Outlander: 10 Facts About Frank And Brianna From The Books The Show Leaves Out
Arguably, the most interesting elements of Outlander stem from the relationships we see being developed on screen. From the epic love stories to stronger than life friendships and unbreakable family bonds, the show does a wonderful job of depicting several kinds of love. Obviously, the central theme of the show has been, for the most part, the romance between Claire and Jamie. However, many other relationships have had their time to shine.
One of those relationships was precisely the one between Brianna and her non-biological father, Frank. The show even went as far as bringing back Frank's character after his death in order to further portray the importance of this relationship. This was one of the many differences between the show and the books when it comes to these characters. And, even though Frank is gone, since he was such a big part of Bree's life, it's only fitting that we take a look at some of these differences.
10 The Family Life
Claire's family life has been anything but simple. What can you expect when you have the ability to travel through time and just so happen to meet the love of your life when you're still married in your original timeline? Claire wasn't expecting to have to return to her life with Frank, especially not while pregnant with Jamie's child.
But she did, and we had twenty years of Frank stepping up and raising a child he knew was not biologically his. And he loved Bree just like she was his daughter, providing her with a blissful life growing up. In the books, this even included two dogs when they were living in Boston: Bozo and Smoky.
9 Frank Taught Her Some Skills
Frank really did go the extra mile when it came to raising Brianna. It was brave enough that he didn't mind taking on the role of the father figure to a child that was biologically the one from the man his wife fell in love with. Not many people would be up for the task, so kudos for Frank on that point alone.
He made sure to develop a strong bond with his child, and we do have access to some flashbacks of the two. One of the things Frank is said to have taught Brianna in the books was how to properly handle firearms. Interesting choice of a skill, but if there's one thing we know about Bree is that she's a badass., and Frank played quite the role in making her so!
8 Brianna's Education
Brianna and Claire have quite a few things in common. And, although Bree's relationship with Frank was a lot closer than it was with her mother, due to her resemblance to Jamie and the pain that caused Claire, it's still impossible to deny that these two are cut from the same cloth. Fiercely independent and extremely ahead of their times, Claire and Brianna are great examples of strong female characters.
Much like her mother, Brianna was extremely bright. And, while Claire chose the path of medicine, Brianna had other talents that, in the books, led to her attending MIT, whilst in the show she attended Harvard. Both exceptional institutions, but MIT truly shows the passion Bree holds for all things building and mechanics.
7 Frank's Love For Mother And Daughter
For those who've only read the books, or who read them before watching the show, liking Frank comes a little bit harder. The showrunners did take quite a few liberties and made deviations from the book when it comes to his actions towards Claire and the daughter that he raised and wasn't biologically his.
The show makes it quite clear in several instances that Frank has deep love and affection for Claire. This love is strong enough to make him raise Bree and to stay in a broken marriage with a woman that fell in love with another man she met in the 18th century. None of this is made clear in the books.
6 She Was Born With A Caul
Human beings are weird. No, seriously, there are some very creepy things that can happen to us, and there are lots of diseases and deficiencies out there which we would never dream of. Some are so unbelievable we would think they came out from a particularly frightening episode of Supernatural.
One of these conditions is called a caul. It's an extremely rare episode where babies are born with a membrane that envelops either their face or the entire body. It doesn't look pretty, but it's easily removable and seldom leads to complications. In fact, Brianna was born with a caul, and she's A-okay. More than okay, actually!
5 Brianna's Parentage Revelation
Okay, picture this: you fell in love with a woman that claims she's a time traveler from the 20th century. You just so happen to fall madly in love with her, you get married, and she gets pregnant. Eventually, a lot of drama goes down, and she has to return to her own time pregnant with your child, who you know will be raised by another man. Can you imagine how you would feel when you saw pictures of your child for the first time?
This is exactly what happened to Jamie. Well, the abridged version, but still. And it was such an emotional moment in the books that Jamie wept in Claire's arms. Not in the show, though—fans were distraught when they saw Jamie's blank face upon looking at Bree the first time. Not a good look!
4 Frank's Role
We've already mentioned in passing how amplified Frank's role in the show was as opposed to in the books. The author didn't really waste a lot of time on the storyline of Claire's first husband once she goes through the stone, meets Jamie, falls in love, and all the drama that quickly unfolds.
The show did take a different approach, though. They gave us another perspective, just like did with Jamie, which was key for audiences to understand who he was, his motivations, and what ultimately led him to accept another man's child as his own. Additionally, we see just how deep his love for Claire and Brianna really his.
3 Brianna's Portrayal On The Show
Of course, the show would make some creative deviations to its characters when the time came to portray them onscreen. Thankfully, they were kind enough to keep the main characters as faithful as possible to the original source material. After all, Outlander simply wouldn't be the same without Claire's willpower and Jamie's bravery!
Brianna, however, did suffer a bit of change. In the books, her first appearances make her out to be extremely selfish and unproper, and only as she grows up do we see her become the strong young woman she is. On the show, however, we don't get access to this character development, and she is a likable character right off the bat.
2 Frank's Portrayal On The Show
Brianna's character wasn't the only one who suffered what we would call creative liberties. Some fans would even argue that the changes made to Frank are the most noticeable when compared to the source material of the books. As we mentioned before, we get a lot more of the point of view of Frank, which inevitably makes us understand him and even grow fond of him.
Unlike the womanizing, controlling, racist man he is portrayed as in the book, show Frank has a lot more layers. He loves Claire deeply and keeps looking for her after she goes missing. He raises and loves Brianna as his own. He doesn't take a string of unnamed mistresses. Overall, he's a lot more complex and likable than what the books show.
1 The Extent Of Their Relationship
Because the books don't give much credit to the character of Frank, the show seemed to decide to leave out many of the less desirable characteristics of the original Frank. Aside from everything we've already mentioned, the books don't go into great detail into the relationship shared with his non-biological daughter, Brianna.
So much so that, in the books, once Frank dies, he stays dead. The show, however, brings him back in an episode that is centered around Brianna, letting audiences know just how much this man meant to her and how much of a role he had in her life. It was an intense, emotional departure from the original source, but it made for some spectacular television.