Outlander Season 8 premieres Friday, March 6 on STARZ. New episodes drop weekly on Fridays.
After 12 years, the Outlander team is saying “feumaidh mi falbh” – Gaelic for “I have to go” – to its fans with this eighth and final season. Overall, the series has been a pretty faithful adaptation of author Diana Gabaldon’s bestselling Outlander books, which document the time-traveling love affair between Scottish Highlander Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) and former WWII Army nurse Claire Randall (Caitríona Balfe). However, what’s most interesting about this final season is that the Outlander TV series writers have found themselves in a Game of Thrones situation. They’ve caught up to the storylines in Gabaldon’s 2021 book, Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone, and now they’ve had to forge their own original ending. And though Gabaldon is a series consultant and sometime episodic writer, she has yet to complete her last book to close out her Fraser chronicles, which has book purists sweating.
In the first three episodes of Season 8 made available for review, there’s a compelling balance in following the everyday lives of the core characters at Fraser’s Ridge, North Carolina, with the forward movement towards resolving outstanding story arcs like the impending Revolutionary War and the more supernatural elements of the series present from the very first season. The loyal audience is also subtly rewarded with clever inclusions of the show’s deep bench of characters that add to the sense of finality driving this season’s storytelling.
Smartly, Outlander has always been brave enough to craft several original storylines over its eight seasons. Both creator Ronald D. Moore (God of War) and current showrunner Matthew B. Roberts have diverted from Gabaldon’s text before, and this final season features one of its most dramatic departures with the revelation that Jamie and Claire’s first child, Faith – who they thought was stillborn – may have survived. In fact, she may have grown up to have her own children, one of which is named Fanny and came to live with the Frasers at the end of Season 7B. It’s a brain-bender for sure, but it’s also in keeping with the story’s central conceit that Claire and her kin can travel through time via standing stones. The opening episodes add more substance to that mystery and showcase the great work of actress Florrie Wilkinson, who imbues an ‘old soul’ quality into young Fanny. Her scenes with Balfe and Heughan are some of the most memorable of the early episodes.
Speaking of Heughan, this season changes up the dynamic for Jamie as the usually steadfast patriarch of the Ridge has to weather some emotional curveballs. Heughan not only gets fiery while exploring Jamie’s lingering rage over what happened between Claire and Lord John Grey (David Berry) in Season 7, but he also revisits the haunted and unmoored version of Jamie that is dredged up whenever Frank Randall/”Black Jack” Randall comes back into the story. That opportunity arises after reuniting with Brianna (Sophie Skelton) and Roger (Richard Rankin), who give Jamie a book written by Claire’s first husband, historian Frank Randall (Tobias Menzies), that cites the date and battle of Jamie’s “destined” demise. Unsure if the book – titled The Soul of a Rebel – is meant to torture him or act as a genuine signpost of a moment in time to avoid, Jamie has to wrestle with this knowledge, adding a throughline of pathos that reveals new facets of Jamie’s character.
Balfe continues to play Claire with her signature feistiness and compassion as the rural doctor continues her practice of trying to combat 18th century maladies with 19th century knowledge. And there’s plenty of spice left between the aging Claire and Jamie (their wigs and makeup look the best they ever have this season), as their passion gets more screen time than ever. Behind the scenes, Balfe gets to direct an episode for the first time – “Prophecies” – which showcases her fine eye in capturing intimate, emotional scenes between characters.
For a final season, the variety of side stories is a bit too ambitious. There’s no shortage of new characters introduced, including potential Ridge adversaries who represent the Loyalists to the crown and the burgeoning local militia who have no sympathy for the Tories. While many of these side characters end up tying into main storylines, sometimes they feel like a distraction from getting back to the main cast. There’s also a lot of precious time given to Jamie’s eldest son, William Ransom (Charles Vandervaart), who is far less petulant than in prior seasons but still doesn’t warrant the generous amount of time given to him.
Outlander continues to work best when Jamie and Claire are interacting with their family. The rapport built up between the leads and their supporting cast over the years shines through. Whenever they’re given quiet moments to just be open and genuine with one another, those scenes are the most memorable, and remind us why Jamie and Claire are such enduring characters. Regardless of their characters’ weird situation in time, Heughan and Balfe always manage to ground the pair in the realness of their character’s love and dedication to one another and their extended family.
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