Sam Heughan

Bryan Fuller, the creator and showrunner of NBC’s Hannibal, gave an interview with Entertainment Weekly on May 28 about the use of rape on television. “”There are frequent examples of exploiting rape as low-hanging fruit to have a canvas of upset for the audience,” he told the magazine. “’A character gets raped’ is a very easy story to pitch for a drama. And it comes with a stable of tropes that are infrequently elevated dramatically, or emotionally.” Fuller is very correct about this, and his solution (which he admits is inevitably imperfect: “If I was really putting my money where my mouth is, I would have explored rape so thoroughly that it would have taken over the show.”) has been to avoid the use of rape on his series.

Outlander has had its fair share of horrifying moments, many of them having to do with sexual violence. “Wentworth Prison” is an hour of sustained sadistic terror at the hands of Jack Randall, and it is incredibly defeating and deflating. Jack is grotesquely obsessed with Jamie, with breaking him and with manipulating him and those close to him, and he finally is able to do whatever he wishes. As a villain, he is remarkably effective, and this episode works overtime to make him as horrifying as possible. It can feel exhausting and grueling, confined to these small spaces of abuse, but thankfully it is told compellingly and with purpose.