The Outlander team weighs in on Tom Christie's surprising confession

Warning: This article contains spoilers about the Outlander season 7 premiere, "A Life Well Lost."

Never underestimate Outlander's capacity to surprise.

In Friday's season 7 premiere, Tom Christie (Mark Lewis Jones), noted curmudgeon and religious zealot, shocked Claire (Caitriona Balfe) — and all of us watching at home — with a declaration of love.

Facing execution after being arrested for the murder of Tom's daughter, Malva (Jessica Reynolds), Claire awaits her fate in jail — and then on a ship, tending to the North Carolina governor's pregnant wife. Jamie (Sam Heughan) fights to rescue his wife, but it's Tom Christie who proves her unexpected savior.

In the season 6 finale, Tom traveled with Claire to Wilmington, and he continues to watch over her once they arrive. But when he finally meets with Claire onboard the ship, he tells her that he has decided to confess to murdering Malva, explaining that Malva was not his daughter by blood, and was a witch to boot.

Robert Wilson/Starz Mark Lewis Jones on 'Outlander'

Claire doesn't actually believe that Tom murdered Malva, which leads to an even more shocking confession — he is in love with Claire. He wants to publish his confession, allowing her to go free, and sacrifice his life for hers. "I want to give my life for someone worthy of my love," he admits. "Go to your husband."

"She has whiplash," Balfe tells EW of Claire's reaction to Tom's admission. "She's like, 'What?' The evolution of that relationship is so lovely. Any time you think you have a character pegged, and then, they turn around and do something really surprising it's always a really lovely thing. But his relationship with Claire, it's very confusing. It's the most shocked Claire has been in a very long time."

Adds executive producer Maril Davis: "He's a subtle villain. I even hesitate to call him a villain because in season 7, he's redeemed. I's not like he's completely likable. He still did things that were pretty horrible. He wasn't great to his daughter, probably wasn't great to his son. He has done despicable things, but he wants to do right."

"His love for Claire is one of the truly good things he's done in life," Davis continues. "It's a pure love. I mean, we can understand why he falls in love with Claire. She's an amazing woman. I love that the sacrifice he makes for her that he's saying, 'Let me do this for you because let me do one good thing in life. Life has not turned out so well. I've loved two women and look how it's turned out.' I love that turn of that character; he's gone from a villain to saving Claire's life. He's done something totally selfless."

Both Davis and Balfe praise actor Mark Lewis Jones for the nuance and complexity he brought to the role of Tom Christie, enabling this sudden turn (which is true to the Outlander novels) to play believably.

"To see him peel away the layers of Tom, and yet it not feel like it's an unnatural thing, was such a testament to how beautifully he constructed that character," Balfe says. "The pain that he shows, which explains a lot of what his actions are and everything to do with Malva and him trying to take responsibility to protect Alan. It's all such a complex, but lovely, storyline."

Robert Wilson/Starz Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) has a lot to worry about with revolution on the horizon.

The season 7 premiere presented numerous complications for the Frasers beyond Tom Christie's revelations, including their run-in with the governor and his wife. Book lovers will recall that things go a little differently on the page, with Claire escaping from the governor's mansion where she's being held hostage in a carriage.

Davis tells EW that they attempted to include the scene as written in early drafts of the season, but ultimately, they had to pivot. "The problem is this is such a big season," she explains. "That's one set, a governor's mansion, and a location for one scene. We couldn't accomplish it. So we had to creatively feel out, 'How do we still tell this story but not use that part?'"

Jamie must also contend with Richard Brown (Chris Larkin), who is intent on seeing Claire vilified and hung for her supposed crimes against Malva as revenge for the death of his brother. But once Claire is free, Jamie warns Brown against continuing to threaten them. "I'm also a violent man," he tells Brown. "Any goodness that prevails with me is because of my wife."

While Jamie may be violent, he is also noble and pure-hearted. So does Heughan believe that's true? And if so, what might have become of Jamie if he'd never met Claire?

"He is a bit generally a decent guy, but she's given him a purpose," Heughan tells EW. "He knows that he will fight and do everything in his power and throw his body, his life on the line to protect her and his family. I guess things could have been very different, if she hadn't fallen into his world. It was a completely different time. He had Culloden and different loyalties, and he was even warring with his uncles at that time. So, Claire gave him purpose, and it makes him so powerful. Jamie has this love that is undeniable."

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