It’s truly the beginning of the end for Outlander at Starz as the cast offered fans an inside look at the show’s final table read ever for the upcoming eighth season.
Star Sam Heughan served up a sweet selfie with onscreen love and costar Caitriona Balfe; they recently celebrated the show’s 10th anniversary following its August 9, 2014 debut. “Final readthrough. Final block. Final season,” Heughan captioned the image alongside two other photos which included a solo selfie and one of his final scripts.
For those less acquainted with production jargon, the final block means Outlander is about to film its final two episodes, which will conclude a years-long journey for the story of World War II nurse Claire (Balfe) and Highlander warrior Jamie Fraser (Heughan), who have built an epic relationship spanning decades onscreen. Based on Diana Gabaldon‘s best-selling book series, Outlander has captured fans’ attention with its time-traversing fantasy romance between these characters.
Balfe also got in on the action by sharing her own post to fans on social media. Sharing a reel on Instagram featuring herself, Heughan, and onscreen daughter Sophie Skelton, Balfe wrote, “Here we are …… 11 years 101 episodes and a whole lotta love, sweat and tears (and some blood) … thank you @outlander_starz @sptv @samheughan @sophie.skelton @rikrankin @johnhunterbell @izzy_meikle @caitlinoryan and all the rest of our cast and crew and fans…. It’s been a journey and a half.”
In addition to Heughan and Balfe’s social media post, above, Skelton (who plays Jamie and Claire’s daughter Brianna) commemorated the event by sharing a photo captioned, “Bring your dog to final read through day.”
This is just the latest development for Season 8 that reminds us Outlander is that much closer to ending. A few days prior to the table read, executive producer Maril Davis shared a selfie featuring Heughan and other crew members, revealing, “I jumped in the party car for our LAST gallery shoot day (Gallery shoot is where we take photos for marketing and publicity) @outlander_starz.”
And a few days before that post, Davis noted that she’d had her final props meeting for the series with another crew selfie. “As we are approaching our final block of Outlander, I’m trying very hard to enjoy every moment and document as many memories as I can. Today we had our final props show and tell, which is a meeting where the props department lays out all of the significant props for the epsiodes in the block and we all make sure everything looks and works like what we’ve discussed during prep. I made everyone take a selfie in the props warehouse. Yes, after 8 seasons we have enough props to fill a WAREHOUSE,” she concluded.
The momentous and arguably emotional occasion of the final table read has certainly impacted fans, who are already inundating Heughan, Skelton, and more stars with comments lamenting the end. “Final read through wait… I’m crying already,” one fan wrote under Skelton’s post.
“We are all crying!! But we are also grateful for these 8 seasons. Thank you all!!,” another fan commented under Heughan’s post. “Excited and heartbroken all at the same time,” another wrote. The sentiment was echoed in other comments that read, “I’ll never be the same.. will miss you all so much!” and “This makes me happy and so sad at the same time.”
See some other emotional reactions, below, and let us know how you feel about Outlander‘s upcoming final season in the comments section. And fret not, fans, as Season 7B has yet to arrive on Starz; it’s slated to premiere this November.
outlander season 1 table read | outlander season 8 final readthrough pic.twitter.com/lZrcyJsENX
— isabel (@itsmisabel) August 12, 2024
THEY’RE SMILING SO BIG BUT I AM SOBBING pic.twitter.com/QejQLIXYm0
— Elle Outlander S7 (@displaceintime) August 12, 2024
STOP pic.twitter.com/Cy7DWwUfvJ
— Outlander Edits (@HoneySassenach) August 12, 2024
Outlander, Season 7B Premiere, Friday, November 22, 8/7c, Starz