Matt B. Roberts and Maril Davis took us Inside the World of the Outlander Season 5 finale.
There was a lot of heavy material during the Outlander Season 5 finale. We also got a lot of Easter eggs from previous seasons. Matt B. Roberts and Maril Davis took us Inside the World to understand more.
The segment was included at the end of the episode—although due to the way STARZ set things up on the channel, some fans had to look on the app or wait for it to be released on YouTube. It’s certainly worth the wait and the watch, as the two EPs take us into the creation of this traumatic episode.
With the books involving so much rape and trauma, there are always questions about whether the scenes need to be included. Not all are, but the important ones need to be. As the EPs share, this moment for Claire is huge in the sixth book. Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan also didn’t want to shy away from the material, but it needed to be done in a careful and creative way.
The EPs opted for a “dreamscape,” the fantasy world that Claire puts her in to disassociate herself from the traumatic events happening. This is something that many trauma victims will do as a way to survive the ordeal as it takes place. It also allowed a sort of break for viewers from the trauma as it showed inside Claire’s mind in a way the silent movie flashbacks did for Roger during Episode 8.
During the Inside the World segment, the EPs talk about some of the details (and something I noticed while watching this is that Claire is wearing the red nail polish she does in the title card with the dream house). The orange is something that comes up, which is a connection to the second season. It’s an important reminder that Claire will not be brought down by the men and will, instead, walk away with integrity.
Of course, there were changes. Jocasta has her eyesight and Fergus has both of his hands. This world is one of happiness that Claire uses to wrap herself with family as a cloak, but events of the present can seep in.
This is certainly an episode to watch more than once, even if it’s just for the fantasy world. There are a lot of connections to past episodes that will be missed on the first viewing.
What did you think of the Outlander Season 5 finale? Does the Inside the World segment help to understand the dreamscape better? Share your thoughts in the comments below.