The Outlander Season 1 finale has finally aired, and fans who have not read the books are probably having a hard time recovering from the inhumane treatment of their beloved Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) at the hands of Black Jack Randall (Tobias Menzies).
Those who have read the books and knew what was coming are probably also having a hard time recovering after watching a scene play out in front of them that they had only read in the books.
After such a traumatic season finale, Outlander fans are dying to know what is in store for Season 2. Creator Ron Moore sat down with E! News and offered fans a little glimpse into Season 2. He also responded to an online movement by fans to get the show nominated for some Emmys.
Moore noted that Season 2 will cover the second book in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, Dragonfly in Amber , and for the first time, Jamie and Claire (Caitriona Balfe) will not be in Scotland. Instead, they will spend a lot of time in Paris.
“It’s a great setting, and what was one of the most populated cities in the world at that time. French society, it’s Aristocracy, the colors are brighter. You’re talking about fine linens and silks, you’re talking about gilt chandeliers, you know, everything that your mind conjures up when you say Versailles or Paris of that era. Suddenly our characters who lived in a Scottish world for all of season one are in that world, so it’s going to look and feel very different, which is exciting, you know. And the story is also different in that it’s much more political, it’s much more conspiracy, it’s much more lies and gossips and double dealing in Paris salons and so on, and building towards a war. It’s all setting the stage for the Jacobite invasion of Scotland, and will history repeat itself.”
In the books, Jamie and Claire head for an abbey in France right after she rescues him from Black Jack Randall, but in the series, they remained in Scotland. Why the change?
“In television terms, I felt that it would be better if the abbey remained in Scotland so you still had the tension of, ‘Are they going to get away or not?’ which could still be hovering over them. And it also meant that all the events were much, much closer, that they had just happened instead of many weeks later. And then it also just provided us of a way of getting that romantic big image of being out of the ocean and ‘I’m pregnant’ and all that happening at the end.”
Fans of the books know that two main characters will be introduced in Season 2, but Moore revealed that Brianna and Roger have yet to be cast.
“Those two characters have not been cast,” Moore tells me. “It’s an ongoing process. We have started shooting but we’re not shooting those scenes yet, because you cross-board everything aggressively, so we have time, and it’s going to take a little while.”
Fans have started an online push for Outlander to get the recognition that they think it deserves when it comes Emmy time. So what does Moore think about #EmmysForOutlander?
” I hope the Academy looks at the episodes,” Moore says. “I hope we garner awards. I would like the team to feel recognition for their work across the board. The cast especially absolutely, but the writers, cinematography, the art department, costume. I just think we’ve done an amazing show and it would matter to me for all those people to have some acclaim. They work very long hours in trying circumstances, they create this amazing thing. And yeah, it is nice when somebody gives you a piece of gold and says, ‘Hey you did a great job.’ And it would be nice to see that passed around.”
A premiere date for Season 2 of Outlander has not been announced.
[Photo Courtesy: Outlander Facebook]