‘Outlander’ Season 3: Balfe And Heughan Thank Fans, Fall Premiere Date Announced


Warning: This article may contain Outlander Season 3 spoilers.

After months of waiting, Outlander fans finally learned when the third season of the wildly popular time-traveling series will return to Starz: September.

While that may seem like bad news to viewers anxiously awaiting the return of Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitriona Balfe), Starz President of Programming Carmi Zlotnik explained the reason for the delay in a statement published via Entertainment Weekly.

“While Droughtlander will last just a little longer, we feel it is important to allow the production the time and number of episodes needed to tell the story of the Voyager book in its entirety. The scale of this book is immense, and we owe the fans the very best show. Returning in September will make that possible.”

Sony Executive Vice-President Steve Kent also did what he could to soften the blow by promising that Outlander Season 3 would be worth the wait.

“With the scope of the production and all of the intricate details that go into the Emmy-nominated sets and costumes, we had to make sure everything is kept to the high standard of the previous seasons and [author] Diana Gabaldon’s beautiful story,” he said.

“We’re so proud of the incredible work that Ron [Moore] and the Outlander team have done.”

Meanwhile, Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan did their part to cheer up Outlander fans by making an adorable video announcing their departure from Scotland to South Africa, where the series is scheduled to film until June.

https://youtu.be/lHXyETqvc1Q

As a refresher, Outlander Season 2 ended with Jamie sending a pregnant Claire back to the 20th century to spare her from the disastrous Battle of Culloden, in which Jamie was supposed to die. However, Claire discovered Jamie didn’t die, and she could possibly return to him. Outlander Season 3 will pick up the story with Claire giving birth to Jamie’s child, Brianna — whom her first husband, Frank (Tobias Menzies), has agreed to raise as his own.

As the Inquisitr previously reported, Claire and Frank’s reunion will be complicated and fraught, according to Balfe.

“We start the season, I think everyone’s seen from the trailer so it’s not a spoiler, that Claire goes back to Frank,” she says.

“And it’s very tough for her, because this is a man who really didn’t do anything wrong. You know, he was her first love, he was a good husband to her, but because of circumstances, she fell in love with someone else in a much deeper and much truer way than she ever did with Frank. So when she goes back, she’s a woman in the depths of grief, and also here’s a man who’s kind of pleading and full of hope and full of love and expects them to maybe get back to where they were. And that will never happen for Claire, so she feels love for him but also feels she has to keep him at an arm’s length.”

Claire and Frank will try to reconnect in ‘Outlander’ Season 3. [Image by Starz]

Back in the 18th century, Jamie will be dealing with his own problems as Outlander Season 3 begins, as Heughan told PopSugar.

“He wants to die at the end of season two, and he goes into battle thinking he will,” the Scottish actor explains.

“To live is not part of the plan, and certainly without Claire, it’s even more so not what he was expecting. He has to learn to fight again, and find purpose in his life. Aging became not about giving him a walking stick and gray hair. It became more about the experiences that he’s lived, and how that changes him. I think he is, at times, unrecognizable.”

“Sometimes we see the Jamie we know, but it will be a journey for him to get back to being James Fraser.”

And what will happen once Jamie and Claire are finally reunited later in Outlander Season 3? Balfe gave Vanity Fair a few hints.

“I think the reunion and everything that’s going to happen once Jamie and Claire see each other, I think it’s really special. Maybe [fans will] have to wait a little bit, but I don’t think the sex is going to be as scarce as last season, shall we say.”

Are you disappointed that Outlander Season 3 isn’t premiering until this fall? Do you think Jamie and Claire’s reunion will be worth the wait?

Outlander Season 3 returns to Starz in September.

[Featured Image by Starz]

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