Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray from STARZ is Season Five and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment of the original massively successful series OUTLANDER.

We have come a long way with Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) and his love Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and now they are in the Americas! Starting Season Five you know there is going to be intrigue, problems, dealing with time travel, love, enemies and everything else in the not-so-civilized world as the Revolutionary War comes closer and closer to Frasers Ridge.

Brianna (Sophie Skelton) and Roger (Richard Rankin) are finally tying the knot in a wedding that brings tears to both Claire and Jamie, happy to be a part of their day. Surrounded by friends and townsfolk, Jamie is pulled aside by Governor Tryon (Tim Downie) who is adamant about wanting to track down Murtagh Fitzgibbons (Duncan Lacroix).

It doesn’t sit well with Jamie, but he has to play the game in order to keep his friend safe. On the road with Lt. Knox (Michael Xavier), Jamie does what he can to put up a good front and be trusted but things are getting even more complicated. The Regulators bring Claire on the march with Jamie and Roger trying to raise their own militia that will be loyal to the right person.

Back at Fraser Ridge, Claire is desperately needed as Jamie sends him home with Roger as an escort. Roger takes this as meaning that he doesn’t trust him to help with the militia but does as he’s asked. Jamie continues to Hillsborough only to discover once he gets there that Governor Tryon is muddle up everything with an unusual answer to the Regulators.

Returning home, Claire and Jaime attend Aunt Jocasta’s wedding (Maria Doyle Kennedy) and it is there that Jaime learns of what Tryon plans for the Regulators. Marching to Alamance Creek, Jaime asks Roger to find Fitzgibbons and tell him what is happening. Finding him, Roger explains everything, but Fitzgibbons is not swayed from his decision to fight, even when he knows the outcome.

The battle happens quickly and before Roger can get away, he is caught between the two sides. That will cost him one of the most horrific events to happen in his life. Returning to Frasers Ridge, Brianna is having a difficult time dealing with what happened to Roger because he refused to speak to anyone about it. Also, it is clear that Stephen Bonnet (Ed Speleers) is back and he has plans for Brianna as well. But when someone Roger truly needs arrives; everyone is thrilled to see Ian (John Bell) once again.

Out hunting, Jamie is with Roger surrounding a buffalo when he is bitten by a venomous snake. Unable to find the others to help, Roger must get Jamie to Claire but even when he does, she is not sure she can save him. This forces Roger and Bri to once again consider returning to their own time. Now that they have their son Jemmy, it is clear that there are dangers with no medications. Ian takes them but something unexpected happens once they reach the stones!

A fire breaks out at the still but what Jaime does not know is that it is a diversion and Claire is kidnapped and treated brutally because of a medical article she wrote helping women. Lionel Brown (Ned Dennehy) has never liked Claire and means to show it. Jamie, Roger, Ian and others immediately track her down and bring her home, but not before the damage is done.

They all must get through because the Revolutionary War is almost at their door!

Heughan as Jamie Fraser has certainly made a career out of being the gorgeous, smart, loving, dedicated and forthright Scotsman. What makes his character so fantastic is his constant dedication to Claire no matter what is happening around them. She comes first in his life and every decision he makes it based on what is best for his family then everything on Frasers Ridge. This season we saw what happens when you hurt his family and it is not pretty but its effective. The times called for every move he made and Gabaldon writes him beautifully.

Balfe as Claire does not mince words when it comes to helping her patients. Yes, she pushes the time travel and historic meddling a bit but cannot exactly let people be hurt if she can help them. Not everyone sees it that way and that is what comes to be the crashing in the finale. Claire is also like Jamie in that her man is everything to her and no one or nothing gets in the way of that or her family. Having Brianna, Roger and Jemmy with them gives her such comfort and yet she knows they might not stay. This is definetly Balfe’s season to shine.

Skelton as Brianna is trying to have a life on Frasers Ridge. There are moments where she talks to Roger about returning to their time but there is something constantly holding her back. Skelton finds her character growing mentally stronger as well and beginning to understand more and more Claire and Jamie’s reason for being together and the life they have made. If it were me, I would see the struggle as well with going. There is also a scene where I saw the “James Fraser” side of Brianna come out and it was well done.

