[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Outlander Season 8, Episode 2.]In episode two of the final season of the Starz series Outlander, a horrific tragedy sends heartbreak rippling through the Ridge as Claire (Caitriona Balfe), Jamie (Sam Heughan), Brianna (Sophie Skelton), Roger (Richard Rankin), Ian (John Bell) and Rachel (Izzy Meikle-Small) are reminded of just how precious and fleeting life can be. Without much time to grieve the sudden loss, Rachel has a relatively uneventful delivery with Ian by her side as they greet their newborn. While the birth was blessed with no complications, the couple still have some things to sort out and some truths to work through on their way to being a happy family.
During this interview with Collider, co-stars Bell and Meikle-Small discussed what it was like to say goodbye when they wrapped on the final season, the moment they each had a cry about the series ending, shooting the bear mauling and the moments leading up to it, balancing that tragedy with the smooth birth of Ian and Rachel’s child, why Bell thinks they’ll be a happy family, and how impressed they were with Balfe as the director of that episode.
The Cast of ‘Outlander’ Shared Teary Goodbyes When the Series Officially Ended
“We’d all compartmentalized it a bit in this final season.”
Collider: What was the last day of filming like for each of you guys? Who was there when you wrapped the last time? Did you guys get emotional in the moment, or did it hit you later on? What was that experience of just saying goodbye like?
IZZY MEIKLE-SMALL: I wrapped before John. I was sad that we didn’t get to wrap together, personally, but he was there when I wrapped. I felt like it was one of those things where I was like, “Oh, my God, will I cry? I do feel emotional about it.” But I weirdly didn’t cry. I felt this very warm, fuzzy feeling of, “Wow, what an amazing time I’ve had on this show. I feel so grateful and I feel so much love for so many of these people.” That was my overwhelming experience. And then, I went home and I did maybe have a little cry. I loved doing this job so much, and it being over is sad. It’s exciting to get to move on to different things. But at the same time, this was a very special job and these people are really special to me. I’m going to miss them every day.
JOHN BELL: I was in a very Outlander-y scene. The stakes were high, we were surrounded by trees, it was classic, and it was a big ensemble. A lot of us wrapped that day together, but I was the most senior of the cast, so they wrapped me last. I honestly thought I handled it really well. I thought I was going to be proper inconsolable, but I kept it together and had a little tear. I was presented with the cuff that Ian wears on his arm to keep, which meant so much. I was like, “Oh, God, you’re doing well. Keep it together. You can have a wee cry when you get back but keep it together.” And then, I saw Caitriona [Balfe]. Caitriona and I locked eyes, and she just started to bubble, and that was me, so we had a bubble together.
I think I was the first of the major ones to wrap with Caitriona, so seeing me a little upset about it all signaled the end to her too. We’d all compartmentalized it a bit in this final season. There’s always so much to think about when you’re shooting that the thought of, “This is the last season” is really in the back of your head, so it’s a bit of a surprise what comes up in that final moment. But I’ll always remember seeing Caitriona’s little sad eyes locking eyes with mine and how that was the drop that brushed the damn.
I’m always okay until I see other people cry. It doesn’t matter what’s going on or what it’s about, I’ll just start to cry.
BELL: At weddings, I’m the same. It’s always when you see someone else. You’re like, “Well, okay.”
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In episode two, Amy gets attacked and mauled by a bear, and Claire can’t do anything to help her, which is such a tragically sad moment because it is so quick and random, and it could have happened to any of them. How was it to shoot those moments together? I can’t imagine that those were very happy days on set.
MEIKLE-SMALL: It’s funny, people keep saying that to me, but we did have a lot of fun actually shooting the bear scene.
BELL: Wasn’t that one of your favorites?
MEIKLE-SMALL: It was one of my favorite days of shooting, yeah. Quite often, we don’t get the women all together in a scene getting to hang out. The first two-thirds of the scene are really lovely, getting to see all those characters interact, seeing Rachel and Brianna’s friendship forming, and just seeing what the girls of the Ridge get up to on an everyday day. It’s really lovely. And Caitriona was directing, so we were having a great time. Obviously, we didn’t have a real bear there, and we cut before anything actually happens to Amy Lindsay. What we’re actually reacting to isn’t a bear, it’s a neon cross of tape on a tree, one hundred meters away.
We shot the ending of that so quickly that I don’t think any of us really realized or felt the true [impact] of it until it cuts to Amy’s prosthetics, which we didn’t see. Watching it in sequence like that, I was like, “Oh, God, that actually is really harrowing.” I was like, “I have to remember the trauma of when this happened” but all I’m thinking about is how much fun we had shooting that day. But I think it cut together well. You see Amy Lindsay’s very traumatizing prosthetics, and then it cuts to us crying, and I was like, “Well, that worked quite well.”
BELL: And I run up to you like, “What’s wrong? What’s wrong? What’s wrong?” And you were like, “I’m just remembering when we were picking berries.”
