Outlander Season 7, Part 2: EPs Address Their Loyalty To The Books And How They’re Handling Jamie & Claire’s Latest Hurdle

Jamie and Claire Fraser collide together once more in shocking form at the end of Outlander season 7, episode 11, which spent its first 50 minutes having audiences (and Claire) believe the love of her life was dead. Desperate from grief and with the redcoats on her tail, Claire (whose heartbreak is portrayed beautifully by Caitríona Balfe) agrees to marry John Grey for protection. But fate had other plans in store, returning Jaime to her once more and bringing said redcoats right to her door regardless of the precautions she took for her family.

Based on Diana Gabaldon’s ever-popular book series, Outlander was brought to the screen by Battlestar Galactica’s Ronald D. Moore and his producing partner Maril Davis, whose commitment to the novels has always come with an extra helping of emotional resonance. Ever since Matthew B. Roberts became the sole showrunner in season 5, he has had the honor of continuing that tradition — though it becomes more complicated than ever as Outlander approaches its final season before Gabaldon has published her final book.

ScreenRant interviewed Davis and Roberts about how they upped the ante for Fraser family troubles in Outlander season 7, and especially how they keep things fresh for eagle-eyed book readers. The duo also discussed the excitement of bringing back Geillis and Dougal before teasing how Outlander season 8 will close out the series without stepping on the toes of Diana Gabaldon’s upcoming final novel.

Outlander EPs Reflect On The Book-To-TV Magic Of Bringing Back Geillis & Dougal

Screen Rant: Returning to Scotland provides the opportunity to see old favorites, such as the Murrays. And of course, time travel allows us to resurrect some dearly departed, like Geillis and Dougal. Can you talk about making the necessary changes to either reflect or erase the passage of time for these characters?

Matthew B. Roberts: Yeah, we wanted to see them meet on camera. I think that a lot of us were excited when this idea came up. “Hey, I wonder what it was like when they met?” And why not throw a great, great, great seven-times grandson in there to witness it with their son and make it as awkward as possible?

It really was a fun moment on camera, and I think we really enjoyed it. Hopefully, the audience will too.

Maril Davis: And I just remember from the book there was a line about Geillis being kind of flirty with Roger and Buck, and I just thought that was fun too; very creepy and very Geillis-like. She would do that.

Screen Rant: You guys weave in and out of what was on the page so well. So many beats are the same, but then so many details are actually different. Maril, what would you say is the key to Outlander’s success in that regard?

Maril Davis: I always am like, “Let’s stick to the book, let’s stick to the book!” But I think the thing that I’ve learned from Matthew B. Roberts, for one, is that you have the book, so sometimes it is nice to give people what they want but in a slightly different package. You’re really getting there, but in a slightly surprising way, so even for book readers, there’s something still fresh about it.

And as long as we’re keeping to the spirit of it or [keeping] the iconic moments… I feel like, mostly with the iconic moments, we try not to change them very much. But other things to surprise people, I think, are a lot of fun and keep things fresh.

How Outlander Season 7 Reinvents The Wheel With Obstacles For Jamie & Claire

Screen Rant: Speaking of keeping things fresh, Jamie and Claire face yet another challenge and separation, and Caitríona’s performance blew me away in this episode. I was crying with her even though I know he’s going to be back in three seconds. How do you top yourself, emotionally speaking, and make sure that what’s on the page is going to hit just as hard onscreen?

Matthew B. Roberts: I think that has always been, from day one, of the biggest challenges with adapting Outlander; bringing the emotion that’s on the page because a lot of it is internal. We get to hear those internal thoughts, but we’ve gone away from the voiceover because Jamie and Claire are together so much now, so they can talk to each other. So, we dig into those scenes whenever we can.

My way of storytelling in this particular story is you have to let it breathe. You just have to let the characters play the story out, not worry about the editing, and not worry about getting to another storyline when this is the important moment. Let it breathe; let it play out. I think that’s what resonates and what makes our show special is that we don’t need to cut away and keep the audience on the edge of their seats. They’re already there.

And with what you said, you knew that Jamie was going to pop up at any moment, we built the tension there. “When is that going to be? When is that going to be?” And then when he does, there’s more tension at that moment because now they’ve got to talk about it, and it’s in the talking about it that we let it breathe and let that flow organically rather than get to time, so to speak.

Screen Rant: Maril, I know that season 8 has wrapped filming, but we also have Blood of My Blood coming which takes us back in time. Given that the books are not complete yet, how much closure would you say the season 8 finale has, and is the door open for you guys to do yet another spinoff in the future?

Maril Davis: We haven’t actually finished the edit for season 8, so that ending is still to be written in some ways. But I think it’s very hard to close the chapter on something where we know the story continues, so the writers and [showrunner Matthew B. Roberts] have crafted something that is hopefully satisfying for our fans, even though we know there’s probably still a book to go.

I think what we have will be very satisfying and emotional, and a fitting end to a series that no one wants to end. I think it’s hard to end something where you feel like that journey is still continuing, and you don’t want to step on Diana’s toes. There are so many things in there, so I’m very pleased so far. I don’t know what the ending is yet, as it’s still to be written in some ways, but I think fans awill be very pleased.

More About Outlander Season 7, Part 2

Coming off the first half of Outlander Season 7, we find Claire, Jamie and Young Ian leaving the colonies and arriving in their beloved homeland: Scotland. The perils of the Revolutionary War force them to choose between standing by those they love and fighting for the land they have made their new home. Meanwhile, Roger and Brianna face new enemies across time, and must battle the forces that threaten to pull their family apart. As loyalties change and painful secrets come to light, Jamie and Claire’s marriage is tested like never before. With their love binding them over oceans and centuries, can the MacKenzies and Frasers find their way back to each other?