Outlander season 3 trailer: Claire’s search for Jamie; first impressions
Tomorrow, we’re going to be back with a longer, in-depth analysis of everything that you see here — think along the lines of what we did for the first season 3 teaser that was released earlier this year. For the sake of this article, we just want to give you some of our first impressions on what you see here.
This trailer focused by and large more on Claire (Caitriona Balfe) than Jamie (Sam Heughan), which makes sense given that we do see more of the story through her eyes than anyone else. She is the person who is also now back in her present, dealing with the whirlwind of emotions that must constantly circulate within her mind. She still loves Jamie, but understands the utter impossibility of her situation at the moment. She knows that there is such great distance between the two of them that it’s hard to be confident in any future that they could have. She also had a daughter now in Brianna to care for, and technically a marriage to Frank — she may not have her heart into it, but it’s still there and it is a part of her life.
You do see Frank challenge Claire about their relationship in the trailer, which helps in informing us further of some of his own struggles — he sees Jamie every time that he sees his daughter, and that is a difficult thing for him to emotionally digest. He also must contend with a wife that is living in the past — centuries, to be precise.
What we do see of Jamie within this trailer is through the eyes of him returning after the Battle of Culloden to find once more peril awaiting him. He finds himself once again carted away, unsure of what his future is and if he will survive it. He’s also haunted by a ghost of a woman who is now in the future, and he doesn’t know if he will ever see her again. Yet, he understands the impossibility of the situation that he is in — but it was also impossible for her to be there the first time around. You have to keep hope alive in some way if you’re him, given that otherwise, you find yourself wallowing in some element of misery.
Overall…
This is an excellent trailer with emotional resonance and an emphasis on what matters most: The characters. We’d say that the initial teaser went more with a sprawling epic feel, so we like that this one focuses in on the fantastic performances of Balfe and Heughan — might as well get that Golden Globe campaign started early, right?
As always, feel free to share your thoughts on the Outlander season 3 trailer below.
Meanwhile, head over here for further news, and that’s also where our deeper analysis on the show and its future will be posted tomorrow. (Photo: Starz, thanks to TVLine for YouTube version of trailer.)