Here is a NEW Interview with Maril Davis from Entertainment Weekly
From EW:
Sunday’s episode of Outlander was chock full of surprises, starting with the absence of Jamie’s sister Jenny (played by Laura Donnelly) and including the unexpected appearance of Tobias Menzies as Frank Randall. As book readers know, Frank is long dead by the time “Drums of Autumn,” the fourth book in Diana Gabaldon’s “Outlander” series on which season 4 is based, was released. But Frank does have a presence in the book: Roger finds letters that Frank wrote to Rev. Wakefield that reveal Frank knew about Claire’s time travel. Frank found historical records of a Jamie Fraser marrying a Claire Beauchamp. He believed Brianna, Claire and Jamie’s daughter that Frank raised in the 20th century, should know her true heritage.
In Sunday’s “Down the Rabbit Hole,” the producers decided it would be better to actually show the anguish in Frank’s face upon learning his wife’s fate in the 18th Century.
The production team did Tobias a great favor in giving him a nontoxic part. His BJR was so realistic, trauma inducing! Wow! I was expecting I could not see him without turning away from BJR. Tobias gave another extraordinary performance as Frank- every facial twitch paced a thousand feelings.
Frank is very much a part of Brianna’s life, has always been, and even though he is not physically around in when Brianna gets to America, he is always in her thoughts. This episode was heartbreaking but beautifully put together.