[SPOILERS AHEAD for the Outlander season one finale.]
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Season one of Starz's Outlander came to a harrowing close on Saturday night, with Captain Jack Randall's brutality still fresh for Claire and Jamie Fraser as they escape to France. Jamie might no longer be at the mercy of Randall, but the physical and emotional torment he suffered at the hands of the captain won't soon be forgotten.
Now that Claire has mended Jamie's wounds and has begun to bring his soul back from the edge of oblivion, the pair must attempt to move forward with their lives. Claire is pregnant and the future is no longer set in stone. It's possible that, with Claire's knowledge of the future, they can change the fate of Scotland. But will they succeed in preserving the Highland culture? And will the fiercely devoted Claire and Jamie finally find peace together?
According to creator Ronald D. Moore, things are about to get incredibly political as the series heads to Paris in season two. Here's what he told TV Line, regarding that subject:
They’re going to Paris, and they’re going to be dealing with the French aristocracy. So you’re already in a completely different planet than where we were with Season 1. Scotland is about heavy stone, rough wood, dark tabletops, smoke and candlelit rooms, and now you’re in world of gilt, fine China, glassware and costumes that are made of silks and bright colors.
It’s going to be a whole different tone, a whole different…playing the story as much more political. We’re dealing with the Jacobite Rebellion. It’s much more about deception, and lies within lies, and the gossips and the surroundings of Paris. And dinner parties, and going to the court of Louis the XV... In probably every which way you can think of, it’s going to be different than Season 1 was, which I think is one of the strengths of the series overall: its continuing evolution.
Moore also teased that the drama's second season will have "more of an occult feeling" as the setting and culture change. Then of course there is Claire's pregnancy to be concerned with, as the harsh echo of their past. "[Jamie's] got the aftermath of Jack Randall," noted Moore, indicating the events of the season one finale will indeed weigh heavy on the proceedings in season two.
One of the biggest questions from Outlander fans is whether or not the show's second season will stay true to its source books, at least when it comes to the premiere. "Dragonfly in Amber", the second book in author Diana Gabaldon's original novel series, begins by first jumping ahead to the 1960s - does Moore intend to stick with that framing approach? Or has he chosen a different route in adapting the material for television?
Things could easily go either way, judging by how things have played out since the show's original premiere episode - and Moore himself certainly isn't dropping any hints about that subject. Moore did admit that the process of bringing Gabaldon's books to television is going to be a greater challenge than ever, this next season:
... The Paris section of Book 2 is just more complex. It’s about many more ideas, other characters coming and going. They’re involved in something that’s more complex Diana [Gabaldon] shifted points of view, herself, in Book 2. So that alone just makes it a more complicated task to make the adaptation. So, yeah, we’re still struggling with the same things, with trying to be as true to the book as we possibly can while making it a television series. We always just try to do our best.
That moment suggests more significant deviation may be on the horizon - so best that Outlander book fans prepare themselves for additional changes.
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Outlander will continue on Starz with season two in the second half of 2015.
Source: TV Line