Outlander season 5: Just how secretive is it for some of the cast?

With each passing season of Outlander, trying to find news about filming is like trying to solve a puzzle. Maybe for the first couple of seasons, it was like trying to solve one with just a few hundred pieces. Now, we’re clearly in the thousands! Production has made it so much harder for information to be found about filming locations, dates, and the like. It helps them to have a more efficient set when they’re out in public places; beyond just that, it keeps spoilers at bay.

If you were thinking that production was just being secretive to fans you’re wrong about that — they’re even secretive to some of the people working regularly on the show! It’s crazy in a way given that much of the show is based on the Diana Gabaldon series, and you have a general idea as to where most of the stories are going. That still isn’t changing the basic M.O. for how the producers want to do things! They clearly think that the secretive nature of production benefits them and we get it. If you’re spending the majority of your year working on delivering a product, you want it to be seen in its final form before judgment is made. It’s so easy for the internet to tear apart a set photo (tearing things down is what the internet loves to do best sometimes), but many times that photo is out of context.

In a post on Twitter, actor Colin McFarlane (who you know within the Outlander world as Ulysses) said in response to a fan that “all TV plot lines are a closely guarded secret!! Even we don’t know what’s coming next until we get the script!” Translation? That he’s just having to work week-to-week with the stories that he’s given, rather than having some big, complete arc for his role in advance. Can he look to the books? Sure, but if Duncan Lacroix assumed that his story was directly based on the books, he would’ve been looking for another job a long time ago.

Do any actors get more of an advance heads-up?

In some cases, it’s likely. For example, we’re sure that Richard Rankin and Sophie Skelton had a good sense of where their journeys were going last season since they were such a major part of the series. Meanwhile, Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe are both producers on the show this season, and with that comes a greater sense of collaboration. They’re more involved in the story and direction of the series than they’ve been in the past, which in our mind seems logical given that they’ve spent more time in these characters’ worlds than many other people. They’ve also been a part of the on-set environment now. There’s something organic that comes from that and it offers up a different speed than what you get within the writers’ room.

Outlander season 5 is currently in production; expect to see it premiere at some point in 2020.

What do you think it’d be like, playing a part but not knowing too much about what’s coming far in advance? Be sure to share right now in the comments.

Photo: Starz