Outlander is known for depicting the sexually-charged relationship between its star-crossed lovers Jamie Fraser (played by Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitriona Balfe). Sex is key to Jamie and Claire’s relationship one episode from the fifth outing reiterated how crucial physical intimacy was for the couple.

Outlander season five, episode nine was called Monsters and Heroes saw Jamie on the verge of death after he was bitten by a venomous snake while out hunting.

Claire was left contemplating whether to amputate his leg and prevent the poison from spreading.

Initially, Jamie was resistant to the idea and resolved to die rather than to live without a leg.

His wife was left terrified as Jamie cut a pallid figure on his death bed.

Outlander: Claire Fraser saved Jamie from death (Image: STARZ)

Outlander: Claire saved Jamie’s life in an intimate moment (Image: STARZ)

As they lay side by side, Jamie asked Claire to “touch” him as it looked like he was taking his last breath.

“No, Jamie, you’re not leaving me here,” Claire implored her husband.

Then, in one of the most eyebrow-raising scenes in Outlander, Claire stripped off her nightgown and pressed her naked body against Jamie.

She then appeared to perform a sex act – rather than administering any form medical treatment – for his affliction.

Outlander: Jamie was on the verge of death (Image: STARZ)

Outlander saw a tender moment between Jamie and Claire (Image: STARZ)

Surprisingly, Claire’s tender caresses seemed to help revive her husband and he lived to see another day.

Speaking about the intimate scene, Sam Heughan told Glamour recently: “What we wanted to do was show that through her touch—I think that she has this ability, I wouldn’t say it’s magical, but maybe it is.

“She has this healing ability in her hands and in her body. I think it’s her love and her presence that certainly brings him back from the edge.”

The actor explained this moment was about their love, which ultimately saved Jamie’s life.

As fans will remember, Jamie’s love for Claire in the aftermath of the Battle of Culloden was also his saving grace then.

Heughan seemed to suggest it was a more spiritual rather than sexual moment.

He said: “For me, that’s probably the most intimate moment we’ve had for quite a long time.

“But it’s not them having sex, it’s something deeper than that.

“It’s hard to find a new way of showing that and expressing that, and that’s certainly what Caitriona and I pushed for in those scenes.”

Heughan’s words suggest this moment was important to both himself and co-star Balfe in showing their characters’ deep love.

The scene could also have significance for the final-ever scene in Outlander when Jamie’s ghost will visit Claire in the future.

Could this have been the moment Jamie astral projected through the planes of time and space to his wife in the 20th century?

Jamie simply said he saw a door but chose not to go through it. Either way, it does create some food for thought.

Interestingly, Jamie’s brush with death seemed to mirror Roger MacKenzie’s (Richard Rankin) recent near-death experience with the unifying theme being the love for their wives, which saved them.