Everyone’s favorite Scot and time-traveler are back one last time with Outlander Season 8 now streaming on Starz. Caitríona Balfe and Sam Heughan’s final act as Claire and Jamie features a family reunion on Fraser’s Ridge. But despite their joy at returning home and reuniting with Brianna and Roger, they still have their fair share of drama to deal with, including discovering the truth about their daughter Faith and receiving an ominous message from none other than Frank Randall.
Opening Shot: A bonneted and tense Claire looks out of a grated window. “Where the bloody hell is he?” she demands. Jamie, close by, ensures he’ll come. The pair is tricking the smuggler who sold Jane and Fanny Pocock to the brothel to learn more information about their previously believed to be stillborn daughter, Faith. What they learn about what happened to Faith and her family is harrowing, and the knifing delivered by Claire extremely well-deserved.
The Gist: After the Season 7 cliffhanger that Faith may have lived, Jamie and Claire are hellbent on discovering the truth about their firstborn. With some investigative work and scheming, they deduce Faith did live until she was killed while defending her daughters, and that their new charge, Fanny Pocock, is their granddaughter. They just don’t know why Master Raymond or Mother Hildegarde kept their daughter from them.
Speaking of the Pococks, William (Charles Vandervaart) has left the army and is still grieving the death of Jane. But a new woman enters his life — his cousin Benjamin’s widow, Amaranthus (Carla Woodcock). Initially suspicious of her motives, he comes to accept Amaranthus and her son Trevor staying at Lord John Grey’s home in Savannah.
After a brief stint at Fergus and Marsali’s (welcome back, César Domboy and Lauren Lyle!), Jamie and Claire return to Fraser’s Ridge, where Ian (John Bell) and a very pregnant Rachel (Izzy Meikle-Small) warmly greet them with a rebuilt home. Many of the Ridge characters welcome them back, including Amy McCallum, the polyamorous Lizzie Beardsley, and Evan Lindsay. Plus, some new faces enter the scene in the form of the confounding Cunninghams — Charles, a retired British army captain, and his mom, basically the Wicked Witch of the West. But the biggest event at the Ridge comes when Brianna (Sophie Skelton) and Roger (Richard Rankin) return with Jem and Mandy for a touching family reunion. The MacKenzies bring some books from the future, including a book written by Claire’s first husband, Frank Randall (why, hello there, special guest performer Tobias Menzies). Jamie discovers in Frank’s book that a Revolutionary War battle is coming close to the Ridge — and that he will die in it.
Our Take: After 14 long months, the answer to whether Faith survived is finally answered with Jamie and Claire dealing with the emotional fallout. It may not be canon to the books by Diana Gabaldon, but this plot allows some classic Jamie and Claire heartfelt moments as they deal with previously unimaginable new levels of grief (and some joy) in learning Faith survived and had a family of her own, but they’ll never get to know her.
Other emotional beats of the premiere had already been revealed in the marketing leading up to the season, most notably Bree and Roger’s return and Jamie’s foretold death. The MacKenzies’ reunion at the Ridge may have lost some emotional punch if you knew it was coming, especially with no showing of what had to be an arduous journey with two children from Scotland 1739 to North Carolina 1779. But honestly, with only 10 episodes to go in all of Outlander, it’s just good to have the gang back together as quickly as possible. Particularly with Jamie bonding with both of them, as he looks to Roger as a trusted confidant and Bree and him going on their hunts again. As for Jamie’s death? That’ll be the big question looming over the entire season, and is still chilling no matter if viewers first learned of it months ago in a trailer or for the first time during the premiere.
New characters like Captain Charles Cunningham and Amaranthus Grey may seem superfluous to wrapping up Jamie and Claire’s epic story. But Outlander always has a large ensemble, and these characters do appear to have major stories tied to them, with Amaranthus and William having quite a bit of chemistry. And with a Revolutionary War battle coming near the Ridge and Cunningham being a Tory, it seems Jamie’s neighbor could very well become his enemy (and possibly deal his death blow?!).
Performance Worth Watching: Whether it’s going from the rage and killing a man over the death of one daughter, or emotionally greeting her other daughter after years apart, Caitríona Balfe has consistently embodied Claire Fraser and her many facets — from her tenderness to her ferocity and everywhere in between — for more than a decade.
Sex And Skin: Astoundingly (considering this is Outlander) no. Though Jamie does reminisce about the night that he thinks he and Claire conceived Faith.
Parting Shot: Jamie has been reading Frank’s book and reveals to Claire that he’s set to die in a Revolutionary War battle in about a year. Could Frank be right?! Is he to be trusted?
Sleeper Star: She only has one scene, but it’s a memorable one where she smacks a Mandy and proclaims the Frasers “all are undoubtedly going to hell.” With that intro, newcomer Frances Tomelty as Elspeth Cunningham proves she’s going to be one witch you’ll love to watch (or love to hate-watch).
Most Pilot-y Line: “He says there’ll be a battle in about a year’s time at a place called King’s Mountain and that James Fraser dies in it,” Jamie says about himself.
Our Call: It’s the end of an era! You gotta STREAM IT. Plus, don’t you want to find out if Jamie will die?!
Caitlin Gallagher is a New Jersey-raised, NYC-based entertainment writer. When not writing about or watching TV, she can be found planning her next Halloween costume, crying over rescue animals, or praising Season 2 of The Leftovers.
