Disclaimer: I’m a show-only viewer and haven’t read the books. If you’ve read them and know what’s about to happen, please don’t leave spoilers in the comments! If you have no idea what’s going on, don’t worry. I have no idea what’s about to happen, either. Now, onto the article!
We might be in a new year, but it’s time to go 200 years into the past again. Outlander Season 7 dropped its teaser trailer, and viewers may be in for heartache. Season 6 was affected by the COVID pandemic and understandably had a somewhat bottled-up feel due to filming restrictions. We left Claire in prison about to undergo (another) trial as a “witch,” Jamie in pursuit of her rescue, and the dreaded house fire yet to happen.
If you need to catch up on seasons 1-6, I’ve got you covered with recaps and reactions for seasons past. The season 7 teaser trailer opens with a shot of Jaime looking worried, followed by some clips of Claire fighting a fire–on Frazer’s Ridge? We get a peek at what appears to be the Declaration of Independence, a scene of Brianna giving birth, and Claire walking up to the gallows.
Jamie and Claire voice over the trailer, with him explaining he’s had another dream. There was light all around Claire–not candlelight or firelight, but what he thinks electric light looks like. Claire asks how he can recognize something he’s never seen in life. Jamie answers, saying that he dreams of the past, why not dream of the future?
The series has been building up several key events, and all that foreshadowing may pay off real soon. There’s the house fire Brianna and Roger traveled back in time to warn Claire about. Jamie is running dangerously low on his nine lives. Someone has yet to answer for Malva Christie’s murder, and Claire has broken her Hippocratic Oath to do no harm in episodes past.
But even with all this going on, I’m just . . . not feeling it. I’m not saying I want them to die, I’m not saying they’re not going to die, and I’m not saying death has to be on the table for fiction to be interesting. What I am saying is that we’ve already seen Claire on trial as a witch before, and while this one is notably different, I don’t feel suspense. Outlander may surprise me, but I don’t see us losing her any time soon–which I’m happy about! But to be frank (no pun intended), it hurts the narrative tension nonetheless.
On a separate point, while researching this article, I came across several interesting theories about Jamie’s supposed multiple lives. There’s the theory that his life in the series is only one of his nine separate lifetimes. There’s another idea that his dying wish is to see Claire before they meet, thus explaining his ghost in Season 1, Episode 1. Another, possibly more romantic one, is that Jamie finds Claire while having a near-death experience, and the thought of her helps keep him alive. Whatever theories you want to see come true, one thing’s for certain: we’re getting nail-bitingly close to finding out.
Outlander Season 7 officially wrapped filming, and the cast looks happy, but they could be smiling about the emotional turmoil they’re about to put watchers through. Now that we know what’s at stake, we can start (and fail) to prepare ourselves. At this point, I’m not a fan of Season 4 or Season 6. Are you excited about Season 7? Do you think Claire’s in real danger, or will this be a repeat of episodes past?
