Outlander-Season 6 (Blu-ray) review

[David Vaughn]

Studio: Starz / Sony Pictures      

Release Date: September 20, 2022
Rating:  Not Rated
Film:  4/5

Plot
OUTLANDER: SEASON 6 sees a continuation of Claire and Jamie’s epic fight to protect those they love as they navigate the trials and tribulations of life in the New World. The series follows the Frasers as they strive to maintain peace and flourish within a colonial society which – as Claire knows all too well – is unwittingly marching toward Revolution. Against this backdrop, which heralds the birth of the new American nation, Claire and Jamie have built a home together at Fraser’s Ridge. They must now defend this home – established on land granted to them by the Crown – not only from external forces, but also from the increasing strife and conflict in the community within their care. For the Frasers and their immediate family, then, “home” is more than simply a site in which they live, it is the place they are laying the foundations for the rest of their lives.
  
My Thoughts
The sixth season of is based on the sixth book in Diana Gabaldon’s international best-selling Outlander series, A Breath of Snow and Ashes. After a long drought due to Covid-19, the show finally came back and while this season has its moments, there are long stretches where virtually nothing happens. There’s a show thread over at AVS that discusses this, and a lot of us felt the same way. While my wife and daughter assure me that the season “mostly” follows the narrative of the book, I didn’t find it as compelling as previous seasons.
 
My other gripe of this season is what is done to Claire’s character and her dependency on ether—this also upset my wife and daughter because this storyline was NOT in the books. In fact, it flies in the face of Claire’s character arc and has no place in the overall story. My hope is this is dropped next season because it doesn’t make any sense at all.
 
Like previous seasons, the production value of the show is through the roof, and it transports you back to pre-revolution America—although the revolution is just around the corner and Jamie is knee-deep in the politics of the moment. The costume design is authentic and the lead-up to the revolutionary war gives you a brief history lesson of the times as well as what life was like in the backwoods of the Carolinas.
 
The audio and video are consistent with the previous three seasons, which means it looks and sounds great. Thankfully, it’s an improvement over the compressed feed of watching via the Starz app. The video has a lot more depth and detail and the audio isn’t crippled by the low bitrate that streaming offers.
 
Video 4.5/5 

Audio 4.5/5 (DTS-HD MA 5.1)

Special Features:
 

• Two Outlander Untold Scenes
• A Look into the Animation: Outlander Untold
• Family Matters: The Ghosts of Trauma
• Two Blooper Reels
• Digital Copy

 

Conclusion
Season 7 of Outlander has already started filming and is rumored to be 12 episodes long. Hopefully the pacing is a bit better in the next season and the popularity of the series holds up so we can get another season or two out of show to keep up with the book series. Gabaldon has stated that there will be 10 books in total that follow Jamie and Claire’s story arc, so it may be a stretch to get that many seasons out of the show unless the actors are willing to not expect huge raises along the way. Regardless, if you haven’t watched this yet, the first five seasons are available on Netflix and it’s worth the time invested. It’s one of our favorite shows and I can’t recommend it enough.
 


Reference Review System:
JVC DLA-RS2000 4K Ultra High-Definition Front Projector
(Calibrated with Portrait Displays CalMAN color calibration software & C6-HDR Meter from Portrait Displays)
Stewart Filmscreen - Firehawk 88” 16x9 Fixed Screen
Trinnov Altitude 16 Audio/Video Processor
ATI AT527NC Powering Bed Channels
ATI AT524NC Powering Atmos Speakers
Panasonic DP-UB820 Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
System Controller: URC MX-990
M&K S-150 THX Ultra (R-C-L Speakers)
M&K SS-150 x4 (Surround Speakers)
Atlantic Technology IC6-OBA x 4 Overhead Speakers
SVS PC-Ultra Cylinder Subwoofer
HSU VTF-15H MK2 Subwoofer
M&K Sound X15+ Subwoofer
Dual JL Audio F-110 (stacked and treated as one sub)
Mini DSP HD controlling all subwoofers
Audioquest and Monoprice - Audio/Video/Speaker Cabling
PureAV PF60 Power Conditioner

[bmoney]

Thanks for the review as always