Outlander season 3 notes: Caitriona Balfe at Highlanders 2; print shop talk

What did you do this weekend? For some Outlander fans in Blackpool, they had a chance to interact with Caitriona Balfe! The series lead was one of many cast members in attendance for the Highlanders 2 convention, and the video below via Twitter is a cheeky reminder from her (and a ton of attendees) that Sam Heughan is not in attendance. (He originally was planning to be there, but was forced to cancel due to scheduling conflicts.)

Some of the other attendees this weekend included Stephen Walters and Graham McTavish, and there was plenty of fun to be had by everyone who turned up. Outlander conventions are something we’ve seen a little more of over the past couple of years, and it makes sense given that there are enough big names in the cast to merit a separate convention all about the show as opposed to attaching them to one of the larger ones out there. Not only this, but they offer up fans all over the world an opportunity to meet some of their favorites (plus other fans in the Outlander family!). Given that most of the major conventions are rarely outside of America, these smaller ones are important for fans in the UK and elsewhere for a more personal experience.

If you look all over social media this morning, you can see some photos that Balfe and the other cast members took with various fans. Many of these are rather humorous, but it feels a little bit weird tweeting personal photos with cast members for a news story.

For the record, those of you who are interested in seeing some cast members in France should visit the page for The Land Con! It’s happening in October, and features a roster that includes Heughan, McTavish, Steven Cree, Sophie Skelton, Richard Rankin, and Lotte Verbeek.

A print shop tease

We presume that many of you have already seen some of executive producer Matthew B. Roberts’ comments on the epic scene to Entertainment Weekly, but we wanted to share and focus on one part of it here. In the quote below, he explains how the show is changing one part of the scene in allowing you to see where both Jamie and Claire are coming from entering this pivotal moment:

“It’s not just Claire’s story. It’s Jamie and Claire’s story … So, we wanted to show both perspectives. In the book, you get it from Claire’s view. She comes in the print shop. It’s really kind of told from her POV. I wanted to give Jamie’s POV of the same moment. I wanted to also give the fans the moment twice. They’ve been waiting for it for a long time! So, rather give it to them one time, you give ‘em something they don’t exactly expect.”

Anytime that you make any sort of change, one of the things that you need to prepare for is backlash; yet, we don’t think that the intention for Roberts or anyone in production is to alter the intention or spirit of the scene at all. It’s instead to accent it and make it all the more beautiful and important for both characters. There’s a great deal to look forward to when this airs a number of episodes into the season. It’s the main driving force of the story until we reach that point.

Want to see a different Outlander discussion?

We suggest that you head over to the link here, given that this is where you can see a debate as to whether or not 8:00 p.m. Eastern is the best time to air the series. (Photo: Starz.)