Outlander’s final season could ruin the show – but I can’t look away

After nine books (and counting), seven seasons and a spin-off, historical epic Outlander‘s swan song is here – and, frankly, I’m terrified.

The complex web that author Diana Gabaldon has woven for these characters over three decades through her bestselling novels and now, hugely popular TV show, has been astonishing to witness.

For fans who have sunk years of their life into this fandom (from unwieldy Reddit theory threads to pilgrimages to Scotland), a lot is riding on creator Ronald D. Moore to pull off a swoonworthy conclusion to Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie’s time-travelling love story.

What’s more, it’s the first season of the show that will continue the story without the novels as a reference (although Diana is a consulting producer), meaning viewers are truly going in blind as to how everything will turn out for the Frasers.

For those who need a quick refresher, season seven ended on a major cliffhanger.

Claire and Jamie’s daughter Faith – who was taken away as a stillborn by Master Raymond years earlier – could have actually survived and had children of her own, including Fanny (Florrie Wilkinson), whom they have now taken under their wing.

Meanwhile, their daughter Brianna (Sophie Skelton) and husband Roger (Richard Rankin) finally reunited after a harrowing season of time-travelling antics.

And we discovered that, for the fifth time this show, Jamie’s death has once more been foreseen.

Not to mention that the first season of the prequel show Blood of my Blood indicated we could see our time-crossed lovers’ parents having some bearing on the plot.

Now that’s out of the way, needless to say, I entered the season eight opener with plenty of trepidation, only to discover that half of the cliffhangers we were left with are promptly wrapped up in the first 10 minutes.

We get answers about Faith’s fate, and Brianna and Roger happily rock up to Fraser’s Ridge as though it’s no biggie. I was… confused. It all felt… underwhelming.

In fact, the vast majority of the episode felt like a victory parade for Claire and Jamie, reunited with their estranged family members, back home in North Carolina.

The whole 60-minute affair felt like it could have been tacked onto the end of season seven to wrap up the show in a heartfelt and satisfying way.

By the time the credits rolled, once more reminding us of the threat of Jamie’s death at an upcoming battle, I could help but worry that, with seven episodes to go, could there be an ending better than what I just witnessed?

Of course, there are a handful of lingering questions, but, with a few tweaks, the show could have bowed out at the end of season seven if the opener is anything to go by. And now they’ve shown us what could be, the pressure has only ramped up.

Especially since Jamie potentially dying feels very much like the boy who cried wolf at this point. There’s only so many times I can agonise over his mortality.

And after seven seasons of immense and relentless suffering (to the point that I’ve almost stopped watching the show entirely), I can’t help but feel: Don’t Jamie and Claire deserve to catch a break?

With no roadmap, it’s impossible to tell if the show will needlessly amble its way to a forced ending or convince me final season was, in fact, necessary.

Still, after the amount of time I’ve sunk into this show, I’m committed to the final season come what may. I can only hope it’s up from here.

Outlander season eight will drop on MGM Plus via Amazon Prime Video every Saturday in the UK.

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