Why is Outlander Season 6 so short?

Outlander Season 6 will have just eight episodes, making it the shortest season to date. Why is the season cut so short? What does this mean for the future of the series?

When production announced that filming on Outlander Season 6 had wrapped, it came with some bad news. There would only be eight episodes instead of the planned 12. This makes the season the shortest to date, and it certainly sets off alarm bells for many fans.

Does this mean the show is ending soon? That we can’t answer, but we can say that the sixth season is not the last. Nor are we actually losing those four episodes. They’re being added onto Outlander Season 7.

So, what’s the reason for the season being cut so short? There are a couple of reasons.

Outlander Season 6 is blaming it on the pandemic

The production is blaming the decision on the pandemic. Episodes are taking longer to film than normal due to the pandemic protocols. This is something all productions are sharing, so it’s not untrue. However, it’s probably not the full story.

The pandemic is also causing problems for certain types of scenes. It’s not safe for large groups and certain intimate scenes, and we all know that this series is not COVID-friendly. So, there’s a chance that production decided rather than lose out on certain scenes, they’ll be pushed into Season 7. Filming will start when some of the restrictions will likely start to be lifted.

There is another reason, though. We now know that Caitriona Balfe was pregnant during filming. Production had to move episodes around and film out of order to avoid filming when Balfe was toward the end of her pregnancy. The bump would have been harder to hide.

Considering she gave birth not long after filming wrapped in June, this is likely the biggest reason for the season being cut short. It definitely makes sense!

Outlander Season 6 will premiere sometime in early 2022 on STARZ.