Outlander is heading into its eighth and final season, which will probably be out sometime "next year," as star Sam Heughan (Jamie Fraser) told Deadline. It's been a long road for fans and a longer one for the actors — Heughan said the show has "dominated" his life for the past 11 years — but the time-traveling romance series is finally coming to an end.
Exactly how it will end, no one knows. Producers Maril Davis and Matthew B. Roberts are doing their best to keep things under wraps, telling IndieWire that they filmed around four multiple endings. "It was important that it not get out what we were doing," Roberts said. "We were very careful."
The show is based on a book series by Diana Gabaldon, but she hasn't released the final book yet, so fans can't look to the source material for clues. Everyone will just have to wait we reach the end of the road.
How Jamie and Claire's reunion love scene changed from the book
In the meanwhile, we're still getting more peeks behind the curtain of season 7. For instance, check out this blooper reel that recently surfaced:
And Davis and Roberts are providing new insights into some of the biggest scenes from last season, like when Jamie and his wife Claire (Caitriona Balfe) reunite after a long separation during which Claire thought Jamie was dead and married his gay best friend Lord John Grey as part of a strategy to survive during the turbulent Revolutionary War. They also have a night of very sad sex together. Things got pretty soapy in season 7.
“There’s a very iconic scene in the book where Jamie and Claire get in a big fight," Davis said. "Jamie is jealous of Claire having slept with Lord John. They have this big, break tables, throw things to the ground, lovemaking scene and an argument. We wanted to do it like the book. It’s this potting shed. [Production designer Mike Gunn] tried very hard to do that for us. We found a great greenhouse. But then the lighting and the weather. We ended up putting it into the house on Chestnut Street. There were many debates about that too. ‘Are they going to fight about Lord John, but yet they’re going to make love in Lord John’s house?’ It all came together. That’s a true testament to Sam and Caitríona, they make everything work.”
The ending of Outlander will be "satisfying"
Before the final season of Outlander airs, we'll get a prequel called Blood of My Blood, which will premiere on Starz on August 8. But ultimately, all eyes are trained on next year. Although they couldn't give away spoilers, the producers described what fans were in for with the ending:
- Maril Davis: "Emotional, heartbreak, tears"
- Mike Gunn: "Epic epic end"
- Matthew B. Roberts: "Satisfying"
Some of the cast and crew are even thinking of what comes beyond season 8. Could there be an Outlander TV special sometime down the road? “Who knows? I know they did that with Downton Abbey and others. So you never know," said Sam Heughan. "Maybe the ginger wig is still around somewhere.”
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