Season 6 of 'Outlander' Will Arrive on Starz in Early 2022
Catriona Balfe and Sam Heugan in "Outlander"
(Photo: Starz)
Production on the sixth season of Outlander has officially wrapped, and the series is headed back to our screens early next year. Unfortunately, however, Season 6 will be slightly truncated due to the filming delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic, clocking in at just eight episodes. (But, on the plus side, the series' seventh season will apparently be supersized - bumped up to 16 from the usual 12 to account for the shortened Season 6. Yay?)
The period romance stars Catriona Balfe and Sam Heughan as time traveling, occasionally star-crossed lovers Claire Randall and Jamie Fraser, a 20th-century doctor and a sensitive 19th-century Highlander whose relationshp has spanned two centuries and survived both multiple historical wars and brutal personal assaults.
“We are excited to get into the editing room to work on bringing the fans one step closer to reuniting with the family back on Fraser’s Ridge,” Outlander showrunner Matthew B. Roberts said in a statement. “Filming in 2021 has presented an unprecedented set of challenges which led us to the decision to truncate the season in order to bring the fans the most vibrant and dynamic season as soon as possible. Dinna fash, we will then film an extended season 7 with 16 episodes next year as life returns to normalcy.”
Based on the sixth book in author Diana Gabaldon's series of novels, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, Season 6 of Outlander will show us Claire and Jamie life in North Carolina as they fight to keep their family together and navigate the trials and tribulations of life in colonial America in the lead up to the Revolutionary War. The new season will kick off with an extended ninety minute premiere.
Here's how the network describes the upcoming season:
The sixth season of Outlander sees a continuation of Claire and Jamie’s fight to protect those they love, as they navigate the trials and tribulations of life in colonial America. Establishing a home in the New World is by no means an easy task, particularly in the wild backcountry of North Carolina—and perhaps most significantly—during a period of dramatic political upheaval. The Frasers strive to maintain peace and flourish within a society which—as Claire knows all too well—is unwittingly marching towards Revolution.
Against this backdrop, which heralds the birth of the new American nation, Claire and Jamie have built a home together at Fraser’s Ridge. They must now defend this home—established on land granted to them by the Crown—not only from external forces, but also from the increasing strife and conflict in the community within their care. For the Frasers and their immediate family, “home” is more than simply a site in which they live, it is the place where they are laying the foundations for the rest of their lives. If Season 4 asked “What is home?” and Season 5 asked, “What are you willing to do to protect your home?” then Season 6 explores what happens when there is disharmony and division among the inhabitants of the home you’ve created: when you become an outsider, or an ‘outlander,’ so to speak, marginalized and rejected in your own home.
There's no firm premiere date for Season 6 as yet, but according to a wayward tweet from Heughan we'll see the new episodes in February. (Take that with as big a grain of salt as you please, but it sounds about right to me.)
Are you looking forward to the return of Outlander? What do you hope to see in this shortened Season 6? Let's discuss in the comments.
