Full video of Maril Davis and Caitríona Balfe at the Women of Outlander Panel on June 1, 2023. The panel was hosted by ATX TV Festival in Austin, TX and moderated by Reshma Gopaldas of She Knows.
Maril Davis Interview for She Knows on the Mid Season Finale, Caitríona Directing, Upcoming Fan Favourites, and Details on Season 8
From She Knows:
(…)
Davis sat down with us on the 9-year anniversary of when Outlander first aired on Starz. “It is kind of hard to believe it’s been 9 years, it feels like yesterday we just (kind of started),” she admits. There was no better day to break down the mid-season finale and talk about the future of Outlander, but also the end, than the anniversary of the long-running hit show.
First up, Davis broke down the memorable Claire Fraser sword scene and pretty much confirmed Balfe is actually a bonnie wee swordsman. “She wields that pretty well, huh? I’m like, ‘Have you done this before?’” Davis recalls, “somehow that sword disappeared, I wonder where it is now?” She shed a little light on what it was like shooting the legendary sword scene, revealing that in the book it’s “quite a long scene!” “Certainly, there were discussions early on, could we cut that scene down a little bit, but we all decided, you know what, it was so iconic, and it’s such a powerful Jamie-Claire scene. You know I love that dynamic between them, that she basically wants to kill him, because he was almost killed. That is the Jamie and Claire.” Simply put, “That is quintessential Jamie and Claire, quintessential Sam and Caitríona. And I think they always have fun doing those scenes too. You know the back and forth… I love it.”
Read full interview here.
Outlander’s Executive Producer Maril Davis discusses the second half of Season 7
From TV Guide:
Fans of the early seasons, prepare to get excited.
They say you can’t go home again, and the Frasers are about to find out if that’s true.
In the Season 7, Part 1 finale of Starz’s Outlander, Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan) find themselves back on the shores of Scotland and an ocean away from the American Revolution. Standing on the deck of the ship bringing them home for the first time since they left in Season 3, the Frasers and Young Ian (John Bell) are all smiles in the mid-season finale’s last shot. But executive producer Maril Davis is already bracing fans for what could be a rollercoaster homecoming.
“Home has changed, literally,” Davis tells TV Guide. “Their expectations, what they are bringing with them and their fears about walking back into a place they haven’t been to in so long really sets the table. In this case, there are some surprises waiting for them –– some good, some bad.”
The reason for the Frasers’ return is to bring home the body of Jamie’s second cousin, Brigadier General Simon Fraser (Angus Macfadyen), who was killed at the Second Battle of Saratoga in 1777. While the mission is a sad one, coming home is what Claire and Jamie had planned to do after their home at Fraser’s Ridge burned down. But they were detoured when Jamie was conscripted into the Continental Army.
Surprises may await them when Outlander returns in 2024, but first they will reunite with some familiar faces. Before Season 7 even premiered, Starz announced a slew of returning guest stars including Young Ian’s parents –– his father, Ian Murray (Steven Cree), and his mother Jenny (played by Kristin Atherton, who takes over the role from Laura Donnelly). Perhaps more than anyone, Young Ian has evolved the most since he last saw his parents, something Davis says will inspire one of the most unforgettable reunions.
“When you think about how much has happened to Young Ian since then, his adoption into the Mohawk and where he has come as a character, he has gone from boy to man,” she says. “For his mother to see him now as a man, we will see that it is very emotional for her and for him. And there was also Jamie’s promise to Jenny to bring Young Ian back home and what that meant.”
Outlander Season 7, Pt. 2: Everything We Know…
Here is a NEW Interview with Maril Davis from Entertainment Weekly
From EW:
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Jamie, Ian, and Claire are finally seeing Scottish shores again. Is it good to be home or does more trouble await them?
MARIL DAVIS: You know that saying “You can never go home again?” That’s definitely true. Home is never the home you knew. It’s never going to be the same. That’s true when we come back — there’s troubling things on the horizon and some painful stuff. It’s bittersweet. It’s a homecoming, but things happen that are more of a sad note.
NEW Interview with Maril Davis From Glamour
From Glamour:
Whatever is going to happen, we’re going to have to wait at least five months to find out. The remaining eight episodes in season seven are going to air in 2024 (yes, it’s a vague date; see what Davis had to say about it below), and based on what we know from Diana Gabaldon’s books, there’s a lot of story left to tell before the eighth and final season. Says Davis: “The second half…takes it up a notch. Buckle [your] seatbelt, because there’s so many ups and downs and everyone’s worst fears are kind of realized in the second half.”
