Outlander has brought a clip of one of Brianna’s lines from Season 5. It misses the mark, losing everything that is great about Brianna in Book 5.
I try not to be negative about Outlander, but sometimes, promotional material just doesn’t quite hit the mark. Or there’s something within the show that doesn’t quite work. In the case for Brianna’s promotional clip for Season 5, it just completely misses everything that’s strong and fierce about Bree in the fifth book.
Many fans have taken to social media to share their own disappointment. Unlike Roger’s promo video, which showed some clips of his Season 4 journey and ended with a line to baby Jemmy, Brianna’s clip is 10-seconds long and just a clip about her being a mom. She’ll raise her child to be a good person.
That’s all well and good. I could imagine that in the context of the scene, this line will likely be a fierce one. I’m assuming that the line is linked to the opinions of Brianna or even of Roger, maybe of rumors of how Jemmy was conceived. You know how the 18th century is, right?
But out of context, the line falls flat. It doesn’t connect to anything we’re excited to see in Brianna’s storyline in the fifth season. Sure, we want to see her as a strong mother, but she’s more than that.
The line also doesn’t connect to the image used. Bree looks confident and ready to take on the world. The torch in hand, she’s supposed to be standing for destiny. And then we get this line about raising her child to be a good person, with no other promotional material around it to put it into context.
https://twitter.com/Outlander_STARZ/status/1219681062449639429
While Roger’s promo sent shivers down my spine, this has left me disappointed. It’s completely taken the wind out of the promotional sail. And now I worry about the future promotional material for Claire and Jamie.
I’m hoping that this is a one-off blip. There there is more to come. I think there might be. There was a clip a little like this from Roger about how he doesn’t have money or property but he has time. It came between the static photo and the 40-second spine-tingling clip.
With this in mind, there’s hopefully going to be a third piece of promotional material about Bree, including some clips of her journey to this point and a tease of things to come in Season 5. I honestly hope there’s more to come!
But right now, I admit that I’m disappointed. Brianna (and any woman) is more than just a mother. To use this line without understanding where it comes from in the season just makes it look like the show now just views her as a mother and this is it.
What do you think of the Outlander Season 5 promotional material for Brianna? What would you like to see in a potential third slot? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Outlander Season 5 premieres on Feb. 16 on STARZ.