EP Maril Davis: Outlander season 7 sees “a lot of togetherness” with Jamie and Claire (Interview)

Droughtlander certainly is never a fun time. But, the good news is that the wait for Outlander season 7 is almost over! We absolutely cannot wait to see what’s in store for our beloved Jamie and Claire. And we’re sure there’s a lot to come. The arrival of the American Revolution is plenty to deal with but we’re sure there’s more. These two really can’t catch a break!

The seventh season is a total of 16 episodes, the first time since season 1 to have this episode count. The time-travel romance returns Friday, June 16, 2023 on Starz and will air new episodes weekly. Then, we’re going to have to take another break before the second half of the season airs sometime in 2024.

Originally, the plan was for both seasons 6 and 7 to be 12 episodes each. Though due to pandemic challenges and leading lady Caitríona Balfe’s real-life pregnancy, last season was shortened to eight episodes with the four remaining ones tacked on to season 7. That’s why we have such a mega season!

As we wait for a few more days, Hidden Remote spoke with executive producer Maril Davis about where we see Jamie and Claire this season, what it’s like to finally portray the American Revolution, and whether Outlander author Diana Gabaldon wrote an episode this season. Read on below and be sure to scroll down to the end for the video interview as well! (Plus, check out our interviews with John Bell, David Berry, and Charles Vandervaart, as well as new cast members Joey Phillips and Izzy Meikle-Small for more!)

Maril Davis teases what to expect in Outlander season 7

*The interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Hidden Remote: You were able to get Caitríona Balfe to sing as seen in the trailer! How did that come about?

Maril Davis:  How did we not get her to sing before? She actually has sung once before in season 1. I think it’s episode 14. You know, she has a lovely voice. That was something from the book that Arch Bug asked [Claire] to sing, and so we threw it in there.

HR: This season has been compared to season 1 in terms of how big it is. In the first season the story was kind of split into two parts. Will we see that in season 7?

Maril: There’s a natural break knowing that it was 16 episodes and knowing we probably would [split the story]. We’re not necessarily told in the beginning how the show is going to air. But having done this before, we figured that [would be the case], so we wrote to that. So there is a little bit of an ending, and then a little bit of a picking up.

HR: Will we find out who killed Malva and who the father of her child is?

Maril: Those mysteries will be revealed.

HR: Can you tell me about Claire and Jamie this season and where we see them?

Maril: The last couple of seasons have been very traumatic, them coming out of it. I think this season we’re going to see Jamie and Claire – they’re certainly thrown right into the fire. But there’s a lot of togetherness, a lot of them being back together. I mean, who knows after the cliffhanger what’s going to happen to Claire. But, I think we’ll see a lot more togetherness and them kind of literally and figuratively being on the road together.

HR: Is there something you wanted to make sure you got in or were hoping to get in and you were able to achieve it?

Maril: This is such a hard question to answer always because I can’t spoil something. But, I feel very happy this season. We combined two and a half books pretty much into this mega season. And I feel very happy with everything we got in there. There are some storylines I wish we could have fit in that we couldn’t. I could probably talk about [those] once we start talking about the second half [of the season]. But I’m so satisfied with this season. I really think it’s incredible.

HR: Can you say which books you combined?

Maril: We had a little bit of Book Six leftover. And Book Seven and Book Eight. So literally a mega season.

HR: We’ve been building up to the American Revolution and it’s finally here. How did it feel for you all to finally be able to portray it?

Maril: Oh my god, what a relief. I kind of felt like Game of Thrones. Like Winter is Coming. We talked about the revolution so much and it was so much fun this year to do that. We talked to the director so much about having a character point of view for each of the battles that we’re going to see this season. And I think for me, that really helps because it’s not just such and such battle. It’s really like, ok, what’s this character’s viewpoint on it? Which to me really personalizes it and makes you feel more like, oh, you’re part of it.

HR: I know Diana wrote an episode last season that didn’t make it because season 6 was cut short. Did she write an episode for season 7?

Maril: Yes, she did. [In season 6], we had four episodes left that we kind of incorporated into this next season. But we had to rewrite them all because it didn’t quite work as easily as just taking them off the back half and then putting them on the front half of the season. But she did write an episode in the back half.

The first half of Outlander season 7 premieres Friday, June 16, 2023 on Starz.