Outlander Season 5 is going to be mostly based on The Fiery Cross. There’s a huge chunk at the start devoted to one day but will the show skip over some of this?
We’ve known from the beginning that the Outlander books are huge and telling all the elements in the story was going to be impossible. With the fifth season based on “The Fiery Cross,” there’s a debate among fans about the importance of the start of the books. Is it possible that some of it will be skipped?
Without giving away spoilers, the start of the book is all about one day. It takes a good 200 pages or so to get through. Whether it’s a necessary part of the story is a heavily contested topic among fans. One thing is for certain: it’s going to be difficult to keep the show interesting for episodes on end on the one day.
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In TV, each episode needs to have an element of drama. While a book will get away with a third or so just about one day, having four episodes running across one day won’t be all that intriguing. It’s harder to give fans a reason to tune in the following week.
This is the point in the story when a lot of the focus is on life on the Ridge. While it’s important to show the growing community, it’s also important to pick the elements that will be interesting to viewers — and not just those who have read the books. The show needs to appeal to both book-first and show-first (and even show-only) fans.
Cutting down the first part of the book to say one or two episodes could work out the best. It’s still possible to get the most important elements in without dragging on.
Changing the timeline around slightly could also work. There were moments in Outlander Season 4 that fans recognized from different parts of the story than the part being shown on screen. Some elements of the show came from a storyline brought up in the fifth book! Switching things up like this can make a lot of sense to keep the story consistently moving forward.
Would you like to see the show skip a little from “The Fiery Cross?” Would switching up the timeline a little make more sense? What would you like to see happen in Outlander Season 5? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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