"The final season is going to blow people's minds" — Outlander star Sophie Skelton ensures that season 8 is going to shock many
Outlander's penultimate season, season 7, is nearing its end, with only one episode remaining. The finale, A Hundred Thousand Angels, airs on Friday, January 17, two weeks after the second-to-last episode. Fans eagerly await the next chapter in Jamie and Claire Fraser's journey.
But while fans await and theorize what happens next, actress and Outlander's Brianna Fraser, Sophie Skelton, already teased that the show's upcoming eighth and final season will "blow people's minds." She told Town & Country over a Zoom interview, which the magazine published on January 3, 2025:
"The final season is going to blow people's minds a little bit. The fans have been put through the wringer coming into the second half of this season [season 7]—we've really played with the emotional heartstrings."
With that in mind, Skelton admitted that the upcoming Outlander season 7 episode 16 will give fans something "peaceful" before messing them up emotionally the next season. She added:
"But I feel like the end of the season [7] is just a bit more of a nice sigh of relief, maybe a little bit more peaceful. But then season 8 we're just going to mess you up again emotionally."
Sophie Skelton further teased that Outlander season 8 will be "really big" and "really magnificent." She also shared her excitement for all the fans to see it when it airs, which is expected to be sometime in 2025.
She also described the show's final season as "an ensemble of season," further teasing that more characters are "coming in and out." She added:
"I think 8 really does justice to the entire story as a whole."
Also read: Is Jamie really a ghost in Outlander?
Outlander star Sophie Skelton looked back on her character Brianna in season 7
While Sophie Skelton's preview of the series' highly anticipated final season only increased the buzz it's getting, fans still have one more episode to watch out for in season 7.
Everyone appeared to have been having a rough time the last time the series aired with episode 15, with the Revolutionary War leaving Jamie Fraser, ironically, well, but Claire injured and fighting for her life.
However, besides the main hero and heroine, their daughter Brianna also faced her own struggles in the future. Sophie Skelton looked back on her character's plight throughout season 7 during her interview with Town & Country magazine, saying:
"She's been through so much, but I think losing your child tops it all. She's just been a bit of a hot mess this season, really. It's just a horrific thing for her to be going through."
Skelton referenced her losing her fictional son, Jemmy, in the series after Brianna's former co-worker, Rob Cameron, kidnapped him. That said, the son and mother had been reunited as of Outlander season 7 episode 13.
While Skelton's character in the series was dealing with her problems, the actress behind the character didn't have it any easier while filming either. With Brianna's timeline being in the 1980s, many years away from season 7's 1700s timeline where Jamie and Claire's characters are concerned, Skelton said that filming had been isolating.
She had to shoot her scenes separately from most of the cast, and while the kids were "amazing," she said that there could be "a lot of energy" on set when filming with them. She added:
"It's a lot of them having to take the 15-minute breaks. Sometimes you're doing scenes without them just to the wall, and it is taxing, which was a really great challenge to have."
While most of it involved getting her head down and getting through with it, Sophie Skelton admitted that she gets a sense of awe after filming scenes by herself.
Outlander season 8 doesn't have an official release schedule yet, but the 16th and final episode of season 7 will be dropping on Friday, January 17, 2025, only on Starz for US audiences.
