Everything We Know About 'Outlander' Season 5

Starz's period drama Outlander is one of the sexiest shows on TV. Based on Diana Gabaldon's book series of the same name, it's also the rare series explicitly oriented to showcase female pleasure. The series tells the timeless love story of Claire, a World War II nurse, and Jamie, a Scottish highland warrior. While on honeymoon with her husband, Frank, in Inverness, Scotland in 1946, Claire is accidentally sent back in time to 1743, where she is taken in by a group of highlanders, eventually falling in love with Scottish soldier Jamie. 

Seasons later, Outlander has dragged Claire and Jamie across continents and time periods. Now, they're in 1770s colonial America, maintaining land in North Carolina and attempting to balance tensions leading up to the American Revolution. While the new season is still several months away, we already know a decent amount about what to expect. Here's everything we know about Outlander Season 5. 

Outlander Season 5 premieres on February 16, 2020 on Starz. Additionally, the series has already been renewed for a sixth season. 

Despite being several months in advance of the season premiere, Starz released a trailer for the fifth season during the 2019 New York Comic Con. It picks up in North Carolina where we last saw Claire, Jamie, Brianna, and Roger. However, it doesn't seem like they're looking to stay there for long -- on the cusp of war, perhaps Claire's future will be safer elsewhere. 

The core cast is returning for Season 5. That means Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan will return as Claire and Jamie, respectively, with Sophie Skelton back as their daughter Brianna. Richard Rankin is also back this season as Roger, in addition to Duncan Lacroix as Jamie's godfather Murtagh, a notable departure from the events of Gabaldon's book series. David Berry and Maria Doyle Kennedy will return as Lord John Grey and Jocasta. We'll also likely see John Bell return as Young Ian based on the events of the novels, and it's unlikely that we've seen the last of Ed Speelers' Stephen Bonnet. Based on social media posts, it looks like César Domboy is returning as Fergus Fraser, with Lauren Lyle's Marsali likely to follow. 

There have been a few new cast members added for Season 5 as well. Mark Barrett (Boundless) and Leonard Cook (Living Water) are both joining the cast in unspecified feature roles, per announcements from their agents.  

There's also, uh, a cat!

Loosely based off of The Fiery Cross, the fifth book in the Outlander series, Season 5 picks up in North Carolina where the action of Season 4 left off. What sets the book apart from others in the series is that it doesn't actually involve any time travel -- rather, the entire book is spent in the American colonies from the years 1770 until 1772. The novel is set against the backdrop of the Regulator Movement in North Carolina, a rebellion that was a precursor to the American Revolution. As Claire puts her modern medical knowledge to use in Fraser's Ridge, Jamie must balance protecting his family and maintaining his land. 

Notably, Jamie's also currently on the side of Redcoats. "He's actually on the opposite side of where his allegiance really is and his loyalty lies, but he knows he needs to do it," actor Sam Heughan told Parade. "He needs to do it for his family and for his tenants. He has to secure this land and make it a safe place for them, so he goes in league with the British. For Jamie, that's a pretty hard thing to do."

Further complicating the matter is the fact that Murtagh, who doesn't survive until this point in the books, is still alive. Moreover, Jamie's been tasked with hunting him down. "Personally, it's kind of ramped up every season for me," actor Duncan Lacroix said at the show's 2019 New York Comic Con panel. "I think the best work I've done is in this season."

Meanwhile, Brianna and Roger are still dealing with the fallout of the events of Season 4, with Roger and Jamie's relationship still strained after Jamie beat Roger thinking he was the one who had raped Brianna. If the books are anything to go by, it doesn't look like Roger is going to get a break this season either -- per Vulture, at one point in the novel, he gets hanged (don't worry, he's okay). Brianna has to deal with her own trials as well. Executive producer Maril Davis told fans at the show's New York Comic Con panel that Brianna is still "dealing with the ramifications of [Bonnet's] attack" during Season 5. In The Firey Cross, Bonnet returns and attempts to kidnap Brianna and her son, leading to a standoff. 

Past just summarizing The Firey Cross in its entirety (not even necessarily a productive task, given that the continuity of the series has already somewhat diverged from the books), there's not much else we know about Season 5. At the series' NYCC panel, Gabaldon did share that her favorite scene in the upcoming season included the phrase "fucking bastard snake," so we've got that to look forward to!

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