Outlander Season 5 proves we need to give a show a full season before passing judgment

Early on Outlander Season 5, I had concerns about character development. The season proves we need to watch everything before getting annoyed.

There tends to be a lot of jumping to conclusions or passing judgment on something before it’s done. That was certainly the case with Outlander Season 5. It’s something I tried to avoid, but do admit to getting a little worried at one point about a particular character.

Now that I’ve watched the season and been able to rewatch in full, I’m happy to see that there was no reason for me to be as worried as I was. It’s a reminder that we should always watch something in full before passing judgment. And never look at a trailer and immediately think we know the storyline!

I’ll use myself as an example—although I’d be able to find many more online. Early in the season, I shared my worry about Brianna. The promo material focused more on her as a mother and early in the season she was more of a supporting character for everyone else’s storyline.

This is a woman who is a rape survivor. She’s a strong-willed, passionate woman who certainly has a mind of her own. Becoming the stereotypical mother character just didn’t fit with what we’d seen before and it ran the risk of leaving out so many storylines and so much development in the future.

However, when I shared my worries, I did point out that I was reserving full judgment until the end of the season. I didn’t know what the writers had in store and I was willing to be patient.

I’m glad I was. The tail end of Outlander Season 5 helped to quell my worries. We got to see her face off against Stephen Bonnet. She showed him some mercy, but at the same time, she made sure that he was out of her life for good. There were moments where she showed her genius and made it clear she was a necessary cog in the 18th century wheel.

The big moment that made me realize the writers hadn’t forgotten about Bree was in Episode 9. At the end, she realized that she could engineer a syringe for Claire with the snake fang. Without Bree, Jamie would have lost his leg and possibly his life. Without Bree, Claire would have lost the man she’d come to know and love. Yes, it took Claire, Roger, and Bree to save Jamie throughout that episode, but we were reminded of Bree’s strengths.

Now I hope Outlander Season 6 can continue that. I need more Brianna in the story. But the fifth season does remind us all to be patient and don’t judge a season until we’ve seen every minute of it (and had a chance to rewatch).

What did you think of Outlander Season 5? What do you think on subsequent watches? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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