The journey of Claire & Jamie heads for the finish line as the final season of Outlander begins
It has been nearly 12 years since Outlander first premiered and Second World War military nurse Claire Randall (Caitríona Balfe) travelled through the stones at Craigh na Dun to 1743, where she met Scottish Highlander Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan). Over the course of seven seasons, the two cemented their love for each other, as they traversed the globe and overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles — attempting to thwart the Jacobites in Paris; returning home to endure bloody battle in Scotland; Claire journeying back to the future to raise her and Jamie’s child, Brianna (Sophie Skelton), with interim-husband Frank (Tobias Menzies); reuniting in the 18th century to search for Jamie’s nephew Young Ian (John Bell) in the West Indies; then ultimately making a new home for themselves in North Carolina as the American Revolution loomed. “We’ve done it all, haven’t we?” marvels Heughan, on a Scottish set visit attended by TV Week, during production of the final season. “We’ve learned that it’s impossible to change the course of history, but at least now they’re trying to navigate it.”
Indeed, there will be lots to navigate in this swan song, as the penultimate season ended on a few shockers. Having discovered that he is Jamie’s biological son, William Ransom (Charles Vandervaart) continues to struggle with the knowledge that his father is not Lord John Grey (David Berry). “I think William always has love for [John] — he’s his real dad. He’s the one who raised him. But there’s going to be tension, and I think this massive secret will obviously cause some ripples in that relationship,” says Vandervaart, whose character struggles equally with Jamie. “There’s a lot of tension between them. Even just for the fact that William knows that he’s on the other side of the war. But I’m hoping that one day they can reconcile that, and actually develop a nice father-son bond.”
Claire and Jamie were also surprised by the revelation that their stillborn daughter Faith may not, in fact, have died at birth; the season-seven finale introduced the possibility that Faith’s daughter —their granddaughter — may be in their midst. It was a bold departure from Diana Gabaldon’s books, but deviating from the source material is something showrunner Matthew B. Roberts and exec producer Maril Davis have had to embrace — more so than ever since announcing the end of the series. “Obviously it’s hard to be doing the last season of the TV show when Diana still has a book left [to publish],” says Davis. “We don’t know where she’s taking the characters, so we have to figure out a way to conclude it in a way that’s satisfying everyone.” Roberts compares the novels and the series to a parent and child. “They have the same DNA obviously, and parents contribute a lot to their children,” he says. “But the children’s life has its own span and story to tell. So, that’s us.”
What viewers need not worry about is whether Claire and Jamie make it through these tribulations as a united front. “We don’t play the ‘if’ game with Claire and Jamie. No. 1: there’s 10 books. So, Google it. It’s not Game of Thrones,” says Roberts. “We dig into the love story of it all and enduring love. For me, a great example is I Love Lucy. You never once thought, ‘Oh, they’re going to get divorced.’ Well, that’s Jamie and Claire. They can go through hell and high water, but you never think that they’ll let go. It’s, ‘How do they survive? How do they get through it? How do they get back together?’ We’re a ‘how’ show.”
Portraying these lovers through the decades — or, in Claire’s case, centuries — has been a privilege for the two actors. “We met this couple who got married before they even knew each other. And it was all very fiery, but it was a real power struggle within the relationship because they were trying to find their footing. That took a long time,” says Balfe. “I mean, I don’t think either of them have lost their stubbornness or feistiness necessarily, but there has been a softening, and I think that it’s been lovely finding those ways of, ‘Well, what has softened about them? Where do they still challenge each other? Where have they learned about each other better, to better support each other?’” For Heughan, it’s the squabbles that have been telling about where they stand as a couple. “There have been scenes that are, on paper, slightly antagonistic, but we’re trying to show that a married couple isn’t bickering and arguing every day, or if they are, there’s an underlying love and trust,” he says. “Their sparring is obviously great, but they have each other’s back and they’ve committed to each other, and I think that’s beautiful about this relationship.”
The idea of saying goodbye had, at the time of the interviews, not hit them yet. “It goes in peaks and valleys,” says Balfe. “When we had our first readthrough, we got very emotional because you get hit with these waves of realization. And then you get into the everyday work and you can kind of put it away for a little bit and then, all of a sudden, something else will happen and you get hit with it again.” For Balfe, one of the final-season highlights includes directing an episode. “We’ve played these characters now for over 10 years and it’s been incredible to look at the show from a different perspective,” she says. “As an actor, you’re so focused just on your character, so to be able to have this broader view, in terms of the storytelling, has been really exciting.”
What she and Heughan won’t miss is the relentless schedule. “Maybe in five years I’ll be able to look back and go, ‘Oh, that’s what that 10 years was all about.’ It’s been so intense,” she says. Her co-star agrees. “It’s just been such an incredible journey. It’ll be interesting to see what fills that space, that void,” Heughan muses. “But, I have to say, I sat down with Jamie Roy from [Outlander prequel] Blood of My Blood, and to see them beginning their journey, there are so many similarities. It was cool to see them go on their journey. I’m going to be tuning in from the comfort of my sofa!”
Outlander airs on Mondays on W Network