When Brianna reunited with Roger in the season 4 finale of Outlander, fans didn’t get to see Lord John Grey’s reaction and how his services as a fill-in husband were no longer needed. So actor David Berry, who plays Grey, decided to seek a little closure himself!
Berry wrote a letter in Grey’s voice to Skelton’s Brianna that promised to maintain the “fiction of our engagement until such time as true custodian of your affections and father of your child to be is returned to you.” He also offered moral support and encouraged Brianna to “never let yourself succumb to thoughts of despair,” before sending the letter off.
“I wrote to just sort of give myself that closure,” Berry recently told EW, with production of season 5 underway in Scotland. “You’ll never see it on screen. I like to do that. I like to fill in the blanks.”
The letter was definitely appreciated by Skelton, even though she playfully took issue with how it was written via email, not as a handwritten letter. “Slightly disappointing,” Skelton told EW, jokingly. “It was really sweet, though. It just sort of gave a little bit of background for me going into the final episodes of Brianna, because obviously John has been there for Bree. He’s such a great friend, but then all of a sudden he’s sort of whipped away and we don’t really know when we’ll see him again. It was great to have that in the back of my mind.”
To help take the sting off Droughtlander, Skelton agreed to share the note with EW. Here’s what Berry wrote:
Dearest Brianna,
By now you will have arrived at River Run, safe after our ordeal in Wilmington, and I am long, long departed on my journey back to Lynchburg, back to see Willie, home to my sometimes quiet and often humdrum life on the plantation, until perhaps the next time I am called upon to aid your father. And once again, I am hurled head first into a world of excitement and adventure.
While I know you hold feelings of trepidation towards your future, I also know you are equipped with the character of such strength and virtue that you will meet these challenges and rise above them. In spite of my absence, I promise you will find the peace for which your heart yearns. Remember to never let yourself succumb to thoughts of despair. I shall continue to avow the fiction of our engagement until such time as true custodian of your affections and father of your child to be is returned to you. I am certain he will. You need not share this certitude, but above all else, hold onto hope.
It is my fervent wish that at the resolution of this ordeal, you will find the grace to forgive your father. Do not punish him for his mistakes, but honor them and pledge to never repeat them with your own child. Until that time arise and forever after, I am your humble and loyal friend.
May you never feel alone, John
Filming on season 5 of Outlander began in April. The next 12 episodes be based on The Fiery Cross, the fifth book in Diana Gabaldon’s best-selling book series. The story will continue in colonial America as the Frasers build their new life on their namesake ridge.
Starz has yet to announce a return date.
Related content
Outlander: Why Jamie and Claire weren’t present for their grandson’s birth
Outlander shares video from first day of production in Scotland
Season 5 begins production in Scotland
Diana Gabaldon’s genre-bending time-travel novels come to life in Starz’s series.