Caution: Spoilers for Outlander ahead.
Outlander season 6 has finally resolved an issue regarding Claire's story that’s permeated the series for several of the last few seasons. For the past few years, Outlander has begun to expand its world and characters with several supporting cast members being elevated to series regulars, and introducing brand-new storylines for each of them that flesh out the world of the show. However, in doing so, series protagonist Claire has often fallen by the wayside.
In Outlander’s first season, Claire was the main protagonist of the show. Her perspective, and her connected narration, was the sole voice of the show. However, as recently as season 5, Outlander has begun to focus more so on Claire’s husband and past Freemason Jamie, as well as her daughter Brianna and her husband Roger. In doing so, Claire’s voiceovers and storylines have become far less prevalent, even secondary next to some of the other characters.
However, in Outlander’s season 6 premiere, this issue was addressed, as Claire not only opens and closes the episode with her narration, but her season arc, which was teased in the premiere, is given prime importance and closes the episode. At the end of season 5, Claire was brutally kidnapped and attacked. Now, in Outlander season 6, both Claire’s voiceover, and the last moment of the episode (in which viewers learned that Claire has become reliant on drugging herself with her homemade ether in order to sleep at night), suggests that her struggle to overcome this trauma will be front and center throughout Outlander’s sixth season.
While it’s only natural for a show like Outlander to expand its cast and storylines as the series goes on, it’s disappointing that, for too long, Claire’s arc as a character has been more of a side story. In earlier seasons, Claire’s struggle to survive in the harsh world of Jacobite Scotland, or her fear of being separated from Jamie via time and space, was Outlander’s prime focus. However, in seasons 4 and 5, more of the show’s episodes were devoted to Brianna and Roger’s love story or Jamie’s role as a leader in pre-Revolutionary War America. Luckily, it seems this may no longer be the case in Outlander season 6, as Claire works to overcome the trauma she endured in season 5’s finale.
Additionally, Claire’s dependence on her homemade ether seems to be another challenge she’ll have to overcome. For many seasons, Claire’s internal strength and prowess as a doctor have been her greatest assets, but how will Claire, now aged significantly from the Outlander premiere, grow now that her inner strength has taken a blow, and her medical genius is being misused in turn? Her narration in the series’ season 6 premiere seems to hint that her road to overcoming these obstacles will assuredly be a difficult, yet compelling one.
Whatever the answer Claire might find at the end of Outlander season 6, it’s a welcome change of pace that Claire’s narration and perspective is once again front and center in the show. Despite the darkness of her voiceover, which references her belief that when it comes to past traumas, “we haunt ourselves,” it's a relief to know that Claire’s journey will likely come to shape the events of the ongoing season. With any luck, this trend will continue into future seasons, as the Frasers' saga unfolds in future seasons.
Outlander releases new episodes Sundays on Starz.