Laura Prudom
News Editor
@lauinla
When “Outlander” returns to kick off the second half of its freshman season on April 4, we find heroes Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan) in the unenviable positions in which we left them in the midseason finale — Claire in the hands of the villainous Black Jack Randall (Tobias Menzies) and Jamie perched in the window, gun in hand, poised to rescue her.
Starz has released a new trailer for the midseason return, which previews plenty of action, intrigue and — of course — steamy love scenes as Claire and Jamie’s relationship deepens and new dangers are thrown in their path.
Balfe, Heughan, executive producer Ronald D. Moore and author Diana Gabaldon were on hand for Starz’s presentation at the Television Critics Assn. press tour Friday to discuss the latter half of the season, which promises to dig deeper into Claire and Jamie’s burgeoning romance and, according to Heughan, give us further insight into his character.
“You discover a lot more about Jamie; he’s finding his place in the world, he’s got new responsibilities, he’s got relationships he’d rather not deal with… we start to see his stubborn side, his pride; we start to see his failings, the chinks in the armor,” he explained.
Heughan and Balfe admitted that their characters have changed them for the better over the course of filming season one — both in terms of their work ethic and in absorbing Claire and Jamie’s more positive character traits.
“In terms of getting through this amazing undertaking, putting so much time into the show every day, showing up and playing this very strong, resilient character, it showed me how much strength and resilience I have,” Balfe said. “Claire’s brought my inner strength out.”
Fans of the book know that both characters have plenty of trials ahead, and while Heughan praised the prosthetic he wears to portray Jamie’s scarred back, he teased that the highlander will have even more injuries to contend with in the final eight episodes, including a full body prosthetic that he describes as “remarkable.”
The show has already been renewed for a second season, which will begin filming in May, and while the narrative takes our characters to a foreign country for a portion of the story, Moore confirmed that production will continue to be based in Scotland, using a combination of built interiors and location shooting for exteriors.
