‘Outlander: Blood of My Blood’ Review: Starz’s ‘Outlander’ Prequel Will Seduce You All Over Again

I can admit that I’m probably an easy mark for Starz‘s new Outlander prequel series, Outlander: Blood of My Blood. After all, I’m a woman who loves romance, period dramas, handsome men in kilts, and steamy, dreamy sex scenes set in the Scottish highlands. And yet, I’m still somewhat overwhelmed by how much the first six episodes of Outlander: Blood of My Blood have swept me off my feet.

Outlander: Blood of My Blood might not have Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitriona Balfe), but it has the all-consuming romance, gritty action, gorgeous costumes, shocking melodrama, mystical magic, feudal politics, and enchanting Celtic backdrop that made Outlander such an intoxicating hit over a decade ago. Outlander: Blood of My Blood is going to be your new favorite escapist obsession.

The original Outlander series premiered all the way back in 2014 and introduced viewers to the epic saga of heroic 18th century highlander James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser and his time traveling soulmate Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser. When Claire initially travels back in time through magical stones, she finds herself immediately caught up with Clan MacKenzie’s drama at Castle Leoch. We hear about how influential and beloved Jamie’s deceased mother was in her youth, how she defied her brothers to run away with his unsuitable father. Outlander: Blood of My Blood finally brings this story to life, as well as a tale sure to catch even the most hardcore Outlander fans by surprise.

Outlander: Blood of My Blood not only delves into how Brian Fraser (Jamie Roy) wooed Ellen MacKenzie (Harriet Slater) in early 1700s Scotland, but it also explores how Claire’s parents, Julia Moriston (Hermione Corfield) and Henry Beauchamp (Jeremy Irvine) fell in love exchanging letters during World War I. The twist — that comes from series creator and long-time Outlander showrunner Matthew B. Roberts — is that Claire’s parents did not perish in a car accident, per Diana Gabaldon’s books. Instead, they, too, traveled back in time through the stones and were directly involved in the drama surrounding Brian and Ellen’s star-crossed love affair.

Outlander: Blood of My Blood opens during a fraught time for the MacKenzies. After the sudden death of their powerful patriarch, Red Jacob (Peter Mullan), surviving siblings Ellen, Colum (Séamus McLean Ross), and Dougal (Sam Retford) find themselves in a Succession-esque rivalry to determine the future of the clan. Ellen, a fiery beauty with a keen mind for strategy, was their father’s favorite, but cannot ascend to the Lairdship because she is a woman. Colum is the eldest son, and clever to boot, but lacks the physical strength and vigor to lead men into battle. Finally, Dougal is a charismatic warrior who inspires loyalty, but lacks the patience and wisdom necessary.

Meanwhile, the wealthy Grant family continues to grow more and more powerful in the region. Red Jacob kept them at bay, but with his death, a power vacuum has been left open for them to exploit. Elsewhere, the ruined Simon Fraser (Tony Curran), the former Lord Lovat, is plotting his own return to glory. Lord Lovat unfortunately prefers crafting underhanded schemes over putting his faith in his family’s future in the hands of his kind and handsome bastard son Brian.

If Outlander: Blood of My Blood sets up the perfect Scottish version of Romeo & Juliet for Jamie’s parents, it mines the best of epistolary romance for Claire’s. In the second episode, we learn how a desperate Henry Beauchamp writes a letter from the hellacious Western front that winds up in the hands of one Julia Moriston, working as one of the many women tasked with redacting war secrets from soldiers’ personal correspondence. Julia writes him back and they soon fall in love with each other via words. It’s a soulful, passionate affair that hooked me more than I expected.

Now, some Outlander fans might be loathe to watch a spin-off without Sam Heughan or Caitriona Balfe, but Outlander: Blood of My Blood‘s four stars perfectly embody the spirits of Jamie and Claire’s parents. Harriet Slater is absolutely dazzling as Ellen, easily living up to the character’s legend. Jamie Roy looks freakishly like a young, dark-haired Sam Heughan and possesses all of the young James Fraser’s soft sweetness. Hermione Corfield’s Julia is so eerily like young Claire, you might find yourself wondering if Starz found the technology to clone Caitriona Balfe for this project. Finally, Jeremy Irvine cuts a heroic, yet haunted, figure as Claire’s father. The Outlander: Blood of My Blood casting department truly pulled off magic with this ensemble. (Don’t even get me started on how Rory Alexander’s young Murtagh will make your heart melt!)

As much as Outlander: Blood of My Blood is designed to appeal to the flagship show’s passionate fanbase, it’s also a prequel series that newbies to the franchise can watch. You don’t need to know Jamie and Claire’s story to fall hard for these new love stories.

My only real complaint after finishing the first six of ten episodes of Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 that Starz sent critics for review was I didn’t immediately have more to watch. Somewhere between swooning over the show’s many steamy sex scenes and becoming enthralled by Episode 5’s bewitching Beltane sequence, I realized that I was one hundred percent in. Starz’s Outlander saga had seduced me fully once again. Will it do the same for you?

The first two episodes of Outlander: Blood of My Blood premiere on Starz on August 8.