We are currently stuck, lost in time, in the lengthy gap between new Outlander episodes (aka the ‘droughtlander’). But that won’t stop everyone involved from teasing what’s in store for Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan), in the next batch of episodes inspired by Diana Gabaldon’s books.
Work has already begun on Outlander season 4, with showrunner Ronald D. Moore having this to say about the upcoming season’s themes and plotting:
“Season 3 was a year of transition, whereas Season 4 is more about settling down and finding a home. Claire and Jamie are literally building a house on the frontier. There’s an element of ‘Little House on the Prairie.’”
Season 4 will spend a lot of time in America, which, as Moore mentions, will provide fresh challenges: “There’s slavery, there’s American Indians, there’s a rebellion brewing up in New England that will become the American Revolution. And they land right smack dab in the middle of all this.”
Heughan himself said this, teasing the highly-anticipated reunion between Jamie and his daughter Brianna (Sophie Skelton):
“I’m going back tomorrow to shoot that scene. I just got the scripts two days ago, and we start shooting this week. This season, it’s a huge moment and will be the catalyst to a lot of the drama that unfolds.”
As for the on-going mystery of ‘the highlander’ – the kilted man who gazed up at Claire’s window in the pilot episode – exec producer Maril Davis said this:
“It hasn’t been explained and hopefully we get to that point where we can explain it, but Diana [Gabaldon] has said many times that it is Jamie Fraser.”
“Diana has written that scene,” Heughan added, “and she showed it to a few of us. It’s to be revealed.”
Moore also said that, although the “usual negotiations and conversations” are still going on, he has “no doubt” that Outlander will return for a fifth season. He’s quoted as saying, “We are certainly going to do it”.
We’ll bring you more Outlander updates as we hear them. We’d expect season 4 to arrive in September.