Every episode of Outlander is epic, but when one is written by our very own Diana Gabaldon, you know you’re in for something extra special!
Lord John
The episode starts with the costume David Berry calls his favorite of the season: a beautiful green velvet coat, waistcoat, and pants, seen in a flashback between John and his brother Hal.
Unfortunately for John, his present circumstances are a bit more tenuous: first a home takeover, then Claire LITERALLY reaching into his eye socket.
Joked David Berry, “We got to the point in the scene where Claire’s about to go for the eye, and Jan, our director, did not call cut. I had to add some sound effects of panicked screaming as that happened… that is my panic that I was feeling as she went with her claw towards my left eye.”
But hey, at least he ends up with a spiffy new eye patch!
Lord John Grey’s injured eye was one of the major prosthetics of the season.
Hair and Makeup Designer Ann McEwan emphasized the effort that goes into bringing injuries to life: “There are many meetings about how long it would take for bruises to go away, what kind of injury a character would get from a musket ball, fire, etc. … Whatever the event, it’s well-researched… We want the injuries to read true. We want the length of time to heal to read true.”
Read more about the process:
American History
One of my favorite parts of this episode was watching the Frasers surrounded by American history legends, then having one of those legends gift them with the iconic original American flag.
At the dinner party, Claire samples Lafayette’s delicacies, including jellied eel preserved in jars with his personal crest designed by our Art Department.
Poor Caitríona Balfe had to eat even more jellied eel than Claire did. Said Caitríona, “I had to personally eat jellied eel for hours! And that’s no offense to Philippe, our fantastic chef. I’m sure for a jellied eel, that was probably a beautiful one. But… not a fan.”
Costumes
Take a look at the Costume Department sketch for the lovely dress Claire is wearing during this iconic dinner.
We also see one of Costume Designer Trisha Biggar and Caitríona Balfe’s favorite pieces of the season in this episode: her burgundy wool coat. Joked Caitríona, “You know you have a good costume when even the guys in the crew go, ‘Oh that’s a nice coat.’”
The uniforms and dinners of the 1770s are worlds away from the 1980s world Brianna inhabits. Read how Director Jan Matthys found people’s behavior in the different time periods influenced his directing style below.
Echoing everything we already know about our two incredible leads, Director Jan Matthys had nothing but praise for Caitríona and Sam while filming 713 and 714.
“After seven seasons, you might expect a routine. But that’s not the case at all. They question every scene, and try to make everything feel new. There’s a magic happening… They are just so in sync. They communicate just by looking at each other. As a director, you see it happening and you just have to put a camera on it.”
When we re-encounter Jane and meet Fanny this episode, the costumes are quite different from what we saw back at the brothel! Hear from Costume Designer Trisha Biggar below.
Rob’s hopes and dreams weren’t the only things smashed this episode… the Land Rover saw a bit of damage as well.
Said Chris Fulton, “It was freezing cold, so I think the temperature had something to do with it. I skidded up, got out, and I think I just slammed the door a little too hard. Because it was so cold, I’m going to say that the glass was freezing and shattered. Sorry!” A worthy sacrifice for an epic scene, if you ask me.