Rankin as Roger certainly has a rough season! He finally marries Brianna, they start creating a life of their own, but Roger believes that with his son, safety is everything and that includes medication and a less violent life in the future. It takes returning to the stones for him to realize that perhaps he is over thinking things and appreciate where he is and who he is with. I like Roger and this season he gets his chance to show what the professor side of him is made of!

Lacroix as Murtagh Fitzgibbons is such an amazing part of Jamie’s life and has been for so many seasons. Finally, he sort of breaks away to find a place of his own in the world by helping others fight against the rich taking from the poor. He has plenty of practice in Scotland in how to deal with those who think they are better, and it is coming in handy in the United States. The problem is the British don’t take to kindly to it!

Maria Doyle Kennedy as Aunt Jocasta (and may I say I am a huge fan!) may be blind but she sees everything perfectly, well almost everything. She still has a few surprises up her sleeve and not a good surprise waiting for her. She might not always say the right thing when it comes to Claire or even Roger, but she is a dedicated Aunt to Jamie.

Bell as Ian returns to Frasers Ridge with a story, he is not willing to share with anyone. It is clear that something pains him deeply and as only a few tidbits are told; it leaves the rest of us waiting till season six hoping there is something else to his melancholia. His return brings a strong arm with it as he tells it like it is to his Uncle Jamie and defends Claire with everything in him.     

Speleers as Stephen Bonnet and there pretty much isn’t anything nice we can say about his character. He’s back, causing trouble and plotting against Brianna in the worst way possible. You might think there is a moment there where maybe he’s just misunderstood…nahhhhhh…he’s as bad as we all think he is! Well done Mr. Speleers!

Shout out to Chris Larkin as Richard Brown and Ned Dennehy as Lionel Brown. I wasn’t sure which one I wanted to knock out more but by the end of the season it was clear that Lionel Brown needed something extra to remind him of who he is messing with! That’s all I have to say about that.

Other cast include: Cesar Domboy as Fergus, Lauren Lyle as Marsali, Colin McFarlane as Ulysses, and Kyle Rees as John Meyers.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment encompasses motion picture production for television, digital content and theater releases. The studios include Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, TriStar Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Stage 6 Films and Sony Picture Classics. To see what is coming to theaters and to home entertainment please visit www.sonypictures.com.

The Bluray includes the episodes The Fiery Cross, Between Two Fires, Free Will, The Company We Keep, Perpetual Adoration, Better to Marry than Burn, The Ballad of Roger Mac, Famous Last Words, Monsters and Heroes, Mercy Shall Follow Me, Journeycake and Never My Love.

It also includes 4 exclusive OUTLANDER UNTOLD Bonus Scenes along with Deleted Scenes, The Heart of the Frasers, Expanding the World: Sets & Costumes, Episode commentaries, Blooper Reel, Strength in Action: The Women of OUTLANDER, Through Fire & Hell: The Finale, “Flowers of the Forest” Lyric Video and At Home with Adso.

There is also a Collector’s Edition Bluray set that will include a compact disc of the season 5 soundtrack, a 28-page digibook, and an excerpt from Diana Gabaldon’s upcoming ninth OUTLANDER novel, Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone, all within premium collector packaging.

I have been an OUTLANDER fan since the very first episode aired. The series has taken fans to the highest of highs and the lowest of lows and dialed in every human emotion possible and mixed in a little mysticism along the way. The story around Jamie and Claire is such a unique one that not having the series would be a shame because Balfe and Heughan are our Claire and Jamie. No one else will do – ever.

The chemistry between these two actors has held us captive for five seasons, and I think it will hold us for a few more. This isn’t a candy-roses-googly eyed love story; OUTLANDER is much more than that. It’s a leap into history, it is a romance novel come to life in ways we couldn’t have imagined, and it is a story of human endurance pushed past everything inconceivable only to come out the other side more determined.

That is Claire and Jaime because, and let us be honest, there are things that have happened to this couple that would buckle most of us. Even when they are separated, there is something that draws that back across time to finish what they started – taking us on a journey with them and we are more than alright with that.

This is a great chance to binge season five as OUTLANDER arrives on Bluray!

In the end – they stand for all!

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