…Lord John is actually wed to a little piece of tape on the side of a camera and not Claire. Also, did you notice Claire has a new medical box?
The Houses
Much of the drama takes place inside Lord John Grey’s residence at Chestnut Street… and what a backdrop for an episode that will go down in Outlander history!
Take a peek at some of the Production Design sketches and renderings that helped bring the vision to life in those early stages.
Both Set Decorator Stuart Bryce and Production Designer Mike Gunn called the Chestnut Street House their most difficult set this season but for entirely different reasons.
For Bryce, the challenge lay in covering the walls with an opulent silk (surprising no one, Lord John’s digs are pretty fancy).
For Production Designer Mike Gunn, it was more a matter of logistics. While everything looks seamlessly connected on screen, you may be surprised to learn this set actually spanned three stages! Connecting rooms and corridors were doubled across stages to make it look believable that actors were walking around the house.
Performances
The incredible performances this episode absolutely tore my guts out.
Can we just take a moment to appreciate David Berry, who shows us a raw, heartbreaking, and visceral side of Lord John we’ve never seen before?
And of course, we have to give it up for Caitríona Balfe, whose performance took my heart and smashed it into a million pieces.
The Wedding
Fun fact: SOMEONE was smiling during that wedding… just not who (or what) you think.
The scene called for vows said to-camera. Said David Berry, “I found that quite difficult. I just didn’t feel it. I asked for another take, got a piece of tape, drew a little smiley face on it, stuck it next to the camera, and that’s what I was giving my vows to. So Lord John is actually wed to a little piece of tape on the side of a camera and not Claire.”
Lord John’s Party
The mood at Lord John’s party may have been somber but Claire’s dress was absolutely dazzling. Costume Designer Trisha Biggar called it one of the most complicated, time consuming pieces created in her time on Outlander.
The dress was crafted almost entirely by hand out of teal lace, built in a couture fashion with lace applied on lace (no seams), then covered with over a thousand tiny crystal stones. The stomacher was partly vintage, embellished with pearls, gold thread, and beads.
And what about Claire’s party hair? According to Hair and Makeup Designer Ann McEwan, ladies of the time would use cages in their hair or wigs to add height, which we see on Claire here.
The women of 1700s Philadelphia actually would have had *bigger* more audacious hair than depicted on Outlander but a slightly lower profile helps ensure vision lines on-screen.
Claire’s New Medical Box
You may have noticed in this episode that Claire has a new medical box. This was actually the first time the Set Decoration team, led by Stuart Bryce, created one from scratch versus sourcing one.
Bryce designed the shape then the team went to work on the mechanics. Outlander’s talented team of prop makers put on the finishing touches with brass inlays, mother-of-pearl inlays, and marquetry. Said Bryce, “It was a huge amount of work… but I was delighted with the finished product.”
1980s
Now let’s time travel to the 1980s kitchen fight scene!
Making a soft prop of the pan to look realistically heavy was one of the most challenging props made for Season 7, Part 2. It needed to have the heft and look of an old iron pan, but also be suitably “soft”, so as not to crack Chris Fulton’s head open. If only the writers had been as soft on my emotions this episode…
When life gives you lemons, in TV, you work them into the script.
When Sophie Skelton broke her finger in real life, the injury had to be reflected on screen so that she could wear a brace and heal properly. So the writers introduced a short scene in this episode where a frustrated Bree slams her fingers in the broken kitchen drawer.
