We’re into another Droughtlander. As much as we knew this would happen, fans really want to know why there’s a wait for Outlander Season 7B.
Outlander fans are no strangers to waiting for new episodes of the series. Droughtlanders are long, although this latest one should be a little shorter than normal. That doesn’t mean we’re happy about the wait.
The thing about this one is that it’s in the middle of a season. Outlander Season 7 has been split in two, and Sassenachs understandably want to understand why. There are a few reasons for STARZ to split up the season.
Why the wait for Outlander Season 7B?
One of the main reasons for the break is time needed for post-production. While all of Outlander Season 7 was filmed before the premiere, not all episodes had made it through post-production. This is a process that takes almost as long as filming takes. There is so much work to do when it comes to CGI.
STARZ didn’t want an extra long Droughtlander between Seasons 6 and 7. It makes more sense to have eight episodes come out and then a shorter Droughtlander in the middle of the season. There is going to be another fairly long Droughtlander before we get the final season.
Another reason is business. With a longer wait, STARZ knows that some people will remain subscribed. After all, Season 6 is still not on Netflix, and it’s going to take time for Season 7 to head to Netflix too. That means content exclusive on STARZ, so if fans want to watch the show, they need a STARZ subscription. Considering the costs of creating the show, you can’t really blame a business wanting to keep people subscribed!
There’s also the need to spread out the content for other shows. While this one is a big one, there are other shows that fans love. Heels, Men in Kilts, Power, and more have fairly large followings. STARZ will want to make sure it can space out all the content that it has, especially with the current strike action. It could start to run out of some types of content soon.
Having a Droughtlander now will also help to keep the next Droughtlander a little shorter. Outlander Season 8 is delayed due to the WGA strike. The writers are all part of the WGA although the show isn’t a SAG show, which means it’s not affected by the SAG-AFTRA strike. With filming not happening yet due to not all the scripts being available, there is going to be a wait for Season 8 that is similar to the wait for Season 6 due to the pandemic. It won’t feel as bad with this Droughtlander happening, giving the show time to start filming.