When Starz first announced Outlander: Blood Of My Blood, a new prequel to its globally popular historical-fiction romance series, it wasn’t completely truthful in its pitch. Fans have been lapping up the love story of Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan) for seven seasons (and nine books by Diana Gabaldon), but would they follow the origin story of the parents of those lovebirds with the same fervor?
The prequel’s log line circulated in 2024 when the production began, explaining that the show chronicles Jamie’s folks in Scotland in the 18th century and Claire’s during World War I in England. Early footage of the series reinforced this setup, blending the familiar images of Highland tartan as far as the eye can see with those of war.
But as it turns out, this was a half truth. As spoiled by the trailer, this story does indeed follow the passionate courtship between Jamie’s Highland parents—Brian (Jamie Roy) and Ellen (Harriet Slater)—as they throw caution to the misty mountains and pursue a romance that further boils the bad blood between their families. But Starz held back that while some of the tale of Claire’s mom and dad—Julia (Hermione Corfield) and Henry (Jeremy Irvine)—takes place during and after World War I, most of it unfolds right alongside Brian and Ellen’s story in 1714. Turns out that little story of how Claire’s parents died when she was a child left out that the young couple actually time traveled through the same stone circle their then-five-year-old daughter later would.
This is a rather convenient, albeit clever, caveat to a narrative fans have long thought they knew, an asterisk to Gabaldon’s mythology that smartly retains the DNA of the original story. From the outset, the original series wielded Claire’s 20th-century sensibilities to stoke a cultural clash with her new life in the 1740s, and with Blood Of My Blood (which has already been renewed for a second season), it’s a case of like daughter like parents.
But what Julia and Henry find themselves entangled with in the past is not something Starz would like spoiled quite yet. What can be said is that Blood Of My Blood is incredibly nimble in its approach to marrying this double-the-pleasure setup. Fans fearful of the lack of Claire and Jamie needn’t worry because there are two couples now. And structurally, the series wisely alternates its focus each episode between those central pairings, while still letting the benched duo flutter in and out of the story to show just how close their respective journeys are. All four of the main lovers are intriguing additions to the universe, if not uncanny spitting images of their future children. It’s actually quite surreal how much Roy looks like he was chiseled from the same stone as Heughan and how Corfield imbues Julia’s internal narration with the same delicacy as Balfe. Corfield and Slater are standouts in the six episodes provided to critics, with Slater, specifically, carrying much of the emotional weight of the premiere on her shoulders as she serves as the entry point for the wayward MacKenzie clan.
For longtime Outlander viewers, there is an undeniable thrill in seeing the lives of our central lovers’ parents intersect—especially given how they have never been seen in the OG series, save for an elder Brian. This invites the question of what butterfly-effect consequences might their intersecting lives have had on the future we know. It also grants watchers the voyeuristic satisfaction of reuniting with the younger versions of the characters they have spent time with, a degree of fan service that never feels gratuitous. The feud between Dougal (Sam Retford) and Collum (Séamus McLean Ross), and the unofficial brotherhood between Brian and Murtaugh (Rory Alexander), are among the intriguing dynamics characters in the original show could only speak of in the past tense.
But are these thrills sustainable for another decade-long run? With the uncharted waters of Julia and Henry’s story, paired with the steamy love affair between Brian and Ellen, there is enough here to engage the fanbase in a fresh way. Up until now, if someone really wanted to know what happens next for Claire and Jamie, they could always crack open Gabaldon’s tomes (save for that show-invented twist that closed out season seven). But with Blood Of My Blood, they will have to rely on the authorship of showrunner Matthew B. Roberts more than ever to steer the ship under Gabaldon’s guidance.
That may be the most appealing thing at work in this show: the uncertainty. The hallmarks of the Outlander experience are still here, with separated lovers desperately searching for each other and brooding men going to war rather than acknowledging their feelings. Scotland is finally back at the forefront, something viewers have been clamoring for since Claire and Jamie followed the historically accurate route to the American Colonies. And just like with the original, you’ll have to turn on the subtitles to have a fighting chance with the Scottish drawls.
But more than just a mirror of what’s been, Blood Of My Blood is a towering romance that wastes no time proving it has impressive command over its two-is-better-than-one setup. Even as the preamble to a story on its way out, the series confidently debuts as a moving and frankly hot addition to an already deeply felt universe of storytelling. It puts diehard fans’ knowledge of the lore to the test and welcomes more casual viewers into a tale that isn’t always reliant on what will happen 30 years down the road. Plus, the sex is back in full force. What more can you ask for, Sassenach?
Outlander: Blood Of My Blood premieres August 8 on Starz
