Outlander is about to enter its biggest droughtlander yet as the series premieres its eighth and final season. In ten weeks, the show will be over for good. There's been speculation for years about how the show's creators would end the time travel epic, especially considering author Diana Gabaldon is not done writing the book series the show is based on (Game of Thrones flashbacks, anyone?) Apparently, the actors were also left in the dark.
During a visit to the Scotland location amidst season 8 filming, Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe revealed the showrunners planned to film multiple endings for the series, and they didn't know which one would air in the final cut.
"We're going to shoot various endings. I don't know which one they'll use," Sam told journalists on set.
Caitriona explained this was not their normal shooting process, and when I asked whether that made her job more difficult for the season, she said yes. "Our showrunner Matt Robert is keeping everything so close to his chest," she said. "I'm worried about what we're going to be doing. I am such control freak. I like to know, and we don't know, and it's driving me crazy. I'm just so nosy. We're literally going block by block, and we've never worked this way before. We've always had an overview of the season, and at least episode breakdowns, and we've had nothing this time. So it's really crazy."
It makes some sense to me that, considering how desperately fans want spoilers for this show, the creative team would keep the ending a secret from the actors while filming. It creates less of a risk someone on the crew will accidentally reveal something they shouldn't. The stars of the Outlander spin-off series Blood of My Blood told me when their season 1 finale aired that they did the same thing. They shot five potential endings to season 1, and they didn't find out which one was chosen until the episode aired.
It did surprise me to hear, however, that a year and a half later, while the show is starting to air episodes, the Outlander actors apparently still don't know which ending was chosen. At least, Sam Heughan doesn't. He confirmed that while making an appearance on Jimmy Fallon this week.
"I actually don't know the ending. We shot multiple endings, I was there, but I don't know how it ends," he said on the show. "I'll be watching with you all."
Okay, well, at least we're not alone??
