OUTLANDER on the cover of Entertainment Weekly!

10/04/2018 08:31:00 PM
Jamie and Claire Entertainment Weekly cover

Jamie and Claire Entertainment Weekly cover

Entertainment Weekly cover showing Jamie and Claire

OUTLANDER is on the cover of this week's issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine! The special issue features a look at OUTLANDER Season 4, including a photo shoot with Sam and Cait.

My reactions, in no particular order:

"Some like it Scot" -- really, is that the best they could do? Recycling a tagline from STARZ's Season 1 advertising from 2015?  How unoriginal. <sigh>

From their clothing and the background in some of the shots, this seems to be Jamie and Claire at Jocasta Cameron's plantation, River Run.  Talk about giving a misleading impression of what Season 4 will be all about!

Of the three covers shown above, I like the first one (with the two of them together) the best. On the other hand, I was really struck by the lifeless expressions on Sam and Cait's faces in many of these photos, as if to say, "We've spent the entire day posing for this ridiculous photo shoot, we're tired and bored, and we want to go home!"

I'm kind of underwhelmed, but that's all right. I don't think the diehard fans are the target audience for these covers. The EW people who put this photo shoot together are trying to sell magazines and/or get clicks for their website, and to that end, they'll do whatever they think will appeal to casual readers/viewers, whether it bears the slightest relationship to the actual contents of Season 4 or not.

At least they got to keep their clothes on for these pics, unlike the very controversial EW cover which some of you may remember from 2016.

Leave a Comment

9 comments

Sherry said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
October 5, 2018 at 1:51 AM
Mary Tormey said...

Hi Karen am not impressed with these photos they look tired and look very much like the ones taken last year for season 4 , also they don't look natural and the look very stiff and it looked as if EW didn't want to spend the money on anything new so they danced out the same tired outfits and posses , It would be so great to see Jamie in his Outlander kilt and plaid again it was one of the many things I loved about him in season 1 , but this is PR so I wouldn't take it to seriously . will be watching some of season 3 on DVD this Weekend. please post more soon. Sincerely .

October 5, 2018 at 9:35 AM
Carolyn said...

Karen, I thought the same thing when I saw the photos. They look bored with all of it and when I saw the red dress I wondered how that had shown up. Then I realized it was a different red dress. And why does Jamie always have to be dirty? Had they been dressed for an event, as Claire was, wouldn't he have been dressed up too? Or at least washed his face? I'm so disappointed in the lack of creativity that EW showed.

October 5, 2018 at 9:42 AM
Margaret 🇨🇦 said...

Agree. My first reaction was “This again?” Would like to see things ‘mature’ a bit. But I suppose it keeps them in the spotlight.

October 5, 2018 at 1:18 PM
KMC said...

Hi Karen, I agree with your comments. The EW cover, interior shots and the coverage is basic 'romance novel' and misses the point of this wonderful story. It is unfair to Diana Gabaldon whose books are so much more than romance novels, it's unfair to the TV show that is so much more than an adaptation of a romance novel and it is unfair to Catriona Balfe and Sam Hueghan the gifted actors portraying Claire and Jamie. I hope that other magazines will come forward with shots of Frasers Ridge, Jamie and Claire in rugged attire and show us photos that will 'really' get us in the spirit for season 4 and Drums of Autumn and not just a day at Aunt Jocastas. If this is for new viewers, I'm excited that they will get so much more when they watch the show.

October 5, 2018 at 1:22 PM
Unknown said...

Find nothing about these photos recommend them to me either. The cover of a trashy novel immediately sprang to mind. And what’s with Dirty Jamie? The shirt is filthy & so is he. That’s supposed to be appealing? I agree their facial expressions are not selling the story at all. Tacky!

October 5, 2018 at 2:40 PM
Sherry Watson said...

I deleted the previous copy of this as it got labelled anonymous, and I didn't wantto hide!
I usually try not to say anything unless it's positive, but this issue (pun intended) has prompted me to temporarily abandon that principle.
I concur completely, Karen. Garish, unimaginative, misleading come to mind. The vibe is also of male supplicant, not equal pairing. If I wasn't already invested in the saga (books, both the "great big" ones and the side stories, print and audio, tv series, DVDs) and I came across that cover in a store I'd never be drawn to it.
What gets me is that after all this time, and all the interviews, blogs, SM posts which are accurate, it's not as if the knowledge isn't out there and obtainable. I find it hard to guess the reasoning behind this type of publicity, which must cost an arm and a leg. How can the EW team get it so spectacularly wrong?

October 5, 2018 at 9:06 PM
KMC said...

Sherry, Spot on. Adding to the already egregious mistakes is not only Jamie being portrayed as a supplicant to Claire, but while she is so beautifully dressed and adorned, Jamie is dirty and dressed as a field hand, certainly not as an equal in this relationship. What is it they are trying to show here - Lady Chatterley with her lover in a sitting room because it certainly isn't Drums of Autumn.

October 6, 2018 at 12:48 PM
Susan said...

Expected Entertainment Weekly to do better by Outlander, their fans, and more importantly the outstanding actors who portray Jaime and Claire, Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe. This does not reflect the essence of Drums Of Autumn.

October 7, 2018 at 2:38 PM

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