Outlander Season 7 Episode 8 “Turning Points” ends by taking Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan) back to where the Starz show began: Scotland. For years, James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser and his Sassenach have lived on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Although they built a beautiful life for themselves on Fraser’s Ridge, I personally preferred the early years of their storyline specifically because I adored the Scottish setting. The verdant Highlands, cantankerous clans, and picturesque castles added a romantic backdrop to Outlander that North Carolina could simply never match. (Yes, I know Scotland doubles for the Americas on Outlander, but I still missed the lochs and hills, okay?)
Outlander Season 7 might have already brought Brianna (Sophie Skelton) and Roger (Richard Rankin) back to 20th century Scotland, but the mid-season finale does one better by reuniting Claire and Jamie with the place their epic love story began. I am truly excited that Outlander Season 7 Part 2 will follow Jamie, Claire, and Young Ian (John Bell) back in Scotland. It will be like a homecoming for the characters and fans alike. Once more, Outlander will embrace its Scottish time travel romance fantasy setting. Ergo, I can’t wait for new episodes of Outlander to premiere on Starz already.
When Outlander premiered nine years ago in August 2004, we were introduced to an English nurse enjoying a second honeymoon with her husband in Inverness in the aftermath of World War II. While exploring the intoxicating landscape, Claire stumbled upon a druidic ceremony at Craigh na Dun. The curious woman approached the ancient stones and soon found herself flung two centuries back to 1740s Scotland. In true fantasy form, a strapping and handsome ginger Scot named Jamie comes to her rescue. Soon, they are on a collision course for a true love so powerful it defies the very nature of reality.
I can’t lie. Part of what made me fall so hard for Claire and Jamie’s love story in the first place was the setting. Everything about Outlander‘s version of 1700s Scotland was seductive to me, whether it was the jade green highlands or the misty air that made everything feel like a dream. Claire was the perfect avatar for the audience: a 20th century women armed with beauty, courage, education, and a low tolerance for bullshit. Jamie, additionally, seemed torn off the cover of a romance novel. He could recite Latin as readily as he could launch daring rescue missions. And don’t get me started on the textiles. Jamie’s tartans, Claire’s knits, and every bit of costuming felt plucked out of a hyper-specific fantasy.
Perhaps it is simply because I’m an American that Outlander‘s colonial setting never felt as magical as its Scottish one did. I spent my childhood visiting Valley Forge, Colonial Williamsburg, and the wilds of North Carolina. The whole Fraser’s Ridge storyline simply wasn’t as interesting to me as everything Claire experience in Scotland. That was an old country, defined by myth, legend, and mysteries. Its distance from my own reality made me believe in Jamie and Claire’s story even more.
As Outlander slinks closer and closer to its eventual end point — Starz has confirmed that Season 8 will be the show’s final season — it feels nice to remember the beginning. I, for one, have not forgotten the ghostly Highlander spotted staring longingly at Claire’s 1940s window! I still want to see how Jamie and Claire’s story could possibly end. Most of all, I want to see these beloved characters back in Scotland. I want to see Outlander come home.
Luckily for me, Starz should be making my wish come true when Outlander Season 7 returns in early 2024.