Outlander: Blood Of My Blood's Harriet Slater, EPs On Ellen's Episode 3 Showcase: 'Home Alone, But With Murder'

This post contains spoilers for "Outlander: Blood of My Blood" Season 2, Episode 3. Proceed accordingly.

"I loved 'The Hunger Games' growing up."

Harriet Slater's eyes light up in a Zoom window as we chat about a key moment in her "Outlander: Blood of My Blood" trajectory: Season 2, Episode 3, which finds Slater's Ellen — much like "The Hunger Games" protagonist Katniss Everdeen — brandishing a bow and arrow and leading a group of women as they defend her family's home from invaders.

Ellen MacKenzie has always been possessed of a formidable mind and an indomitable spirit. In this week's episode, which began streaming today, she also proves a cunning physical threat.

But that onscreen prowess came at a price, Slater says, laughing as she recalls the challenging lessons the Starz series' stunts department gave her in preparation: "I fully didn't appreciate how much strength is required in order to fire a bow and arrow. It's hard!"

In the episode, Ellen, her sisters and a few other MacKenzie women stay at Castle Leoch while many of the clan's men are away, attempting to stage a Jacobite rebellion. Executive producer Maril Davis says that she and showrunner Matthew B. Roberts were "looking for a way of showing that the women were just as strong during these wars as the men, and holding down the fort."

Davis adds: "Actually, the idea was pitched as 'Home Alone' with murder, and it kind of worked out that way."

Read on to hear Slater's thoughts about how the episode serves as a turning point for Mistress MacKenzie. 

TVLINE | My first, but not most important, question is: When Ellen is like, "I've gotta get my hair out of the way," why the side pony? Isn't the back ponytail more functional?
HARRIET SLATER | [Laughs loudly] I love that. I don't think we've ever seen Ellen with her hair up, and the first time is a side pony, but I actually love it. I think it really suits her.

TVLINE | That shot of you with the bow and arrow is so badass, when the camera's right up on you.
Oh my God, I love that shot so much. That was difficult to get, because we had to get the angle exactly right, to make sure that the string of the bow, and that the arrow itself, wasn't covering anything. So the arrow itself had to be at exactly the right angle... But then you had to have the right amount of tension [on the string], because if there was too much tension, it wasn't safe. I wasn't allowed to actually pull it right back. So you have to make it look like you're pulling it right back, which means taht you're still kind of shaking a little bit, but you can't shake too much, because then everything will be out of place. [Laughs] So when we finally got the shot, we were like, "Yes!"

TVLINE | How did training for the episode go?
I wasn't a natural... I feel that's one of those things everyone thinks, like, 'Oh you just..." and then you realize how intricate the movement actually is. Once I nearly killed myself. [Laughs]... It's a lot harder than people think. I have so much more appreciate for it now.

TVLINE | Were you accurate with targets by the end of the training?
Yeah, by the end, I was. They're very talented, that team, and they trained me really good. But then I actually went, just for fun, to do it myself recently, and I was terrible. [Laughs] So clearly, I need a coach there with me, and I need to keep it up.

TVLINE | I have to ask this, because of the color of your hair, and the bow: Were there any "Brave" jokes made during any of this?
Oh, all over the place! But I love that, 'cause that association has been made since the very beginning. I watched "Brave" as part of my research, right at the very beginning, to get into the accent and the world of it — and also, it's just such a brilliant film. And I realized how many similarities there are between the stories, you know? Where she has all these annoying brothers, and they're trying to marry her off, and she doesn't want to be married off.

TVLINE | I mean, there are worse Disney princesses to be compared to.
Merida, I feel, is pretty damn awesome.

TVLINE | As Janet is dying, we find out that Ellen is pregnant. Tell me why you think she chooses to share that news with her sister right then.
Oh my gosh. That moment — I literally watched it last night, and like it moved me so much. Yyou don't expect, when you're there and you've been through it all, you don't expect to get fully lost in it again. But I really did! I just think Ailsa [Davidson, who plays Janet] is such a wonderful actress and also Sadhbh [Mailn, who plays Jocasta], the way that she performs in that scene broke my heart. I didn't really see that on the day, 'cause I was so absorbed with my conversation with Ailsa. I didn't see what Sadhbh was doing. That really, really moved me.

We decided as part of our backstory, we discussed this with the director, that Janet had always wanted children and had always wanted a child for Ellen, and that was something that they dreamed about. You know, being aunts. We don't know how long Ellen has known that she's pregnant for; I don't think it's very long. But I think Janet was probably one of the people that she was the most excited about sharing that news with. And so she didn't want to say goodbye to her without her knowing that information. I's also really beautiful that she chooses to honor her. She says, "If it's a lass, she'll bear your name, which I just think is really lovely. And then it it does make Janet so happy — which makes it even more sad!

Press PLAY on the video at the top of the post to hear Slater and co-star Jamie Roy, who plays Brian, talk about what Ellen's newfound fighting prowess might mean for their partnership. Then hit the comments with your thoughts on the episode!