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'Outlander' Star Sam Heughan Tells Us All About That Spanking Scene

"It was definitely a very important lesson."

Rejoice, "Outlander" fans! Not only is the cruel, cruel Droughtlander finally over on Saturday night (April 4), but the infamous, highly-anticipated spanking scene from Diana Gabaldon's book series comes to life in the midseason premiere, "The Reckoning."

MTV News had a chance to screen the episode at the #TartanAffair premiere event in New York, and while the largely female crowd ate up the scene in which Jamie (Sam Heughan) taught Claire (Caitriona Balfe) a Christian Grey-esque lesson, Heughan told us that the "Outlander" cast and crew made sure that the serious implications of this scene were felt.

"You have to get into the mindset of the period of the 1700s," Heughan told MTV News when he stopped by our NYC studio. "Jamie has been brought up this way, with a very strict upbringing. He knows it's his duty, he knows he's got to do this, he's got to punish her... Obviously, to a modern audience, this is strange to get your head around, but yes -- it was definitely a very important lesson."

This "lesson" involves the repercussions from Claire getting captured by Captain Jack Randall (Tobias Menzies) in the midseason finale, which will set up a lot of the action moving forward this season. It's not great news for Jamie, but Heughan says that the big spank will at least help his character more forward in his new marriage.

"They both learned very quickly about their relationship, and about how things should be," Heughan continued. "He's a progressive man, and learns that maybe this is not the way to treat someone."

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