The midseason finale of Outlander Season 7 is less than a week away, and it will be the final episode of 2023. All signs point toward an intense hour of television to keep fans hooked during the upcoming Droughtlander, and it appears the unconventional love triangle between William, Rachel, and Young Ian is going to heat up. That's all very exciting, but some comments from members of the cast about their characters leave me crossing my fingers for their relationship to get a few moments before the next hiatus.
First things first! The midseason finale of Season 7 is called "Turning Points" and will air on Friday, August 11. The promo for the episode previews the aftermath of poor Jemmy being kidnapped from the '80s as well as Jamie being injured in battle. Roger is heading back to the 18th century, the Revolutionary War is getting bloodier, and Claire will be wielding a sword at some point... and there are a few moments of Young Ian and Rachel Hunter looking a lot cozier than one might expect of the young Quaker woman!
That's not altogether surprising after they immediately bonded earlier this season, and what appears to be mutual affection wouldn't seem like part of a love triangle at all if not for what happened in the previous episode. Moments away from his first battle, William confided in his friend that the woman he "has an eye for" is named Rachel. His friend was shot and killed immediately thereafter, and William had higher priorities than his feelings for Rachel through the rest of the episode, but it was enough for me to see this as an Outlander love triangle! At the very least, it's bound to be complicated, right?
And honestly, I'm all-in on Young Ian potentially getting a love interest after he finally received some good news a few episodes ago, and not just because actor John Bell shared some fun thoughts on his character still being called "Young Ian" after five seasons. Still, when I look back at comments from cast members at the Outlander Season 7 junket, I can't help but hope that Rachel shares some important scenes with another character as well: her brother, Denny. Read on for what actors Izzy Meikle-Small and Joey Phillips told CinemaBlend!
I spoke with new cast members Izzy Meikle-Small and Joey Phillips, who respectively play Rachel and Denny Hunter, together during the Outlander junket prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike. After sharing what their characters' priorities would be in Season 7, I asked the actors if they were able to spend time together to build their sibling dynamic before starting to film, and Phillips shared the surprising story:
We met the day before our first scene, actually! We were staying in the same hotel and we met in the bar to have a drink, and thank God we got on straightaway so well. There was just immediately this connection there and felt very brother and sister. I think we're very similar and just very easy to to get on with each other. I think it's been amazing to have Izzy with me, and have each other, because we're obviously joining such a huge show. It's been nice to have someone to sort of hold your hand.
Apparently, the sibling energy between Rachel and Denny came naturally to Izzy Meikle-Small and Joey Phillips, because I for one wouldn't have guessed after any of their scenes that they'd barely even met! Of course, shows often film out of sequence, so the Hunters' first scene of Outlander may not have been the actors' first scene together, but learning how the actors immediately jumped into playing brother and sister makes me not only want to revisit their scenes together, but see more of them together.
The dialogue between the Hunter siblings certainly stands out, as the two Quaker characters use "thee" and "thy" in place of "you" and "I," for example. I asked the actors if it was tricky to get used to that kind of dialogue, and Izzy Meikle-Small shared:
I think initially, it can be a bit of a tongue twister and you want it to sound very natural and normal, like they've been speaking like that forever. And I feel like when I first started, I was like, 'Do I sound like I'm doing some Shakespeare? Am I playing Juliet? What's going on?' [laughs] And then I think it becomes normal very quickly, and you kind of get your mouth around it... And every now and then, we'd slip in a 'thee' or 'thy' to each other when we weren't working. And then we'd kind of look at each other like, 'Oooh.'
The promo for the midseason finale confirms that there will at least be one important scene with Rachel that she shares with Young Ian, and the battle likely means that Denny's skills as a surgeon will be needed. Could we hope to see the siblings share a scene or two before Outlander heads into another hiatus? Only time will tell, but you can scour the promo for clues below:
Outlander will return with the remaining eight episodes of the super-sized Season 7 at some point in 2024, but no date has been announced at the time of writing. So, be sure to tune in to Starz on Friday, August 11 at 8 p.m. ET for the midseason finale of the hit drama, or stream the episode via the Starz app. You can also revisit earlier episodes of the series with a Netflix subscription.
