‘Outlander’ EP Calls Season 7 Their ‘Biggest Season Yet’ and It’s Not Just Because of Those Extra Episodes
Outlander Season 6 just aired its season finale on Starz, which means it’s time to start talking about season 7. The cast and crew returned to Scotland in late March to begin filming. And they’ve got a lot of work to do because the upcoming season will be super-sized with 16 episodes in total.
According to executive producer Maril Davis, season 7 will be their “biggest season yet.” And it’s not just because of those extra four episodes.
The first four episodes of ‘Outlander’ Season 7 were supposed to be part of season 6
A normal season of Outlander lasts approximately 12 episodes, but season 6 only featured eight. The pandemic delayed production for months, but the reason for the shortened season was star Caitriona Balfe’s (Claire Fraser) pregnancy.
Midway through filming season 6, the decision was made to cut it down to eight episodes and add the last four to the beginning of season 7. That meant the season ended with Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire separated, with her possibly facing trial in Wilmington for the murder of Malva Christie (Jessica Reynolds).
When the new season begins, Balfe says there will “definitely be a conclusion to some of these threads” from season 6 and they will be “tied up early on.” She added, “We will then have a lot of new characters join that are going to be very meaningful to the series.”
Executive Producer Maril Davis calls next season their ‘biggest season yet’
Davis says that the final episode of season 6 wasn’t changed or re-written after the decision was made that it would be the season finale. Instead, she says they got lucky that the episode ended on a cliffhanger.
“This episode [finale] was written as it’s written now,” Davis told Entertainment Weekly. “It seemed the perfect place to end once we realized we couldn’t do those last four episodes. It was like a miracle. A perfect place to end. It’s a cliffhanger and I feel like we really lucked out.”
When it comes to season 7, Davis wouldn’t give too much away. But she did say it would be their “biggest season yet” for a number of reasons.
“We have so many storylines. So many different places. The trajectory — we cover so much terrain,” Davis explained. “I really feel sorry for our production designer, art department, costume designer and her team. It’s such a huge season. We almost can’t wrap our arms around it. It’s not only the extra four episodes, it’s just, the Revolution is here. It’s going to be really exciting.”
‘Outlander’ Season 7 will be based on Diana Gabaldon’s book ‘An Echo In the Bone’
The beginning of season 7 will wrap up the storylines from season 6, which were based on Diana Gabaldon’s sixth book A Breath of Snow and Ashes. Most notably, fans will finally find out who killed Malva. Was it Claire? Will she be wrongfully convicted of murder? We won’t spoil it for you, but we promise the story turns dark.
The rest of the season will rely on storylines from book seven An Echo In the Bone. The Starz drama doesn’t always strictly adhere to the source material, but it does mostly follow the events of the novels in order. That means that season 7 will have time travel! And it will also see the Frasers return to Scotland for a family reunion.
By the end of book seven, things go in a wild direction that should see the return of fan-favorite Lord John Grey (David Berry).
Outlander fans won’t have to wait too terribly long for season 7, as it’s set to premiere on Starz in late 2022 or early 2023. Meanwhile, fans can get caught up with seasons 1 through 5 via Netflix, and season 6 on the Starz app.
