How Outlander Pulled Off Geillis Duncan's Magnificent Return 

season 3, episode 12, "The Bakra," and minor spoilers for the remainder of the season.

It\'s supposed to be a huge moment. At a lavish 18th-century ball,

heroine Claire Fraser sees a ghost from her past—one Gillian Edgars, a.k.a. Geillis Duncan, a.k.a. Mistress Abernathy, a.k.a the Bakra—and rushes to follow her outside. But on set, there\'s a wee problem: The path is so narrow, and the women’s period dresses so wide, that they can’t actually walk side by side.

We’re in the Rustenberg Gardens, just outside Cape Town, South Africa. Tonight, though, the location is standing in for the grounds of a governor\'s mansion in Kingston, Jamaica. Actresses Caitriona Balfe (Claire) and Lotte Verbeek (Geillis) attempt the scene a few times, only to keep bumping into each other, while the Steadicam operator does take after take. “You can feel him by the end going, ‘Oh my God, oh my God,’” Balfe says, laughing. “We’ve been teasing him, but he’s doing an amazing job.”

To complicate matters, it’s pitch dark outside of the shooting area, and long shadows are falling on the path. Reconfiguring the scene’s blocking is taking some time, so Balfe and Verbeek use the break to catch up. Right now, surprisingly, that means talking about Steff, the louche villain of

But the topic is less random than you might think; Verbeek had just worked with James Spader in

, so Balfe naturally brought up his performance in the classic John Hughes film.

Lotte Verbeek as Geillis Duncan—a.k.a. Mistress Abernathy

It feels sort of odd to hear women in period dresses gab about movies from the 20th century—a combination that makes Claire and Geillis\' on-screen reunion that much more striking, thanks to a certain famous quip Geillis uses upon her entrance. “I loved that when I first read this scene,” Balfe says after we duck into her tent. “They had that

quote, ‘Of all the gin joints in all the world...’ I was like, ‘Yes! This is so cool.’ Because being from the 20th century is a secret Claire has by herself, which she’s not fully able to share with anyone."

This scene marks the first honest conversation Claire gets to have with a fellow time traveler. Like

frenemies Blane and Steff, Claire and Geillis are both drawn to and repelled by one another. “It’s always a dance between these two,” Balfe says. "They have these long, thinly veiled conversations that seem to be about one thing, but are really about something else. They’re almost like family, in some weird way, or like two people who have been through some catastrophic event and are linked for life, even if they might not like each other.”

As a consequence, it\'s rare for any interaction between the two characters to be casual; the last time they saw each other, Geillis saved Claire from being burnt as a witch. “It’s obviously great to see Claire, but I feel like she owes Geillis something,” Verbeek says. “She might not agree with that!”

Claire might have Geillis to thank for her life, but she also distrusts her, for good reason. Geillis believes, as Claire once did, that she can change the course of history, and she\'s devoted to achieving Scottish independence by any means necessary, including murder. Bad news for anyone who gets in her way, as we discover when she mentions a spouse who\'s sadly perished. “Geillis has practically admitted that she’s murdered another husband!” Balfe says.

Geillis\' deadly image is cemented in her first season three appearance: She emerges slowly from a literal blood bath. “In the book, Geillis sleeps with virgins and then she kills them,” executive producer Matthew B. Roberts says. “We wanted to amp that up, so I asked Lotte very early on how comfortable she might be with that, for the Ian scene. And she was like, ‘Hells yeah!’ She actually texted me the moment she got here, ‘I’m ready for my bloodbath!’ Best text ever.” Even for

, this is pretty ghoulish, although Geillis assures Young Ian, played by John Bell, that it\'s just goat blood. “We’ve moved on from dancing naked, haven’t we?” Verbeek says. “This shit is a bit more intense. A bit more creepy.”

Roberts shows me the tub that doubles as Geillis’ day spa. Before Verbeek got in, they did a test with a stand-in—discovering that one syrupy fake-blood formula was too slippery. “She was sliding all over the place, and you don’t want Geillis to do that,” Roberts says. After making the formula a little stickier, for grip, they were able to bring Verbeek in. “It’s got to be body temperature,” the actress explains. “It does come off, but I had to wash my whole body afterwards with shaving foam to get it out of my armpits and the bits between your fingers, because it sticks.”

I guess it\'s safe to say Geillis is not a vegan. @outlander_starz #TheBakra #GeillisDuncan #MisstressAbernathy

, and more proto-vampire Lady Bathory, so Geillis\' naked entrance has a sensual element. It seems the blood bath\'s youth-giving properties are working: Geillis is in great shape. “In the books, Geillis has gained quite a lot of weight by this point, which I offered to do!” Verbeek says, laughing. “I generously offered to do that, but they declined.” Despite the twenty years that have passed since we last saw her character, there are fewer aging prosthetics on Verbeek than the other actors, she said. “We tested a few, but my eyes are pretty sensitive, and it’s hard to do your whole face.”

Geillis’ youthful skin also doesn’t reflect the weariness of her true age, or her failed efforts to make headway on her political mission. Verbeek tries a few takes where she angrily sorts through a box of gemstones, sending brightly colored baubles scattering across the floor. The moment is later cut from the scene, but it’s clear Geillis’ patience is wearing thin. Says Verbeek, “How much longer can you wait for your big cause, which you’ve been fighting your whole life, to be achieved? How much patience can a person have?” Turns out, not enough, and that might drive Geillis to some desperate measures in next week’s finale. “She’s starting to lose her shit,” Verbeek says. “And I’m so excited that we get to see her darker side. It’s so much fun to play. I finally get to blow the lid off!”

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