The seventh season of Outlander ended just the other month, right in time for awards season to start. The show has never been an awards favorite, but star Caitriona Balfe (Claire Fraser) was up for Best Actress in a Drama Series at the Critics Choice Awards this past weekend...and lost to Kathy Bates for Matlock. So the show's losing streak continues.
Why won't awards bodies throw any hardware at Starz's time-traveling romance show? Outlander has been on for a long time, after all, and has a ton of passionate fans. Star Sophie Skelton (Brianna Fraser) gave her two cents on the topic when she was receiving an (honorary) award at SCAD TVfest. "I think one thing that's beautiful about Outlander is that it fits into lots of genres and lots of categories, but I think also that can maybe sometimes be its downfall, because it maybe doesn't fit," she told Cinema Blend. "It's sort of one of a kind, so I think it's difficult for some people to peg where it fits in. As I say, I think that's actually a good thing about it, and that means that there's something in it for everyone."
I hear what Skelton is saying, although there are other shows that blend genres and yet had no problem getting showered with Emmys and other awards. Game of Thrones was always an awards favorite, for example, despite being a fantasy show, a genre awards bodies typically avoid, while also including generous helpings of drama, comedy, romance and action. But Game of Thrones had a great narrative where it was a once-in-a-generation show that pushed TV into new areas. I don't think Outlander ever quite developed an awards-winning narrative of its own.
But hey, there's still the eighth and final season, which could premier as early as this year. Maybe that will turn things around. By the end of season 7, it looked like Brianna was considering staying in the 18th century with her family. As the cast and crew near the end of the road, Skelton gets reflective on all she's been through:
"I don't know if it's [Season] 7 particularly, but just as a whole, just seeing – especially some of the younger fans who've come into Outlander and kind of grown up with Brianna – just running into those fans at things like [SCAD TVfest] or press things, and just seeing how much they've grown and how much more they can open up about things that they've been through and what they've learned from Brianna. And I think Brianna is such a strong beacon for so many people, and she's become a lot stronger. Just to see the fans reflecting that and finding strength through your character is really, really cool."
Before Outlander ends for good, Starz is readying a prequel series called Blood of My Blood, which will explore the love story between Claire Fraser's parents as well as the love story of her husband Jamie's (Sam Heughan) parents. Those stories will play out in completely different centuries, but Outlander fans know that love can't be bound by something as trifling as time.
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