Dear lord. And so, on that uplifting note, we grilled Davis on the mid-season finale’s biggest moments, which new characters will show up next, and how soon we can expect a resolution to Jem’s whereabouts. Read on.
Here is a NEW Interview with Maril Davis from TV Insider
From TV Insider:
The mid-season finale of Outlander wrapped with hope, heartbreak and a chilling encounter. Below, executive producer Maril Davis teases what to expect when the second half of Season 7 returns in 2024.
Claire and Jamie Fraser (Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan) reached Scotland with Young Ian (John Bell).Will the homecoming be as happy as Jamie is anticipating?
Maril Davis: No. You know what they say: You can never go home again. When we come back, we will see that things have changed and surprises await. It’s a very bittersweet time. Jamie and Claire are never safe. Trouble finds the Frasers, and the back half [of the season] is insane. Once again, their worst fears are realized. Something happens that could tear them apart. I don’t know if Jamie and Claire can recover from it.
New video with Maril Davis for Hello Magazine on the mid-season finale and why the show made major changes to Jamie
Outlander Executive Producer Maril Davis for Parade Magazine on Episode 7×08: Turning Points
From Parade:
Today’s episode of Outlander marks the mid-season finale, but it is also the last episode of 2023—the Droughtlander begins—until the second half of Season 7 airs in 2024. But the good news is that it is brimming with goodies that includes all our main characters—Jamie (Sam Heughan), Claire (Caitríona Balfe), Brianna (Sophie Skelton), Roger (Richard Rankin), Young Ian (John Bell) and William (Charles Vandervaart).
“The Jamie and Claire storyline isn’t so much a cliffhanger as it’s a start of a next chapter, and it leaves them, I think, in a good place,” executive producer Maril Davis tells Parade in this exclusive interview about the mid-season finale. “Whereas Brianna and Roger is more of a cliffhanger. We don’t know what will happen with their son Jemmy’s storyline in the second half of the season. I’m so excited for people to see that back half, because you know the first half was so good, but the back half is, in my mind, even better.”
The decision to greenlight an eighth season of Outlander hadn’t been made when the producers and writers were putting together Season 7 —which was supersized to 16 episodes after season 6 had to be shortened due to COVID—but a lot of thought and consideration went into the season in case it turned out to be the final one.
“This season just came together so magically,” Davis continues. “Part of it was we were all back together and that felt really wonderful. But also, this season is so jampacked because going into it and not realizing that there was going to be an eighth season, thinking it could potentially be our last, we just were like, ‘OK, let’s use all the material we have left and try to just get everything in.’
Read full article here.
From DigitalSpy:
This season started with elements from book six, A Breath Of Snow And Ashes. Where does it end up?
Going into this season, we didn’t know if it would be our last. So we were like, let’s put it all in there. So they [the writers] took the last part of book six, then seven and the eighth. And they smushed it all together and I think they did such an amazing job grabbing all the high moments but still making it a cohesive season.
And it’s so exciting. But the second half is even more exciting – it’s like the second half does not give you time to breathe. There are so many ups and down for everyone and so many life moments. I can’t even put it into words – the second half is going to be even crazier than the first.
After the second half of season seven, due next year, there is one more season to go. What will that cover?
We’ve condensed quite a lot of material this time and it’s really worked. So the last season will be mostly book nine or whatever – maybe things we’ve left out that we feel can make a cohesive story for the last season.
Is it hard to plan the end of the series because Diana Gabaldon is still writing Outlander novels (she’s working on book ten)?
Matt [showrunner Matt Roberts] and I have had conversations with Diana, just kind of feeling her out about the last season and some ideas of what we’re thinking. Obviously we don’t want to step on her toes, we want to be respectful.
She’s been so kind and open and giving with her book series and her love of what we’ve been doing and we want to share that respect. Certainly, we don’t want to do something in the show that maybe she hasn’t done in the books yet, or is planning to do but obviously it’s always a little difficult to wrap up a series before the books have ended.
Can you say anything about how Outlander will end at the end of season eight?
We want a satisfying ending for the show and for the fans and to leave them feeling like, ‘Okay, it’s really sad but we’re satisfied with how this ended.’ So there’s a lot of pressure and we have been talking to Diana and will continue to do so and will tell her our ending – we want to make sure she’s happy as well.
Read the full interview here.
New interview with Executive Producer Maril Davis for Max from Flip Your Wig
