Outlander Season 2 throwback: That annoying pre-finale break

Remember the break before the Outlander Season 2 finale?

On July 2, 2016, Outlander Season 2 took a week off. If you thought a week in the middle of the season was bad this year, keep in mind that this week off on this day in history was just before the Season 2 finale.

Yes, really! Like with the first season, STARZ opted to give viewers a week off between the penultimate episode and the finale. We were just getting ready to see the Battle of Culloden and witness Claire in the 1960s when we were given a week to rewatch the full season instead.

It was certainly difficult, especially knowing that the next season would be delayed. The renewal for Season 3 had only come a month earlier, so the writers were only just starting to get back to work. While they would have had some basics planned, they had to put together a season and write the scripts.

The break between Seasons 2 and 3 was the longest of the show so far. I’m sure the break between Seasons 5 and 6 will be longer, but not for the same reasons. There’s nothing anyone can do about the current lockdowns, except do what health officials recommend to prevent the virus from spreading more.

Why choose to take a week off here?

A week off between Outlander Season 5, Episode 7 and Episode 8 doesn’t seem as bad now. While it was excruciating as we waited to see what would happen to Roger (even book readers wanted to know how the show would portray this haunting part), it made sense to have a break at around the midpoint.

What didn’t make sense was opting for a break before the finale. I understood it when it came to the first season. Book readers needed a break between Episodes 15 and 16. Both of these episodes were extremely heavy and the week off allowed a bit of a breather before getting into the details of what happened to Jamie at Wentworth Prison.

But for Outlander Season 2? The finale was heartbreaking to watch. At the same time, it was exciting. While we had the Culloden storyline, we also got to meet Roger and Brianna. We found out what happened to Geillis in 1968, and Brianna learned the truth about Jamie and time travel. There were some excellent, softer moments in between the heartbreak, which made this episode nowhere near as traumatic as the first season’s finale.

However, this is the decision STARZ made. Now that we watch it back through the app (or even on Netflix), it’s easy to forget this break happened. However, the next time STARZ puts a week break in before some sort of difficult episode or before a finale, just know that it’s something that’s happened in the past.

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