SPOILER ALERT: The following reveals major plot points from the Season 7 premiere of Starz’s Outlander.
Droughtlander is finally over and fans of the Starz series Outlander have been reunited with Claire and Jamie Fraser, played by returning leads Caitríona Balfe and Sam Heughan, respectively, for an all-new season of fun, adventure and plenty of drama.
The Season 7 premiere titled “A Life Well Lost” picks up after the crazy events of the Season 6 finale that revealed Malva Christie (Jessica Reynolds) had been murdered and Claire was arrested for the crime. The first two episodes of the new season will mostly tackle the mystery though little remnants will be sprinkled through the remaining episodes.
It’s revealed very early on that the trailer teasing Claire was hanged for the murder was only Jamie imaging the worst possible outcome and not based in reality, phew! After all, what would the shows be like for the two remaining seasons without Claire?! The trailer was pretty convincing, however.
As usual, their love always finds a way; it leads Jamie to his beloved wife just in the nick of time. Thanks to a tip and some help from Claire’s former prison mate, the healer is found on a ship where she is attending to a pregnant woman who has been ill.
Part of the mystery is revealed in the premiere when Malva’s father Tom Christie (Mark Lewis Jones) admits to Claire that he was not her bio dad. Malva’s birth was the result of an affair between his wife Mona and his brother Edgar, though Tom agreed to raise her after his brother’s death and Mona’s arrest for his murder. He also spoke of the disappointment he felt in seeing Malva becoming “a witch” like he referred to her mother, and began going down the wrong path. He takes credit for Malva’s murder, though it is as yet unknown if he really did it, and confesses to Claire that he loves her. Is that like a respect and admiration type of friendly love or is he in love love with her?
Balfe weighed in on the confession during a chat with Deadline alongside Heughan about the premiere and what fans can expect for the remainder of the season.
DEADLINE: Outlander loves teasing these huge deaths for both Claire and Jamie and you got us again in the premiere. Do you love playing out those moments for audiences?
CAITRÍONA BALFE: Yeah, they do like to tease that, don’t they? I think it’s a really cool way of opening up the show and we get to have Jamie’s voiceover. It’s a possibility, right? Her life is in such a precarious situation as this is very possible.
SAM HEUGHAN: Also with Jamie’s arc, he’s without Claire and the fear of losing her, who is the biggest thing that he’s got to lose. I think this whole season is about how they’re more aware of what they’ve got to lose. If Jamie and Claire lose each other, there’s really no point living, at least it’s a certainty for Jamie.
DEADLINE: And that reality is a real possibility this season as the characters enter the Revolutionary War. What can you tease about what’s ahead?
HEUGHAN: I think Jamie and Claire have always tried to circumnavigate war and tried to change it, certainly in Culloden and Prestonpans they tried to change the course of history. And we realized that you can’t, no matter what happens, it seems to always find its course. So this time, they’re just trying to be on the right side but it feels bigger. This feels like a really unavoidable sort of force of nature that’s happening, and Jamie switches sides now. Unfortunately for him, they kind of both get roped back into it and they do the best that they can to protect those that they love and those they have responsibility for. But yeah, it feels like they’re really staring down the barrel of a gun. This time, they don’t really know how it’s gonna turn out for them.
DEADLINE: With war looming, it’s only natural to be worried about Young Ian (John Bell). Would you say Jamie is worried about him also?
HEUGHAN: Ah, yeah. I think this season, a lot of the storylines are quite interesting. It’s not always from Jamie and Claire’s perspective. So we do follow Young Ian and his journey, and likewise, a few of the other characters as well. So we’ll learn a lot more about Young Ian who has his own past and troubles and trauma that he’s dealt with. But he’s always there; he’s very dependable and definitely a part of this family unit.
BALFE: I think it was a nice storytelling device to be able to highlight the different factions that were involved in the Revolutionary War, and that it wasn’t just the British and the Regulators. It’s also the different tribes and where their allegiances were, and how that affected them and everything. As somebody who’s Irish and wasn’t very well versed in American history, it’s been really interesting to understand the sort of origins of American democracy as we know it today, where the roots of that came from, and how it was fought for and all of the different people that were involved. And I think it’s nice that we were able to, through that character, introduce a whole other aspect of the people who were there.
DEADLINE: Tom Christie is such a fascinating character who always keeps you guessing about his true intentions. Is he really Marva’s killer? We don’t know but he seems to have been noble in taking the blame for her murder.
BALFE: I think that’s the beauty of this character. Tom Christie is one of those really complex characters where… I think even Claire, had him pegged as one thing, and he turns out to be very surprising. I think what’s really beautiful is we get to learn a bit more about his backstory and the hurt and the pain that he has experienced, which led him to live it a certain way and act in a certain way. The tragedy of Malva’s life and then when we discover who really was responsible and how dark that whole start storyline was. The conclusion of that is a really strong part. But it’s also nice to put that to rest because it was a really tragic, storyline.
HEUGHAN: That whole family brought a lot of drama.
DEADLINE: Caitríona, when Tom confesses his love for Claire, was it like a friend loves a friend orrrr?
BALFE: I think if Tom Christie had his way, he would love love, Claire. It’s nice for once that Claire’s getting some love from somewhere else. You know, everybody’s in love with Jamie. So Claire gets a little love from a strange, Bible-bashing, pious man. But hey, you gotta take what you can get. Right? [Laughs]
DEADLINE: What can you tease about the William Ransom of it all?
HEUGHAN: Oooh, that’s kind of spoilery! He obviously comes into play, and he’s been nurtured by John Grey [David Berry], and they’re on the other side, the side of the British. So that instantly puts them at odds. Without giving too much away, Jamie does essentially meet William, and their whole relationship plays out. It’s a really cool storyline, and something that’s gonna be quite painful, I think for both sides.
DEADLINE: Graham McTavish is back this season! How is this even possible?
HEUGHAN: Yes, Mr. McTavish. Well, we know he’s back as Dougal MacKenzie, the war chief and uncle of Jamie Fraser. You know, it’s always fun to have returning actors and characters. And I think you know, he’s not the only one, we have a bunch of others coming back as well. And it’s always good for our characters, but also us as actors to see familiar faces. I spent too much time with Mr. McTavish on Men in Kilts, recently we were Down Under and you can see that when the season comes out on August 11. But yeah, great fun to have him back on set, even if he does steal all of the snacks.
DEADLINE: After all these seasons together, we’re close to saying goodbye. How are you feeling about the ending of the series?
BALFE: We’ve one season left to film, which we haven’t started yet. We don’t know exactly what that’s going to be. It’s going to be really hard to say goodbye to these characters. I think what we feel good about is that this has been such a strong season and it gives us a real great launchpad to finish this story on high and say goodbye to these characters in a really sort of positive and considerate way.
DEADLINE: Do you have any wishes for how it will all play out in the end?
BALFE: I hope they retire on a beach somewhere with a cocktail bar, yeah!
HEUGHAN: I think everyone’s got their own way of how they’d love to end the story. I think Caitríona said it so nicely that we get the opportunity to do it satisfactorily and to really tell their story, right? But I don’t know how we’re going to end it but I guess we’re all gonna pitch for what we want. Whatever happens, I think it will be great storytelling.
