Dissecting the Outlander season 3 trailer: Jamie, Claire, Print Shop, and more

Within the first seven seconds of the new Outlander season 3 trailer, there is a new beginning for Claire Fraser in the form of her daughter Brianna’s birth. Her life was one built up of several different elements, ones that remained continuously separate in every aspect of it other than her mind. With Bree entering the world, all of a sudden her past and present collided. She had a visible, human reminder of Jamie Fraser, something that was not there anywhere else in 20th-century Boston.

In those opening seconds, she feels a sense of joy and subsequent longing that must be almost indescribable. Then, this moment of arrival is followed up with Frank saying “we’re going to be all right. I promise.” Maybe this moment takes Claire out of her joy and remembrance and into her reality, where she does still have Frank, and where she doesn’t have anything else that she can look at as a sign that Jamie is around. Maybe Frank is trying to convince himself, or maybe he really believes it.

No matter the interpretation, the look on Claire’s face after he says these supposedly-reassuring words is the foundation for our new Outlander trailer analysis, where we’re going to do our best to dissect everything that you see here. Claire’s reaction to Frank is so interesting. There is almost a millisecond of hesitation, but then she gives into his reassurance and kisses him. Maybe this is her trying to make the circumstance work, or maybe there is a part of her imagining that it is Jamie within this moment.

No matter what Claire was thinking in this moment, it is no coincidence that the trailer transitions from Claire and Frank in this moment into Claire looking increasingly reluctant to engage in a life with him. He grows frustrated with her, reminding her that the idea was for them to raise this child together. He feels like she never really came back, and she feels as though he is asking her to pretend as though nothing ever actually transpired at all. There is tremendous discord within the relationship, and at around the 33-second mark of the trailer, you see the height of the pain as the two are separate in distance as well as in mental constitution. These are two people struggling with the concept of union, and what it means to be together when there is such an emotional split between them.

The Brianna connection

It is following this part of the trailer that you are reminded of what unifies Claire and Frank and gets the two of them to tolerate one another’s presence: Brianna. You see stages of celebration in her life, whether it be school achievements, a birthday, or her graduation. She and Frank try to make this work to provide stability for her, but even this house of cards is destined to call. Frank senses it rightfully in her eyes, since every time she looks at her, she is reminded of Jamie. Meanwhile, Frank is left on his own island. While we don’t want to go so far as to call him a sympathetic figure, this trailer paints him wonderfully as a human figure. You see him be selfish, demanding, and also incredibly frustrated, but in this situation, wouldn’t you also be? Maybe you could just hope to handle it better than Frank does.

Throughout the trailer, you get several different glimpses of Tobias Menzies’ character, and it leads you to wonder just how happy the man ever was and what he ultimately aspired his life to be. Most likely he had many great visions of Claire coming back, but it never equaled the one that he had previously in his head.

First sighting of Jamie

It is just after the 51-second mark that you see Sam Heughan for the first time, and while his subsequent arrest after Culloden is a hardship, the bond that he forms with Lord John Grey is a valuable one. This is the first video footage of Grey on the show (you can see an image over here), and this is important in establishing the latest update on the friendship that exists so wonderfully between these characters. Grey will prove essential to this tale, and in the Diana Gabaldon universe, many others as well along the way.

In general, we have seen Jamie in so many states of devastation that in comparison, the stakes for him under capture here are not anywhere near as high.

The search for Jamie begins

By and large, this is mostly a trailer about Claire, which we’re fine with given that this is technically her point of view from the most part. You do get an image of Sam fighting in Culloden amidst a series of other flashes, but the final montage following Jamie’s arrival is transfixed more on giving you Claire has become since returning to the present day — a prolific surgeon, and someone who’s taken her skills in the medical field to the next level.

Meanwhile, you also see her newfound search for Jamie with the assistance of an adult Brianna (Sophie Skelton) and Roger Wakefield (Richard Rankin). There is some romance between the two here, but the focus remains on the hunt for Jamie, mixed with some of Claire’s fear that even if she does find him again, it could be temporary and heartbreaking once more. This quote explains it all: “Twenty years ago, I shut the door on the past, and it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I can’t go through that again.” That’s a powerful, heart-wrenching statement that explains precisely how difficult it was for her to detach herself from that great love. Even if she finds him, there is that fear that the great love will not be the same.

This is the part that really matters to many of you out there…

At around the 1:45 mark, you get the beginnings of the famous Print Shop scene, one that there is probably more anticipation for than any other in the entire history of the series. After all, this is where the lost becomes found!

We hope that the show can live up to that hype; intentionally, we’re not a book reader and are trying to steer clear of what happens in the source material there before seeing the show. We want to be able to judge the magnitude of this moment independently, but we have a feeling that it’s going to be pretty darn fantastic. Clearly, Starz feels like they have a winner on their hands with how they’ve placed this near the end. They also know what it is that fans so clearly want.

That’s all folks!

Well, for now. As a whole, though, this trailer packs a heck of a punch emotionally, visually, and in terms of the characters and performances. If the rest of the season is like this, we’re going to have plenty to discuss in the weeks and months to come.

Now, we turn this over to you

Let us know in the comments what you think about this Outlander trailer, and what some of your specific impressions are.

Meanwhile, be sure to visit the link here to get some further information now when it comes to the show, including what you can expect from the upcoming Comic-Con panel. (Photo: Starz.)