Caitriona Balfe said that the first episode was a bold storytelling move from executive producer Ron Moore. She said that it is like any great episode of “Columbo.” The actress said that technically what she is saying is a spoiler but it actually proves that it’s the telling or the journey that is what’s important.
For his part, Moore explained that he likes the beginning of the second book but he thought that it was too much to give to the TV audience all at once.
He explained that the second book starts in 1968 which means that Claire returned to the 20th Century and that she already knew the Battle of Culloden has been lost, she also left Jamie behind in the 18th century, and she brought up the child forward in time. The child is now a doctor whose name is Brianna and Frank is already dead.
Moore said those are so much information and he only got 30 minutes to show it since he is not planning to spend multiple episodes in 1968. That’s when he thought of beginning at the start of that particular story.
So having a shocking beginning really had fans on the ropes. It was like a knockout punch that they did not see coming and they are worried how Jamie will fit into all of these interesting new plotlines. Of course, they would love nothing but more of Jamie and Claire together and the next episodes of “Outlander” Season 2 will already show it.