There's still a good amount of time left before the end — we still have the second half of season 7 to enjoy later this year — but the eighth and final season of Outlander is coming over the horizon. The cast and crew met the other day for their last-ever table read, with everyone posting pictures of what was an emotional gathering. Let's start with Sam Heughan (Jamie Fraser), who wrote simply, "Final readthrough. Final block. Final season."
Caitriona Balfe, who plays Jamie's time-traveling wife Claire, one-upped Heughan with a collage of pictures and video set to music:
"Here we are …… 11 years 101 episodes and a whole lotta love, sweat and tears (and some blood)," Balfe wrote. She thanked the actors, writers, producers and crew members who made this possible, as well as the fans. "It's been a journey and a half."
Sophie Skelton, who plays Jamie and Claire's daughter Bree, posted a picture of herself outside Barnbougle Castle in Scotland, which is apparently where they held this table read. I guess if your show is about the romance of 18th century Scotland, you want to set the right mood:
Finally, longtime Outlander executive producer Maril Davis confessed to getting emotional in her own Instagram post: "What an emotional day," she wrote. "The last read thru for the last block of Outlander. Tears were shed (mine) but thankfully we provided Outlander hankies to dry those tears. Hard to imagine that our first official read thru was 11 years ago. The final countdown has begun."
She's not kidding about those Outlander hankies. Click the arrow on the right to see:
Once again, we still have a ways to go before we reach the final season; the second half of the seventh season will premiere on Starz this November. Season 8, which has yet to be filmed, will air sometime in 2025.
Buffer zone or not, fans everywhere are surely getting emotional about the end of this series, which will have been on the air for 11 years when it wraps up; that's a rare accomplishment and should be commended. They can take comfort in the fact that Starz is readying an Outlander prequel series called Blood of My Blood to keep the good times rolling after the original show is over. The first season of the prequel will actually air before the final season of Outlander, to help people with what will be a difficult transition.
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