The Quakers are here.
On Friday’s episode of Outlander, audiences were finally introduced to two fan-favorite characters from the novels, Rachel (Izzy Meikle Small) and Denzell Hunter (Joey Phillips). The Quaker brother and sister help save young William’s (Charles Vandervaart) life after Ian (John Bell) appears on their farm with the sick and injured red coat.
While William recovers, Ian gets to know Rachel. There’s an obvious connection between them, but he must journey on to complete his task in Jamie’s (Sam Heughan) stead. William, still weak, stays at the farm, but is intrigued at the mention of one of the men he’s been tasked with conveying correspondence to. And we have a feeling this isn’t the last we’ll be seeing of either of them.
Phillips tells EW that the Quaker siblings have “grown up in the middle of nowhere, and they’re orphans, so they’ve only really had each other through everything. Denny’s been very much a parent figure and a brother figure to Rachel. They’re very, very close, very protective of each other. When we meet them in the show, they’re at a life turning point.”
“[That turning point] prompts Denny to make the decision to join the Continental Army as a surgeon,” Phillips says. “He believes in liberty and thinks that it’s worth fighting for it. That means that he’s kicked out of the Quaker meeting, because they’re opposed to all violence and war. And Rachel comes with him; I drag her along to war. But they’re thrown into a world of chaos and it’s war and blood and battles and death and violence everywhere. We see their struggle through being in this totally different world and how they keep their faith throughout that.”
The siblings are “constantly trying to reconcile our faith and our situation,” Small adds. “It’s a lot to be emotionally coping with. They’ve come from such a sheltered existence that they’re thrown into the deep end and have no idea what to expect.”
Phillips had to learn a lot about 18th century medicine to portray Denny, who is described as a brilliant surgeon. “It’s big shoes to fill, because my knife skills are not great,” he confesses. Small says many of the medical scenes they filmed were so graphic that she had to prevent herself from gagging.
Besides trying not to vomit, what are the biggest challenges we can expect Denny and Rachel to face going forward?
“A lot of them are very faith-based,” Small says. “They’re reconciling a lot of insecurities. They’re being questioned by people about their faith and that’s hard. Being around all of that violence, they’re both very empathetic and they’re both impacted. Being around that much pain and struggling and suffering really takes its toll on both of them. Rachel has some difficult romantic decisions to make and she really struggles with that as well.”
Meanwhile, Denny will struggle “with the guilt that he feels over bringing Rachel into this danger,” Phillips adds. “He also slightly struggles with their relationship in that she’s becoming this young woman. He wants her to be independent and he wants to support her and never wants to tell her what not to do. But there’s moments where maybe he feels a bit conflicted with whatever path she’s going down and how to navigate those conversations.”
https://ew.com/tv/meet-outlanders-newest-characters-rachel-denzell-hunter/