‘Outlander’ Co-Stars John Bell and Izzy Meikle-Small Were Relieved That the Birth of Ian and Rachel’s Newborn Was Uneventful
“We often do big birth scenes in ‘Outlander.’ I feel lucky that I managed to escape that.”
What was it like to have such a terrifying and tragic moment like that offset in the same episode as the birth of the baby? I was actually relieved that Rachel had this baby without anything happening and any seemingly complicated delivery, like some of the other characters have had.
MEIKLE-SMALL: Yeah, totally. I wonder if we hadn’t had that bear attack moment, we maybe would have had a birth scene. But there was so much trauma inflicted on a woman’s body already in that one episode that we were like, “Maybe we’re just going to cut to a happy birth.” It’s funny, we often do big birth scenes in Outlander. I feel lucky that I managed to escape that, to be honest.
BELL: No one really wants to spend eight hours a day screaming. It’s exhausting.
MEIKLE-SMALL: I liked that Rachel had her water break, and then they cut to a beautiful baby. I was very happy with that when I read the script. I was like, “Nice.”
When your worst problem is deciding on a name for a child, that’s a good day on Outlander.
BELL: Truly.
“There Was a Lot of Ugly Crying”: ‘Outlander’s Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan on Making Their Peace With the End of the Series
“The last day was emotional, but so were the weeks, even months, beforehand,” says Heughan, about wrapping the series after eight seasons.
What kind of parents do you think they want to be to this baby, and is there any chance of them being the parents they want to be with everything else going on?
BELL: I think Ian’s got some stuff to sort out first before he can answer that question. He basically has to be completely upfront and honest with his wife about his past. I think this baby has signified that this love is here to stay. Ian has always had difficulty with love and whether it’s truly permanent. But that baby really says to him, “This is my wife forever now. This is the mother of my child, and she deserves my whole heart.” That’s not always the pretty side or even the parts of his heart that he really hasn’t come to terms with or understands. So, once he has got that out the way, and hopefully Rachel will join him on that journey, I think they’re going to be a very modern, very happy family. They’ve already got such great role models in Jamie and Claire, who are so fierce, loyal, and all of those things.
‘Outlander’ Co-Stars John Bell and Izzy Meikle-Small Had Nothing but Praise for Caitriona Balfe as a Director
“She did such an amazing job not only leading the show but also directing it.”
What was it like to be directed by Caitriona Balfe for that episode? What was it like to have her be at the helm of all those highs and lows?
MEIKLE-SMALL: She’s just the best. She really is.
BELL: We love her.
MEIKLE-SMALL: Yeah, we love her. She did such an amazing job not only leading the show but also directing it. She was directing scenes that she was in, which were huge ensemble moving pieces, and she was keeping that all in her head in one place and doing a fantastic job. What I really felt with Caitriona was that she gives everybody such the same level of care and focus and attention. You could be coming in for one line, or you could be a lead on the show, and she will care about your character exactly the same amount. That is quite rare.
She’s such an actor’s director because she is an actor. The way that she thinks about it and sees the world and understands the process is so pro the actors in a way that isn’t always the case. With Outlander, you have a new director coming on for every episode and you’ve got these huge set pieces and it can be very technical. Having somebody be so on your level with you and caring so much was a really just a wonderful experience. She’s just the best.
BELL: We love her. I felt incredibly safe with her leading. I felt cared for and helped. It was always a really collaborative creative process. She has known us for many, many years now. There’s that shorthand that we’ve built together, but that also extended to the crew. Some of the crew has worked with Caitriona for 12 years. There was a really lovely dynamic on set because we were also championing her and were proud of her. Sometimes actors are funny and can be a little bit like, “No. Is that what we’re doing?” and we’re just a little bit moody. With Caitriona, everybody was behind her, and it was lovely to be a part of. She just absolutely nailed it. We all held her. I think she’s going to go off and do way more of that because she’s bloody good at it.
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- Release Date
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2014 – 2026-00-00
- Showrunner
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Matthew B. Roberts
- Directors
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John Dahl, Metin Hüseyin, Jamie Payne, Stephen Woolfenden, Anna Foerster, Brendan Maher, Brian Kelly, David Moore, Jennifer Getzinger, Mike Barker, Philip John, Joss Agnew, Lisa Clarke, Jan Matthys, Ben Bolt, Charlotte Brändström, Christiana Ebohon-Green, Denise Di Novi, Douglas Mackinnon, Julian Holmes, Norma Bailey, Richard Clark, Justin Molotnikov, Stewart Svaasand
- Writers
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Toni Graphia, Matthew B. Roberts, Ronald D. Moore, Luke Schelhaas, Anne Kenney, Karen Campbell, Shannon Goss, Joy Blake, Richard Kahan, Jennifer Yale, Megan Ferrell Burke, Ira Steven Behr, Diana Gabaldon
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Jack Tarlton
Kenny Lindsay
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John Sessions
Arthur Duncan
Outlander airs on Starz.