Skip to footer

'Outlander': Here's what's happening in the new episodes

The hit Starz series, based on the books by Diana Gabaldon, returned for the second part of its first season on April 4. What can fans of the Scotland-set story expect?

|
Starz
'Outlander' stars Sam Heughan (r.) and Caitriona Balfe (l.).

If you've craving shots of sweeping moors or romantic intrigue, you're in luck. 

The Starz series, “Outlander,” returned on April 4 for the second part of its first season. “Outlander” centers on Claire Randall (Caitriona Balfe), a married World War II nurse who is transported back in time to eighteenth-century Scotland. There, she encounters Scotsman Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) and must try to survive without revealing her origins to anyone.

The series is based on the popular book series by Diana Gabaldon. The most recent book, "Written in My Own Heart's Blood," was published this past June.

The first part of the first season of “Outlander” – eight episodes – began airing this past August and the show has been a big hit for the cable network. According to Starz, the series premiere of the show was the biggest-rated multi-platform audience in its history. “Outlander” has already been renewed for a second season and book fans know the novels will provide plenty of material if Starz decides to go beyond that – there are eight books in the series and the newest, “Blood,” comes in at more than 800 pages.

So what’s coming up for Claire, Jamie, and other characters?

(Spoilers follow for past “Outlander” episodes…)

Viewers know that previous installments saw Claire get married to Jamie and the final episode found her being threatened by Captain Jack Randall (Tobias Menzies), a malevolent authority figure who is also the ancestor of Claire’s World War II-era husband, Frank (also portrayed by Menzies). At the end of the episode, Jamie had arrived to try to help her.

“Outlander” creator Ronald D. Moore told the Hollywood Reporter that there are certainly “dark” events in the new episodes.

“There are some things that are going to happen you're not going to like,” he said. “But we have these other stories, and so sort of go along with us on the ride.”

Meanwhile, according to Yahoo, Heughan said of his character, “In the second part of the season, there is a lot more about Jamie. He's finding his place in the world. He has new responsibilities. He's got to deal with relationships he'd rather not deal with – his sister, his dead father. We start to see his stubborn side, his pride. He's less idealistic. We start to see the chinks in the armor. He's very vulnerable and he learns a lot.”

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to 'Outlander': Here's what's happening in the new episodes
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Culture-Cafe/2015/0407/Outlander-Here-s-what-s-happening-in-the-new-episodes
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe