Outlander season 7 episode 6 sees Roger's foe return in surprise twist

The new season continues to throw up plot twists and cliffhangers galore with the most recent episode, entitled Where The Waters Meet, seeing Roger (Richard Rankin) come face-to-face with one of his old foes.

That’s right, as he was dancing in his kitchen to some Scottish tunes and enjoying unpacking his very modern shop of cereal and Fairy washing up liquid, Roger spies someone through the window.

In episode 5, Singapore, Roger is alerted to the fact that a Scottish folk tale about the Nuckelavee is doing the rounds when snack wrappers are found at Lallybroch, and Mandy (Rosa Morris) screams when she spots someone lurking outside the house.

In this episode, though, Roger is keen to catch the person in the act, especially seeing as they've been littering on his and Brianna's (Sophie Skelton) property.

We get to see the mysterious figure but don’t know who it is when Roger comes rushing out of the house, saying “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”. But in the process, we get a small glimpse of them and can quickly spy that they’re wearing some of the typical 16^th century garb.

Roger chases him down the front garden and manages to catch up to him, turning him round and looking instantly shocked as he says “Christ”. But shock quickly turns to anger as Roger grits his teeth and punches him in the face.

So, who was the mysterious figure? Well, it’s none other than Roger’s Scottish ancestor William Buccleigh MacKenzie, also known as Buck. And if you’re not familiar with the face – although you have met the character – that’s because the role of William has been taken over by Irish actor Diarmaid Murtagh.

Joining the Outlander cast for season 7, the role of Buck was originally played by Graham McTavish, who is of course one of the show’s longstanding characters as Dougal MacKenzie. He appeared in a dual role in season 5 as Buck in the brief role but it nonetheless packed a punch. Or, it left such an impact on Roger that he was left with nothing to do but punch him when he saw him, clearly.

Murtagh has starred in a number of British dramas like BBC hits The Tourist and Bloodlands, as well as Netflix’s The One and Young Wallander.

If you cast your mind back to season 5, Buck nearly had Roger killed. In fact, Roger was hung after Buck turned Roger over to the militia telling them that he was a Regulator. The good news at the time was that Claire (Caitriona Balfe) managed to save Roger before the hanging could have killed him and performed an emergency tracheotomy. The bad news was the fact that after the traumatic event, Roger was left voiceless and struggling with flashbacks and PTSD.

It was a hard time for Roger and wife Brianna, so it’s safe to say that Roger doesn’t want to be reminded of that awful time or the person who nearly got him killed in the first place – Buck.

Obviously, Roger has greeted Buck with little more than a punch in the face, but how did Buck travel 200 years into the future? And how did he find Roger and Brianna’s home at Lallybroch?

Whether he’s accidentally made his way through the stones or was intent on following Roger to the future, it remains to be seen. But something tells us it’s going to be far from easy getting him back to the 1770s and could spell further trouble for Roger and Brianna.

Sophie Skelton did previously reveal to RadioTimes.com that the new season will put viewers through a “rough ride”, with the storylines not “necessarily the expected ones”. So whether you’ve read the novels or not, the inclusion of Buck’s plot twist could spell something entirely different from the book.

Outlander is available to stream on Starz in the US and on Lionsgate+ in the UK. You can buy Diana Gabaldon's books on Amazon.

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