![]() ![]() The answer lies in the conflict that is still continuing to brew at the margins of Outlander's story. Some things might be predestined, and the conclusion of Outlander is one of them, so how can this season up the ante in terms of drama? ![]() Given that there's still one more season of this show to come ( even if Season 8 will be its last), the biggest question hanging over this initial crop of episodes doesn't have anything to do with whether Claire will find a way to survive her life-or-death circumstances, but how she'll narrowly cheat death once again. After all, they've literally traveled through time to close the gap before what hope do prison walls have in the face of true love? Sentimentality aside, it does mean that the stakes surrounding the Frasers are not nearly as high and dramatic as the show wants us to believe. (While Jamie has always been, it could be argued, Claire's number one fan, the scenes in which he declares his most passionate feelings for his wife, Scottish brogue and all, are unparalleled in terms of hero energy.)Įven as external threats lurk all around these two, there's a security that comes from the notion that they'll always find a way back to one another, no matter what. Meanwhile, it might be tough to wrap your head around the concept of Jamie reaching the age where he can confidently be referred to as a grandfather, but that doesn't mean that Heughan can't still infuse his character with just as much swoony presence as he did back in Season 1. Claire's hair bears significantly more grays in it, although it may be a while yet before it turns full white and she comes into her fullest power, as was foreshadowed in a previous season (and as her husband cheekily teases her about in one tender instance). Of course, with the passage of time also comes the more visible signs of aging for the show's main couple. The actors' off-screen friendship no doubt contributes to this - after all, there's always been something of a fighting-in-the-trenches mentality surrounding the number of love scenes that this duo has gorgeously brought to life over the years - but it also means that the Frasers' marriage is as evocative as it is comforting to watch. Over the course of the first four episodes of the latest season provided for review, what comes across with warm clarity is how the romance between Jamie and Claire feels lived-in and natural rather than anything that seems to be afforded active thought. Some of that is likely due to the consequence of time itself Heughan and Balfe have spent as many years inhabiting these characters as we have watching them at home, and the proof is in every single one of their scenes together, which remain the highlight of the series overall. Seven seasons in, and there's no denying it: Outlander's leads still have some of the best chemistry on television. That said, it still signifies a very strong return for the series, which continues to rest on the strengths of its leads and their lasting screen presence. Season 7 mostly begins with an attempt to tie up the previous season's narrative strings - it clocks in at 16 episodes, divided into two parts, after Season 6 had to navigate a more truncated length due to the pandemic. But in the wake of how other book-to-TV adaptations have fared in recent years - the total crash-and-burn of a certain HBO series instantly springs to mind - you wouldn't blame viewers for questioning whether Starz's long-running drama, with its sweeping romance, lush scenery, and enthralling characters, would eventually end with more of a whimper than a bang. The time-traveling historical epic earned a small-screen translation of its own back in 2014, and along the way, made breakout stars out of its then-relatively unknown leads, Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe. A decade ago, if you'd asked any longtime fan of Diana Gabaldon's novels whether they could have ever envisioned a television adaptation of Outlander that would span that same length of time - as well as grow to six seasons, with two more incoming - you might have been met with extreme skepticism. ![]()
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