Outlander has gone nearly two years since the start of a new season, but the end is in sight for the latest Droughtlander. Season 6 will launch in early March, and Starz decided to celebrate the holiday season by releasing a scene from the premiere episode before the end of 2021. After the intense and heartbreaking Season 5 finale for Claire, this scene from the Season 6 premiere (seen above) shows her back home at Fraser’s Ridge, planning for the future with some new characters arriving. It takes a turn when Jamie makes an emotional and romantic confession, and it could be just the fix that Outlander fans need to make it through the final months of wait.
Although neither Claire nor Jamie drop any names in the scene, it’s safe to say that they’re referring to Tom Christie, who was imprisoned in Ardsmuir with Jamie back in Scotland. Jamie isn’t thrilled that the Christies have come to the Ridge, but also doesn’t feel that they can be turned away.
Fortunately for Jamie, Claire, and fans who have been missing some good old-fashioned Outlander romance, the scene gets a lot sweeter (and steamier) when Jamie shares that Claire was there with him in the prison and he saw her, which got him through it. He even goes on to confess that sometimes he thinks she’s an angel. Claire is understandably touched by his whole speech, but decided to do something not quite angelic with him in a steamy end to the scene.
All things considered, Starz packed a lot of what has made Outlander such a fan-favorite into less than two minutes, and the scene is proof enough that Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe certainly didn't lose their chemistry despite the longer-than-usual break between production on new seasons. That’s not to say that Jamie and Claire will be able to just ignore their responsibilities to spend their time together, but it’s nice to see them enjoy a quieter moment after how Season 5 ended.
Caitriona Balfe has already previewed that Outlander will deliver a time jump of a few months, so the Season 6 premiere won’t pick up right where Season 5 left off. She also shared that Claire is going to have to deal with the trauma of what she went through, as it’s not something that even she could compartmentalize away forever. For his part, Sam Heughan has sung the praises of Season 6, even while acknowledging that the season will be shorter than originally expected due to a cut episode count.
Although the season will run for just eight episodes due to the challenges of pandemic production, the Season 6 premiere will be an extended episode, which bodes well for how much the show will be able to pack into a single episode. Also, the show has not only been renewed for Season 7 already, but received a large episode count of sixteen. That’s the highest episode count for a single season of Outlander since the very first, which also ran for sixteen between August 2014 and May 2015 after being split into two arcs of eight.
Outlander will finally return to Starz with its Season 6 premiere on Sunday, March 6 at 9 p.m. ET with a super-sized episode, so be sure to plan on tuning in. The show is returning with another new set of credits, but with a big change this time around. For more of what to watch and when to watch it in the new year, check out our 2022 winter and spring premiere schedule!
