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Warning: spoilers ahead for the Season 7 premiere of Outlander, called “A Life Well Lost.”

Outlander has officially returned to Starz for the seventh season in the 2023 TV schedule, more than a year after the Season 6 finale ended on Claire imprisoned as a murderess with Tom Christie as her only ally in Wilmington. “A Life Well Lost” wasted no time in resolving the cliffhanger, with Jamie arriving to try and save his wife and Tom ultimately confessing to Malva’s murder so that the innocent Claire could go free. All the while, the rebels taking up arms against those loyal to king and country complicated everything, and there are still fifteen episodes left in the extra-long Season 7. Executive producer Maril Davis spoke with CinemaBlend about what’s on the way!

Claire discovered while briefly imprisoned that the courts had shut down due to the brewing war against the British, and her knowledge of the future was enough that she knew she could be languishing behind bars for years while awaiting trial. The war also resulted in Jamie’s loyalties being called into question when he tried to persuade the governor to free Claire, and even citing his friendship with Lord John wasn’t enough to get his wife freed.
Transcript
00:00 I mean, I don't know if we were able to plan ahead.
00:02 But I think certainly knowing we had more episodes was helpful.
00:06 I think, you know, season six was a bit of a crazy season for us.
00:11 Obviously, I've never had a season where we halfway through were like,
00:15 oh, we're not going to make it.
00:16 You know that we had to shave off some episodes.
00:19 It worked out beautifully.
00:20 And actually, the season ended on kind of a lovely little cliffhanger moment.
00:25 So actually, it all worked out really well.
00:27 But during the time, it was quite stressful.
00:29 And I think knowing we could make that up in season seven was a relief.
00:34 But also, that's a long time for filming.
00:38 We haven't done that since season one had 16 episodes.
00:40 I was a little worried about our crew and our cast.
00:42 But I have to say, it was such an exciting season.
00:46 Everyone just felt this renewed sense of energy.
00:48 And it did not feel like it was a year of filming.
00:51 It really went by so fast because I think everyone was so enthusiastic.
00:55 We were also thrilled to be back in more of a normal sense after COVID.
00:59 We still wore masks, and we still had the protocols.
01:01 But I don't know.
01:03 There was a feeling on set this year.
01:04 I haven't felt that since season one where we just--
01:08 I don't know.
01:09 That COVID period, that season six made us have a new appreciation of the show.
01:13 And we've always loved it.
01:14 But I just felt us bringing everyone's step.
01:18 And I don't know if that's also because we had new cast members this season.
01:21 So it was-- yeah, it was really exciting.
01:24 Were any of the early episodes kind of left over from the previous season?
01:29 Yeah, we did.
01:30 So we had four episodes that we had early writers drafts on for season six
01:35 that obviously we didn't film.
01:36 And we had to change them.
01:38 But we did roll them over to the next season.
01:41 So they will start off season seven.
01:44 The first-- they've changed.
01:47 But they're basically some of the stuff we had
01:51 towards the end of that season six.
01:54 Well, I think that one of the most striking images of the whole show
01:58 was Genie wearing the red coat uniform.
02:00 So is it safe to say that that's not going to be happening again
02:04 for the Revolutionary War?
02:07 I think that's pretty safe to say.
02:09 I think-- I don't think we'll be seeing him in that again.
02:12 But I think, obviously, his allegiance will be torn.
02:14 And that question of who to fight for and what to fight for
02:18 is a big theme of this season.
02:20 [BLANK_AUDIO]