Outlander season 7 episode 9 return date: Why the long wait?

Earlier this week, some pretty shocking news came out regarding Outlander season 7 episode 9 — we are waiting a long time to see it. Filming has been done for a long time and personally, we had gone into 2024 feeling like Starz would likely air the remaining eight episodes at some point around June or July. That would put the show on the air around the same time it was in 2023, and there was a certain sort of symmetry that came with that.

However, that was before the stunning reveal that the season 7B will not be coming until November. That has led to a lot of frustration and/or confusion among the fandom. Why has the network done this? Well, let’s just say that there are a couple of reasons.

1. Starz’s programming schedule – Despite a number of recent cancellations, this is a network that still has a robust roster of shows that they have coming up in the months ahead. Meanwhile, they still only tend to air around 1-2 hours of original programming a week. That does limit to a certain extent how many shows they put on the air at one time, and it is one of the reasons why recent series like Hightown ended up on the air over a year after they finished filming. There are other shows like The Serpent Queen that still need to air that have also been done filming for a long time.

2. Their desire to space out all things Outlander – Remember that season 8 is the final season, and this has been a landmark show for the network. Their rationale is clearly that the longer they can hold on to these episodes and retain subscribers, the better. That also makes it possible that they can launch other shows around it. One of them is of course Outlander: Blood of My Blood, but there are probably other non-franchise shows in development that they may think share an audience with the Sam Heughan – Caitriona Balfe hit.

Will the show be worth the wait?

Almost certainly, but it is still strange to call this season 7B since the hiatus is so long, it could easily be a separate season in its own right.

Related – Read more from Starz about the Outlander return-date announcement

Why do you think we are waiting so long to see Outlander season 7 episode 9?

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