Maril Davis shares that the TV series and the ‘Outlander’ book endings will differ.
We’re only three episodes into season 7 of Outlander and there are 13 more to go, but that didn’t stop us from asking executive producer Maril Davis what’s happening in season 8, which will be the final season of the epic time-travel series based on the bestselling novels by Diana Gabaldon.
To date, Diana has written nine novels and is working on a tenth, which may be the final book in the series. She isn’t sure yet. But whether it is or not, it won’t be out before the TV writers tackle season 8. Which means that how the series ends and how the Outlander story actually wraps up could be two very different things. Except for the fact that Diana does have some input into what happens in season 8, so it shouldn’t get too crazy.
“I don’t know when her book’s coming out,” Maril told Parade. “I have to imagine it’s still at least a couple years away. Matt [showrunner Matthew B. Roberts] and I have talked about this a lot, and I think Matt feels this way and so do I, that we respect Diana enough to let her do what she wants to do. We don’t want to step on her books. It’s one thing if the books are out and we’re adapting her material. It’s another thing if we’re trying to do her ending before she’s had a chance to write it. Unless she wanted us to do that, and we could have that conversation.”
One plus to the situation is that Diana has always told Matt and Maril that the books are hers, but the TV series is theirs – with a little of her weighing in on the series. But, happily for the producers, Diana is able to separate the two.
“We want to be respectful of her and we’re going to have to end the show a different way, I think,” Maril continues. “Still, it’s a lot of pressure. You want to make it satisfying. We want to be satisfied and we want the fans to be satisfied. We want to leave the show in a place that you’re feeling, ‘I’m sad but ‘Oh, my God, that was amazing.’”
One of the things that Diana has spoken about in interviews is that in the final book, she will address Jamie’s ghost who is looking up at Claire’s lighted room in Mrs. Baird’s Bed & Breakfast, which happened in both the first book and in episode one of the series. So, the question is: Will the TV show also include that?
“I don’t know yet,” admits Maril, who is one of the two people to whom Diana has revealed the end of the story. Sam Heughan is the other. “We have been in the writers’ room but haven’t figured out what that ending will be. I don’t know that we’ll see that because I would imagine Diana might wrap that up in her book, so I don’t know if we would or not. That’s a TBD. But that also means to me if we see Jamie’s ghost that must mean Jamie died. And I will say, though, all bets are off for Season 8. Anyone could go.”
All 16 episodes of season 7 have been filmed, so prior to the writers’ strike, the Outlander team was beginning to work on season 8, as well as the upcoming prequel, Outlander: Blood of My Blood. But everything ground to a halt and won’t pick back up until the strike is resolved, which could push back season 8 as the writers’ strike, which began on May 2, is entering its third month.
“We’re waiting with everyone else to find out how long it’s going to go on,” Maril says. “We’re definitely stopped. We were in the room on both shows, but we’ve definitely stopped. I hope it doesn’t go much longer, both for the writers’ sake but also for the show’s sake. It’s hard to imagine we’re not going to push at this point just because it doesn’t feel like there’s an end in sight, so I hope it wraps up soon.”
One thing many people may not know is that it was Maril who took the Outlander books to Ronald D. Moore, the original showrunner on the series, to turn into a TV series, so she’s very attached to it and the end will hit her harder than most.
“I know we still have a season to go and we’re working on the prequel, but I am not ready,” she says. “I’m not ready for that last season where you keep saying, ‘This is the last time we’ll…’ or, ‘This is the last time we’ll do this.’ It’s been such a great journey for me. It has been my baby, along with everybody else, and I have so thoroughly enjoyed it. I love our crew; I love our cast. It’ll be really sad. I’m not looking forward to it.”
