, but it does."

Obviously, it's hard for them both. I think it's a really realistic portrayal of how things go down in relationships and marriages. Even with the period-drama backdrop, it's a very real, emotional array of feelings.

TVLINE | John, at the beginning of the episode, can you speak to how attuned Ian is to Rachel's inner turmoil?
JOHN BELL | Sure. This is a lovely time to spend on Ian's faults as much as the stuff that we love about him. Sometimes I think he can become quite consumed with what is right now, and the problem directly in front of him, and take Rachel for granted. You're right — he has these blinkers on. He's going, with or without her. And he's not really leaving any room or space for conversation or to be able to express each other's feelings. Maybe that's a little bit of the time. That's also probably him being a bit of a typical man, and that he is all consumed with what is right and being this protector. There's some good in that, of course — Ian still feels loyalty, and he's always struggled with his identity. Where does he sit in this world? Is it with his family? With the Native Americans? I think that's all coming back to him, as well. But he and Rachel maybe just haven't had this testing moment in a relationship yet.

TVLINE | Well, especially when Joseph Brant and Ian are going back and forth, and Ian points out that he didn't choose to leave the Mohawk; he was kicked out. Sorry, John, I am so #TeamRachel on this. And she just gave birth to his kid?! Izzy, do you think the fact that Ian didn't want to leave the tribe is something Rachel suspected?
MEIKLE-SMALL | I think it was her worst fear. And he's just come out and said it, with absolutely no cushioning, in front of loads ot people. And she's just sat there, taking it in. It's a gut punch. And she is a much more patient woman than I am [Laughs], and very forgiving, and gives him the opportunity to correct himself when they're talking about it later. To explain to her what it really means. Because, you know, Rachel's come from quite a sheltered Quaker community. She has never been in love before, really. And I think even Ian having a wife before, and having been in love before, is already threatening enough.

...So when this happens, she's like, "OK, well, everything that I feared the most about him having been in love before is true, and I am Number 2 in the pecking order, and is he just with me because he can't be with her?" What a horrible way to feel. I think anyone would feel very rightfully upset, and she deals with the situation impeccably. She is very emotionally intelligent, and very patient. And honestly? Kudos to Rachel, because I would have been much more cross. [Laughs]