‘Outlander’ Season 7 Review: The Starz Hit Prepares for the Endgame

It’s impossible at this point to compare Outlander to any other show on television. The Starz hit combines historic drama, magical time travel, and romance novel-esque bodice ripping to tell the intoxicating love story of 18th century Scottish highlander James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser (Sam Heughan) and 20th century English nurse-turned-doctor Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser (Caitriona Balfe). The series is soapy, sexy, and at times, confounding thanks to its insane storyline and penchant for using sexual assault as character development. But if you like it, you love it, and if you hate it, well, you’re probably not even bothering to read this Outlander Season 7 review.

Outlander Season 7 isn’t going to charm the TV nerds who demand high brow polish in their entertainment, but it should please the Starz show’s massively loyal fan base just fine. Outlander finally feels like it’s embracing the idea of an endgame. With the knowledge that Season 8 will be its final run, the writers are free to push the characters towards their ultimate fates. The Revolutionary War is finally starting, mysteries from past seasons are being teased out, and quietly pivotal characters, like Jamie’s secret love child William Ransome (Charles Vandervaart), are returning to the overall story. The first four episodes of Outlander Season 7 might lack the steam that defined the show’s early seasons, but there’s definitely no shortage of action, romance, or bloodshed.

Outlander Season 6 ends with Claire finding herself framed for the murder of Malva Christie (Jessica Reynolds) and her unborn baby. Claire discovered Malva’s corpse in her garden at Fraser’s Ridge and attempted to use her knowledge of medicine to save the baby. However, those who discovered the scene assumed Claire had murdered Malva out of jealousy; Malva, like every woman in the show as well as several men, was in love with Jamie. Outlander Season 7 opens with Claire in prison awaiting trial and Jamie racing to rescue her from the gallows.

Elsewhere, Claire and Jamie’s daughter Brianna (Sophie Skelton) is navigating some mild marital woes with husband Roger (Richard Rankin). The two twentieth century natives have been doing their best to raise their son Jeremiah (Andrew and Matthew Adair) in colonial North Carolina and now have baby number two on the way. As if that’s not enough stress for a young couple, Roger stumbles upon a blast from the past while kicking off his new gig as a minister that causes friction between the spouses. However, nothing can compare to the spoiler-y — and I thought delicious — adventure they soon find themselves embarking on in Season 7.

Outlander juggles the storylines of a dizzying number of characters, both old and new, but it’s truly about its core four: Jamie, Claire, Brianna, and Roger. The show’s continued success is a testament to how wholly stars Sam Heughan, Caitriona Balfe, Sophie Skelton, and Richard Rankin embrace their roles. Heughan and Balfe, specifically, have done exquisite work with the mature versions of Jamie and Claire. They are still the same star-crossed lovers we met all the way back in the Outlander pilot, but there’s a weariness in their eyes and a yearning for peace that supersedes all else. Their chemistry remains incandescent. Balfe and Heughan can make a chaste embrace feel like a volcanic explosion. Such is Claire and Jamie’s bond.

Besides that, Outlander remains as wonderfully ludicrous as ever. At one point, children can telepathically hear a gemstone sing. Jamie’s has a vivid dream about a telephone and then describes it in old time-y words. Little Jemmy is still running around Fraser’s Ridge with his wooden airplane toy. There’s good incest — in the case of a maid in a happy throuple with handsome twins — and bad incest, which is a spoiler. A building explodes like in a Michael Bay movie. It’s all so much and yet exactly what Outlander fans have come to expect from their favorite Starz show.

Outlander Season 7 isn’t what I would call good TV, but it is a good season of Outlander. Claire and Jamie get to repeatedly snuggle up in bed after defying death once again, Bri gets to be outlandishly well-adjusted in almost any given situation, and Roger gets to be a sweet nerd, as always, happily along for the ride. What’s exciting about Outlander Season 7 may be what makes some fans upset: it truly does feel like the beginning of the end. The board is being set for the show’s ultimate conclusion. While that means there’s a bittersweet tang to every squee-inducing moment, it also means that Outlander Season 7 is committed to bringing it all home for Claire, Jamie, and the fans who love them.

Outlander Season 7 premieres on Starz on Friday, June 16 at 8 PM ET/PT. Outlander Season 7 Episode 1 “A Life Well Lost” will also be streaming on the Starz app on Friday, June 16 at midnight ET.