Outlander completed the second half of Season 7 within the 2025 TV schedule with a finale that was eventful to say the very least, with information breaking shortly after that Sophie Skelton – a.okay.a. Brianna MacKenzie – can be getting an award whereas Caitriona Balfe was within the working for a serious class on the Critics Selection Awards. Alas, that was Outlander‘s one and solely CCA nomination, and I took the possibility to ask Skelton simply hours earlier than the ceremony why the Starz drama by no means will get the awards adore it deserves.
As a longtime Outlander fan, I all the time look by way of lists of awards nominations within the hopes of seeing the present getting some love. Whether or not for the appearing or the directing or the writing and even composing, I am all the time hoping for at the very least some nominations. That hardly ever occurs, although, and the Critics Selection Award for Finest Actress in a Drama Sequence went to Kathy Bates for Matlock as a substitute of Caitriona Balfe for Outlander.
And I am not saying that Kathy Bates did not deserve the win after her emotional Matlock performances, however I do want that the key awards ceremonies – Emmys, Golden Globes, and CCAs specifically – at the very least nominated the present in additional classes extra repeatedly. Imagine it or not, the present has solely ever been nominated for 4 Emmys, and by no means within the main classes.
So, once I was lucky sufficient to talk with Sophie Skelton on the SCAD TVfest crimson carpet forward of her receiving the Lumiere Award, solely hours earlier than Caitriona Balfe would discover out if she gained for Finest Actress on the CCAs on February 7, I needed to ask for her tackle why Outlander simply by no means will get love at awards exhibits. She shared:
I believe [Caitriona] is there right this moment, truly! I imply, I believe one factor that is lovely about Outlander is that it suits into plenty of genres and plenty of classes, however I believe additionally that may possibly generally be its downfall, as a result of it possibly would not match. It is form of considered one of a form, so I believe it is tough for some individuals to peg the place it suits in. As I say, I believe that is truly a advantage of it, and that signifies that there’s one thing in it for everybody.
It is arduous to argue in opposition to Sophie Skelton’s stance, as Outlander is greater than only a drama because it crosses genres. She additionally identified that it could possibly be an excellent factor that the present defies regular classes, even when meaning a scarcity of trophies for the forged and crew of the Starz mainstay. Till there is a class for dramas that mix drama, romance, conflict, historic fiction, a interval setting, and time journey, Outlander might get no extra awards love than the occasional nomination.
Sophie Skelton did not appear bothered that the present would not get the form of vital buzz that has gone to exhibits like Succession and Sport of Thrones, and had a really considerate reply once I requested what she was most pleased with out of the recently-ended seventh season of Outlander. She mentioned:
I do not know if it is [Season] 7 notably, however simply as a complete, simply seeing – particularly a few of the youthful followers who’ve come into Outlander and form of grown up with Brianna – simply working into these followers at issues like [SCAD TVfest] or press issues, and simply seeing how a lot they’ve grown and the way way more they will open up about issues that they have been by way of and what they’ve realized from Brianna. And I believe Brianna is such a powerful beacon for therefore many individuals, and he or she’s turn into so much stronger. Simply to see the followers reflecting that and discovering energy by way of your character is de facto, actually cool.
Whereas Outlander‘s major characters have all gone by way of fairly horrifying ordeals by this level forward of the eighth and closing season, Brianna has actually gone by way of hell and again a number of completely different instances through the years to date. For Skelton, that has resulted in seeing the optimistic ways in which her character’s endurance has affected followers.
We will solely hope that Bree catches a break in Season 8 after lastly bringing her little household unit again collectively in the identical timeline to finish Season 7, however would it not actually be Outlander if issues have been too straightforward for any members of the prolonged Fraser household? In any case, she and her mother and father aren’t even in the identical decade of the 18th century when the ultimate credit rolled on Season 7.
For now, all we are able to do is hope, surprise, and speculate, as Starz has not but introduced a premiere date for the eighth and closing season. Outlander is predicted to return one final time earlier than the tip of the 12 months, however whether or not than means the primary half of 2025 or nearer to December 31 at midnight stays to be seen. As for the scarcity of awards nominations and wins… properly, congratulations to Sophie Skelton for receiving SCAD TVfest’s Lumiere Award!