- Outlander season 5 premieres on Sunday, February 16 on Starz.
- The fifth season, largely based on Diana Gabaldon's The Fiery Cross, continues Jamie, (Sam Heughan), Claire (Caitriona Balfe), and their family's adventures in America.
- But what can we look forward to in season 5? Sophie Skelton, Richard Rankin, and a few more cast members tell OprahMag.com below.
As any fan of Outlander—and the Diana Gabaldon novels the series is based on—knows, loving the show is an emotional roller coaster. One minute we're lulled in the sweet embrace of Jamie and Claire's love (and their ultra-hot sex scenes); moments later, we're devastated by a surprising, violent character death.
While change is necessary to move any story forward, the notion that trouble lurks around every corner feels particularly true on a show like Outlander: Over four seasons, we've watched the ever-expanding cast of characters travel between centuries and across continents, getting themselves mixed up in some of the most politically-turbulent periods in history. Between the morally-bankrupt British soldiers we meet time and again and the absence of antibiotics, Outlander never stops reminding us that the 18th century was far from idyllic.
At its core, though, Outlander's about love. We hope to see plenty of it as Jamie, Claire, Brianna, Roger, Fergus, and Marsali convene on Fraser's Ridge to start a new chapter of their lives. Starz invited OprahMag.com to set during their second-to-last block of shooting in Scotland last fall, and because we simply can't wait for the premiere, we asked a few cast members to spill a word (or five) about what season 5 is all about.
Caitriona Balfe (Claire Fraser)
As Balfe points out, the show has created an intricate and expansive universe. “I don’t think you can describe anything having to do with Outlander in one word!" Still, she's got one: "Home.”
A major season 5 theme for Jamie and Claire is protecting the North Carolina settlement they've built. For Roger and Brianna, the conversation is more about exactly when home is for them and their son—should it be the late 1700s, or back in the 20th century?
Sam Heughan (Jamie Fraser)
Heughan's Jamie is caught between two allegiances in season 5. In the season 4 finale, North Carolina Governor Tryon ordered him to kill his godfather Murtagh—and if he doesn't, the consequences will include losing the land his family has settled on.
Fittingly, Heughan says that he'd describe the season's events with two phrases. "Defending family," for one. Even more intriguing: "Torn relationships."
Sophie Skelton (Brianna Fraser)
"Nail-biting," Skelton says. Season 5 will also be (somehow) more eventful than season 4, according to the British actress, and possibly the "best season so far."
"I think there’s a lot more action this season—there’s a lot going on."
Richard Rankin (Roger Wakefield MacKenzie)
Roger spent much of season 4 in transit. He traveled through the Craigh na Dun stones to find Bree in the 18th century, worked aboard Stephen Bonnet's ship traveling from Scotland to North Carolina, and then he stumbled all the way to New York as the Mohawk tribe's captive.
It's no surprise that Rankin seems excited to be a part of the main action now that Roger's been reunited with his love, Bree. He deems season 5 “an out of this world, amazing, top-notch adventure with Roger MacKenzie.”
Lauren Lyle (Marsali MacKenzie Fraser)
"Sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll," the Scottish actress says. "We have all of those things! It’s a pretty rock n’ roll show.”
Given that half of the Frasers came from the 20th century, we have a feeling life on the Ridge will have something of a modern flair.
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Samantha Vincenty is the former senior staff writer at Oprah Daily.
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