'Outlander' Author Diana Gabaldon on the 'Amazingly Successful' Season 7 Midseason-Finale

Outlander season 7 aired its midseason finale on Friday, which takes the series into a new Droughtlander as the second half of the season’s episodes won’t air until 2024. But the finale was one that was a great way to start the break as it was jampacked with story.

It gave us hope for what lies ahead for Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitríona Balfe) in Scotland—as they avoid the American Revolutionary War, but also left us with a cliffhanger as to what’s happening with Jemmy (Blake Johnston-Miller) and Rob Cameron (Chris Fulton) and whether Roger (Richard Rankin) and Buck (Dairmaid Murtagh) will find them now that they’ve gone back through the stones in search of Roger’s son.

“I thought [the season] was amazingly successful at taking an immense amount of material, distilling it into vivid strands and weaving them into a mostly coherent and very absorbing story,” New York Times bestselling author Diana Gabaldon tells Parade in this exclusive interview. “While it necessarily had to abbreviate and condense—and in some cases simplify or omit complex incidents and plotlines--they mostly refrained from making up extraneous things that weren’t in the books, while including an immense amount of the original dialogue and incidents. I really appreciated that.”

As did the fans. Even so, there were some tiny details that differed. An instance is at Saratoga when Jamie is called to the British camp to attend his cousin General Simon Fraser (Angus MacFadyen) on his death bed, and he runs into William (Charles Vandervaart). When Jamie presented William with his hat to replace the one he shot off of William’s head, he didn't look at him so there would be no recognition as to their resemblance. But with Charles Vandervaart, who plays William, not resembling Sam as much as William resembled Jamie, they were able to interact.

“I thought they did a great job with the hat scene—an important one, and one the book readers will be thrilled with,” Gabaldon continues. “It does differ from the books in minor ways, but it’s basically a question of choreography. They needed to get Jamie and Claire to the British camp for Simon Fraser’s death, and then provide a plausibly seamless way for Jamie to see William, and impulsively give him the hat.”

Related: Outlander EP Maril Davis on the 'Buckle-Your-Seatbelt' Emotional Drama in the Mid-Season Finale

Gabaldon also shared this fun note about that scene: “As an aside, watched the dailies for that scene, and there were four takes of Jamie walking away from William, with Claire following, asking him why he did that? Jamie replies that this was the second time in William’s life that he (Jamie) had come within an inch of shooting him, and what if he didn’t miss, a third time? Then says, ‘I thought I must try to speak to him once, as a man…in case it was my only chance.’ This was really well done, and on the third take (the one they used), when Sam spoke the last line, the AD (Assistant Director) quietly said ‘cut’ and you could hear either the Director or AD (I couldn’t tell which) very quietly say, ‘Smashed it…smashed it.’ And he did.”

A fun historical note was the inclusion of Benedict Arnold into the story. He does appear in Gabaldon’s books, but his role was slightly expanded for the TV series. In fact, the series seems to imply that Claire has something to do with Benedict Arnold (Rod Hallett) becoming a traitor, but Gabaldon says that wasn’t her intention at all.

“The show did a good job of doing what I did intend in the book: showing Benedict Arnold as a real person, with personal charm, as well as deep concern for his men,” she says. “They did a good job of pinpointing the clash between Arnold and General Gates [Ged Simmons], and the wounded pride that was at the root of Arnold’s treason, briefly but effectively, with the conversation the injured general has with Claire.”

Note: Benedict Arnold and Claire’s original meeting and the conversation regarding cinchona bark, laudanum and Robert Browning is straight from the book. The bedside conversation with the wounded general isn’t.

Gabaldon continues, “I don’t think there’s any indication there that Claire’s validation of his feelings had any effect on what he later did, though; it’s just giving a clue as to why he did it. (Plus adding a footnote regarding overall doubt as to how history is affected by what seem to be small things—and the ongoing but brief speculation about whether time-travelers can or do affect history.)

“BTW, I absolutely LOVED both Rod Hallett (playing Benedict Arnold) and Barry O'Connor playing Daniel Morgan. Brief but really wonderful performances. The casting this season has been -- as always! -- impeccable.”

Related: Outlander Author Diana Gabaldon Weighs in on the Complications of Fraser/MacKenzie Family Ties and Obligations in Season 7's Seventh Episode

And then we have the cliffhanger for the season with Roger and Buck heading into the past to rescue Jem. But it raises the question of whether Buck goes back with Roger because he's hoping to return to his time -- even though from what we know it isn't likely because of his death date -- or because he feels he owes Roger for getting him hung at the Battle of Alamance?

According to Gabaldon, it’s probably both, to some extent.

“His principal motive is empathy: he’s lost his own family [as a result of his time traveling], including his children,” she points out. “He urgently wants to help Roger and Bree [Sophie Skelton] get Jem back, because he knows how losing a child feels. Also (and we’ll learn more about this later), Roger’s family is Buck’s family, as well.”

When season 7 picks up in 2024 – those eight episodes have already been filmed, so hopefully, the strikes won’t affect that – we will follow Roger and Buck into the past to see if they can catch up with Rob and Jemmy.

Next, Outlander EP Maril Davis Teases What Will Happen in the Final Season (Season 8)