User reviews

I enjoyed this show very much, part 1 was terrific: beautiful landscapes and costumes, humour and very good acting. Part 2 and 3 were nice, but then it became pretty ridiculous. But I kept watching, because it remained quite entertaining. But season 6! It is terrible, can't watch it. The characters have become more and more one dimensional. Jamie's face always has a big frown, his posture seems frozen and Claire can only look worried and serious with big watery eyes. No laughing, no humour and a lot of new and uninteresting characters. Outlander has become something between Little House on the Prairie and Dr Quinn Medicine Woman. It is painful how such an outstanding show has become a cringing soap :-(

I read the books in the mid 90s, and got as far as A Breath of Snow and Ashes, got bored with the storyline and stopped.

When the series started, it was so good - season 1 and 2 particularly. The acting was great, the set, the music, everything. It was so close to the first couple of books, I couldn't fault it.

But what on earth is going on with season 5 and 6? Paricularly in season 6, from the background music that is straight out of Days of Our Lives, to the acting, which is just woeful. Woeful! From the main cast, to the supporting cast, it's just terrible.

The storyline chugs along without holding my interest. I'm not really interested in the wars in America, but if drama was created through the writing and acting, I would, but not with what we have here.

I think this will be, for me, like the books - I'll just leave it here.

First season I loved it Second season Claire is so annoying Third season should change the name to: All about Claire and everything she wants, the most selfish person.

Season 1 and 2 were exceptional. Every episode in season 3 is beyond predictable. The secrets and deceit of the self righteous mother and daughter are ridiculous, but are required to create the next tragedy and keep the story line moving slowly forward. egad.

I should start by saying that if I had ratied 'Outlander' when I first started watching it, I probably would've given it an 8 or 9 star rating. Seasons 1 and 2 were fantastic - beautiful cinematography, luscious landscapes, rich in culture (particularly Scottish culture), great costumes, compelling love story, intriguing drama and likeable characters. The love story between Claire and Jamie (and chemistry between Caitriona and Sam) alone was enough to keep me hooked.

Unfortunately, by the time it hit season 3, it started to hit some roadblocks. The never-ending melodrama and misery gets to be too much after a while. I understand that life in the eighteenth century was more difficult and brutal than life is today, but to assume that life was a never-ending string of crime, war, violence, rape and disease is too exaggerated and stereotypical. The characters (or the audience, for that matter) aren't even allowed a moment of reprieve. Eventually, the misery the characters have to endure stops meaning anything because it's just another day for them like any other.

Seasons 1 and 2 had coherent plots which kept the story propelling forward, but seasons 3 and 4, were lacking in any real plot-line and became too nonsensical. It feels like the writers are conjuring up any nonsensical drama they can in an attempt to shock the audience, but it just doesn't work. It follows the exact same formula every season - Claire and Jamie are happy for 5 minutes, raunchy sex scene, they're separated by circumstances, whilst they're apart they're depressed and can't stand living without each other and eventually are reunited in some EPIC romantic scene with swelling music and a running hug. It's tiresome and dull.

Season 4 was by far the worst season of the series so far and probably the last season I'll be watching. At this point I don't see what the point is anymore, because when will it ever end? There's no story left to tell, it's just endless dramatics for the sake of it and fabricated and unrealistic obstacles which are purposefully built for Jamie and Claire to overcome to prove that they're true love when we've been told that repeatedly for 4 seasons.

I was tempted to read the books, but regardless of how much better than the show they might be, I don't think I could withstand sitting through endless novels dedicated to this over-dramatic, depressing and never-ending story

Started out as a great show but sharply deteriorated with the addition of Sophie Skelton. Very poor interpretation of Brianna and I stopped watching because it was unbearable. Revisited the series after 4 & 5 were released and I was just as put off by her after a break from the show. So disappointing to ruin an engaging story and adaptation with poor casting.

I could give 10 for the first 2 seasons, i was completely hocked! Awesome story, you could feel the characters. simply GREAT. But then season 3... its like another serie. Too much luck always bringing them together, the characters loose all their strength, and become very annoying. I am honestly skiping whole blocks of 10min, cause nothing happens. They ruined it.

p.s. Havent read the books, i dont know if the books went bad by that time or just the serie.

I was looking forward to watching this series. I even bought the book to become acquainted with the author and her story line. What I have come to find is that the character of Claire is a turn-off - both the series and the book. She is boring, mouthy, sarcastic, disdainful, pouty, over-judgmental. The first episode was OK with the exceptions of her barking orders for sterilized bandages in the middle of the night in the country on muddy roads in 1743 from a band of Scottish Highlanders. Then she further expects sterilized items in the middle of 1700's while in the castle. Now as the series progresses she has become insufferable with her narrations and continued smugness. I expect they believe that she is representing a strong woman. I believe strength comes from within and you don't need to be smug about it. Too bad they don't have her playing it more like Judi Dench or Helen Mirren would have done.

Also, the first two episodes stuck to the story line. However, they have deviated from the books and are now throwing in rubbish for Claire to spout. Even in the books, I found her nauseating. Boring. Boring.

The male actors seem believable, at least so far. Even in the book they have a more down to earth, common sense attitude - except for Captain Randall who is a deviant.

I am not sure if I will continue watching the series.

I just started season six and honestly, I have lost interest. Just too many seasons at this point. Prefer the new limited series that are streaming on other services. Show needs to end.

A sci-fi adventure into the past containing not much adventure or sci-fi but instead a lot of romance and overly long scenes of making love. I was hoping the pace would pick up and something interesting to happen but instead the pace gets slower with every episode.

Speaking of the love making scenes: after episode 8 they are present in abundance and overly long. After a while it starts getting on your nerves. Especially the FAKE moans....

