Outlanders Series Finale Defies Time for Perfect Ending, but Comes Up Short

Critic’s Rating: 3.5 / 5.0

3.5

It was always going to be hard for Outlander to write the perfect series finale.

In fact, it was always going to be impossible.

The Outlander fandom is full of varied voices, from those who wanted something perfect for the books to those who were happy with an adaptation made purely for TV fans.

I actually came out of the Facebook groups and silenced a lot of the fandom before the Outlander Series Finale, because I’d just grown tired of the toxicity and the hate.

This season really put me off the show — and not because of the writing.

In fact, I found the writing exciting and great for the final season of a TV show. But the members of the fandom who actually wished death (yes, really!) on Matt B. Roberts were enough for me to say I didn’t want to be associated with them.

Yet, with all that, I went into this finale with an open mind. After all, I’d found the nine episodes leading up to this to be great. Not perfect, but great!

So, I expected a little more from the series finale.

That being said, nothing has ever lived up to Six Feet Under, M*A*S*H, and Blackadder in all the years of watching TV, so if you knew me well, you knew what I expected a great end to a long-running series to be.

Outlander Does Answer the Ghost Question

Now, granted, I will say that there was an answer that I never expected to get. We finally learned all about Jamie’s ghost from the very first episode of the show.

Yes, that was Jamie’s ghost, and now we know that he died at Kings Mountain, and his ghost ended up in 1945, wearing his Culloden dress, and he was the one to lay the forget-me-nots.

I always imagined that he died temporarily at Culloden, or that his soul was transported to 1945 at the end of Outlander Season 2, but I will take this ending.

Ghosts can dress however they want and go wherever they want.

We already believe in the magic of time travel and healing in this show, so why not this?

I’m thankful the writers gave us this answer. I honestly thought it would be a forgotten plot point, because I couldn’t see how it could all fit in.

There were also a few other tidbits along the way from the books, such as finding out that Davy probably can’t time-travel.

We finally hear about how Mandy can see other time travelers, and those who can’t travel are the color of water to her.

Davy is also the color of water, and that hints that he isn’t able to travel through the stones.

I have to wonder if she already knows that Fanny can travel, though, and Outlander certainly opens the door for various spinoffs that could happen thanks to many open-ended questions.

As we’re onto the topic of Davy not being able to time-travel, I got really angry at Jamie for even suggesting that Bree and Roger leave Davy behind with Young Ian and Rachel to travel to their own time.

No mother would willingly leave their child behind. Claire did because Brianna was older — and made it clear that Claire had to go back to find Jamie!

The idea of Brianna willingly walking away from Davy is just absurd, and Jamie should have known that. It was a ridiculous request.

Frank’s Account of Kings Mountain Plays Out — But Not How We’d Expect

It was a slow lead-up to the Battle of Kings Mountain, and I understand that Outlander had to give that time to each of the couples.

Some of it was lacking, such as Rachel and Young Ian’s moment, and maybe we could have seen a little more, such as Young Ian leaving his sons to fight.

I will say that I’m really glad the show kept the scenes of Rachel changing Young Ian from the book.

She spends much of the book talking to Young Ian about her pacifism and his decision to go into battle. She doesn’t want him to do that, and it’s effectively changing the man he was raised to be.

There is a need to protect, and that sometimes means to fight. In this case, Young Ian had to be by his uncle’s side to fight for America’s freedom and protect Jamie.

I loved seeing the Mohawk side to him one final time, because it reminded us of the man he became while away from his family after his decision at the end of Outlander Season 4.

The cry as he killed warmed my heart, and I know that’s an odd thing to say, but it fits his character development so perfectly.

I was expecting more people that we knew to die at Kings Mountain.

Buck for sure. With him not being in this part of the book, everything was open in the writing, and we could have seen him perish.

The fact that Jamie used a shot he wanted on Ferguson to save Buck’s life made me smile, but that was the moment I knew how Jamie was going to die.

Yes, he died. There was no way around it, because Frank was never going to write something that wasn’t true.

He didn’t die in the way I expected, and I will give the Outlander writers credit for that.

