Sam Heughan reveals the souvenir he'll take from Outlander set
Outlander fans have taken to social media to slam Starz for branding the next crop of episodes “season 7, part 2”.
The hit series follows time traveller Claire (played by Caitriona Balfe) and her travels through history with Scottish Highlander Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan).
Season seven came to an abrupt halt last August with several loose threads left untied, including a devastating choice for Roger MacKenzie (Richard Rankin) and his wife, Claire and Jamie’s daughter Brianna Fraser (Sophie Skelton).
New episodes will start airing this November, leaving fans waiting through yet another lengthy hiatus they affectionately call ‘Droughtlander’.
However, when the second half of the season was teased with a fresh batch of new stills last week, several fans took to the comments to complain.
Many of them felt the fact the series has been off-air for almost a year - and it will be well over by the time the premiere rolls around - means it should be known as Outlander’s eighth season.
One ardent viewer demanded: “Call a spade a spade. Admit you broke your promise about a ‘supersize season seven’ and call it what it is! It’s season eight.”
“‘Second half’ lol. Why misrepresent the situation?” another said.
“Two calendar years apart does not make S7 an extra long season to apologize to fans for the very short S6. It’s two more equally short seasons.”
“It's not the second part. They are two different seasons,” a third replied.
“It would be part two if a month had passed, not a year. It is very difficult to follow the thread of the story with such short blocks of chapters and so long in time.”
While another fan admitted: “I’ve been an Outlander fan for years, but the amount of time between seasons has almost caused me to lose interest.
“I don’t even remember what the first half of the season was about.”
Though another Outlander enthusiast stood against the backlash: “Even though I agree that there are long pauses between seasons, you are not a real fan if you’ve lost interest in the series because of it.
“I kind of like the long pauses because it means that it will last longer. Outlander is my favorite series!”
Thankfully, there are just a few months to wait before the penultimate season concludes. Plus, there’s still the eighth and final season to look forward to as well as the highly anticipated prequel series, Outlander: Blood of My Blood.
Outlander season 7, part 2 premieres Friday, November 22 on Starz.