In the beginning the show had some "adventure" going on but after episode 8 it starts to get really repetitive. Every episode is more or less the same: Claire gets into trouble. To highlight the danger her shirt is ripped open and boobs hanging out. Then she needs saving by her handsome knight in shining armor and they make love afterward (or beforehand, or in between...).

Overall i am really disappointed. I feel tricked into watching this. After investing countless hours into this it turns out to be just another romance story. Hardly anything interesting is done with the time travel aspect besides setting up the romance with her 18th century hunk.

This is clearly not intended for a male audience! Don't be fooled.

However on a positive note: the location, set pieces, costumes, cast and production are all excellent. If romance is your thing you will probably like this.

I'm really surprised people think this author's work is unique. It's standard bodice-ripper housewife porn that's been around for decades. In fact, it's VERY similar to a book I read in the 70's - beautiful woman visits old English castle and is transported back in time to fall in love with handsome knight who lives there. She must use her modern knowledge to survive, help him defeat his enemies, and find a way to return to her own time. Sound familiar? For the same reason I quit reading that genre, I quickly grew bored with this series. The predictable, orderly progression of romance genre plotting that in this case never ends - just keeps repeating.

Seasons one to three are entertaining, creative, novel... but then things start to drift and by season five we firmly in soap opera territory. All the mystery fades away into predictable storylines. I am sure many people like this direction. But for me the show lost it's shine.

Amazing scenery, costumes, characters and an unusual story that kept you engaged up till S4 and parts of S5. This was one of the very few shows where I enjoyed the different character arcs and side stories as they stitched it in very well with the overall plot.

However this all started to change in S5 and went into free fall in S6, this unfortunately is a classic example when a show drags on for sake of exploiting the fan base. S6 turned into a boring soapy and would introduce characters I neither care nor are interested in learning more about, random side stories (probably fillers) and only started moving the shows 'main' plot towards the end.

I only fear that the next season will be the same but all I can say is that I have lost interest in this show and will probably end up watching a break down of it on YT (if it ever ends).

The entertainment value of the first episode of outlander is comparable with breaking bad's ozymandias episode..

S1= 10 S2= 10 S3= 8 And after s3 it seems that the makers of this show have started giving a tough fight to indian soap opearas in terms of fillers and boredom.. S4= 5 S5= haven't dared to watch

Too bad about the poor dialogue, directing and editing. There are so many terrific opportunities for something spectacular. But they'e lost to the soap opera foundation. At times Tobias and Sam are really brilliant. Too often there's too much over acting with the others. It's very hard to care about anyone except the Jamie character. The history, time travel and plot lines are fascinating but don't balance the poor dialogue, and pace. The Clare character is not very likable or attractive. Occasionally she'll do something redeeming but she is basically unappealing. Too many scenes are very drawn out, like an emotional hammering in the event the viewer is a complete dolt. It's both embarrassing and insulting of the director, writer, and editor to treat the viewer with the disrespect.

Having approached the first episode with a large degree of excitement, having loved reading the books in the series, I was pretty disappointed to find myself completely underwhelmed by Claire.

Her performance is just disappointingly awkward and wooden and I can't find it in me to relate to or sympathise with her. She is undeniably a beauty, but that's not making amends for the fact that she's a most unconvincing actress, and badly miscast in this. A less beautiful actress with even a touch of appeal or charisma would have done much better.

Since this most central character is failing so dismally I can't see myself watching for much longer, but I'll give it another episode or two in the hope of improvement.

I'm done with it! I stopped watching halfway through episode 8. I do not understand how a series can get worse, you would expect it to get better when the actors grow into their parts more and more.

Jamie is irritating me more and more; absolutely not the character from the books. Too weak, too boyish, and Claire annoys me too! During the first 20 minutes of episode 8 I was so relieved they finally stopped those annoying voice-overs, but then they came back again. In general I find voice-overs to be a sign of a bad script, when the main character has to explain everything that goes on in her mind, and that certainly goes for this series. The viewer isn't stupid, give us some credit! Next there was the terribly badly filmed scene where Claire kills her attacker while Jamie is constrained by the other one. Everything in a bumpy slow-motion, like watching a Kung-fu movie from the seventies!

But the worst of all is that the makers of the series invented a complete storyline for Frank! It is to be expected that there are some changes when watching a book adaptation and if you are lucky, they are not too disturbing. But in this case the makers completely went the wrong way! In the book series it is not about Frank! He merely has a small supporting role. Wouldn't the actor sign his contract if his part was limited to the small supporting role as Frank and the role of his ancestor, the sadistic Black Jack Randall? Is that why they made something up to please him? But who cares what Frank does in 1945 after Claire went through the stones? He is absolutely not interesting or relevant and certainly not captivating enough to devote half of the episode to!

It it too bad, because I was really looking forward to the series, but I'm done with it! Fortunately we still have to books!

Terrible. And season 5 was t that great this show needs to pick up the story lines hopefully the revolution will kick in and make it better. I don't read the books so not sure if this is all they have to work with on tv side or not but the last 17 episodes were just blah. Season 5 ok but season 6 just awful.

This was better when they were in Scotland and France. America sucks (I say that as an American). Sure they followed the books and I haven't finished it so maybe they leave, but probably not. Another quality thing Americanized into a mediocre oblivion.

The 1st five seasons were great, season 6 a flop, I had to fight to stay interested...very disappointing. It seems as though the writers tried to turn this into something it never was a drama.

Watched 9 episodes, and while the series has good acting and locations, it has a fatal flaw: it's boring. After 9 episodes not much has happened at all. You will see a nurse traveling back in time, almost get raped and/or kidnapped every other episode, mistrusted because she cannot explain where she came from, and in the middle of the struggle between Scotland and England, but don't expect to see much of that struggle in 9 episodes. It has a very slow pacing.