The moment we heard Ferguson’s horse racing up to Jamie from behind, I thought that was the moment, and he was going to die in Claire’s arms right there.

Instead, the death came a little later, and in a way that shocked everyone.

Now, who arrested Ferguson and didn’t take all his weapons off of him? Someone needs to be fired!

Honestly, the first thing you do when taking prisoners is to make sure they have no weapons, and the fact that Ferguson still had his was absurd.

And that’s what made it so shocking to all of us.

They all knew that they’d made a grave mistake, and it led to Ferguson getting the surprise shot off, straight at Jamie’s heart.

Had Jamie sacrificed Buck to kill Ferguson earlier in the battle, all of this would have been avoidable.

Not that I resent Jamie for killing the man trying to kill Buck. I didn’t want Buck to die. But there will be so much to think about when it comes to avoiding all of this.

And that’s where I find this series finale lacking.

We end with Jamie dead and Claire spending a whole day just lying by his body.

We don’t get to see how everyone else reacts, because, at the heart of the story, that wasn’t the point.

The point was always Jamie’s death and what Claire would do next.

Now, for all those who had questions about Master Raymond saving Faith and how long a body can be dead to put life back into it, the Outlander Series Finale answers the questions.

Jamie was dead for a day.

Claire lay by his body that whole time, and it was only when she took that breath at the very end that they both opened their eyes.

So, at least 24 hours. It suggests that a time-traveler with the ability to heal can bring people back from the dead days later.

That Faith plothole has been answered in one quick second, and I had a feeling that this was going to be the case.

My issue is that this is where it ends.

We end with Claire bringing Jamie back to life, but there’s no excitement around it.

I would have loved to see Roger see the blue light from Claire’s hands. I would have loved to see Young Ian race back to see his Auntie Claire work her magic.

There is so much in the aftermath of this moment. Instead, the series leaves us hanging with answers about the ghost and Claire’s hair turning full white.

And it was just a lacking end for me.

I know some people will love it, but I expected more after what was a strong final season.

It is what it is, though. It’s not the worst series finale ever, and I’ve seen some terrible final seasons outside of the Game of Thrones debate. (Yes, I’m looking at you, Supernatural and Arrow!)

It’s just okay.

I do wonder if this series finale will grow on me over time when I rewatch the series.

There are some great connections back to earlier seasons, such as the mention of the blue vase, so I wonder if this is a series finale I need to watch again as part of a full series binge-watch.

That’s the way I came to appreciate the Game of Thrones Series Finale (which I never hated as much as many people out there), so I’ll try it again. Probably in a couple of years!

Let’s Talk About the Post-Credit Scene

Claire’s hair turning white wasn’t the end of Outlander Season 8 Episode 10, indicating she had come into her full powers.

Of course, there was a post-credit scene, and yes, Diana Gabaldon was involved.

We head to the present day: 1991.

The first Outlander novel has been published, and she’s doing a book signing. By the way, I believe the name Karen was a nod to Karen Henry, who wrote Outlandish Observations.

Karen’s mother asks about a journal Diana has on the table with her, which she says is “inspiration.”

It’s the same journal where Claire was writing her and Jamie’s story.

So, are we saying that Diana is Claire? Probably not.

Are we saying that Diana took Claire’s story and wrote it as her own? That’s a little questionable in my mind.

I could say that Diana took Claire’s journal and transformed it into the novel it would become, but remember that Claire wrote the opening line: “People disappear all the time.” She was writing it as if it were already a novel.

Something doesn’t quite sit right with me when it comes to that post-credit scene, and I do think it knocked some marks off. It’s probably something I’ll skip the next time I watch.

Overall, Outlander Season 8 still ranks high as the final season of a series.

This last episode just doesn’t quite stand out among many other greats.

While I’m not part of the Facebook groups right now, I am still very much a fan of the Outlander Universe.

I’ll be back for Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 2 when that premieres. I promise!

Let’s hear it from the Sassenachs out there!
I may not have liked it, but I know so many did! I also know there will be some who feel similarly to me. We all deserve to have our voices heard. All I ask is that you keep it respectful. Let’s avoid the vitriol and name-calling, especially toward anyone with different opinions and the writers or showrunners.