It’s been weeks since the last new Outlander episode and you’re feeling hurt, confused, a little angry. We feel your pain. You had a date with the show every Saturday night, and then the mid-season finale abruptly put things on hold until (sob) April 4th.
If you’re already going through Jamie Fraser withdrawals, here are some tips to make it through the lonely months until the glorious kilt-clad ginger graces our TV screens again. And if you haven’t yet experienced the Scotland-set time-travel drama on Starz, consider this hiatus your official catch-up time. Binge-watching awaits!
1. Read everything Google will tell you about the lead actors (and learn how to pronounce their real names).
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Irish actress Caitriona (pronounced Katrina) Balfe plays Claire, a British nurse from 1945 who gets catapulted back to 1743 Scotland. Her 18th century love interest, Jamie, is played by Scottish actor Sam Heughan (HEW-an).
2. Follow the cast on Twitter and Instagram.
.@Heughan wow, don’t know quite what to say… Errrr Thank you … ?!? Ahem, just going to walk away slowly…. #awkward
— Caitriona Balfe (@caitrionambalfe) October 4, 2014
Things you’ll learn: Sam climbs a lot of mountains and Caitriona likes cats. Also there was that time Sam accidentally tweeted Caitriona a porn link on her birthday and it was hilarious.
3. Plan your trip to Scotland.
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Map out your own Outlander tour by visiting Inverness, Fort William and some standing stones. Who knows? If you’re lucky you may get transported back in time.
4. Read the books.
This one’s an obvious one. But if you’re dying to know what will happen after the mid-season cliffhanger, reading Diana Gabaldon’s novels (there are 8 of them) will give you the answers to that and more!
5. Learn Gaelic.
The show doesn’t subtitle the Gaelic bits, so now’s your chance to brush up so you know what those Scottish Highlanders are saying. Aye, Sassenach?
6. Rewatch “The Wedding” episode (aka the episode everyone was talking about) for the billionth time. You know you want to.
7. Scroll the Outlander Mean Girls mash-up tumblr and marvel over its brilliance.
8. Nag all of your friends to watch the show because they don’t know what they’re missing. (They’ll thank you eventually.)
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9. Wear lots of plaid. ‘Tis the season for tartan anyway, so you’ll be on trend and feel like you’re part of a Scottish clan.
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10. Drink whisky. Like a Claire amount of whisky.
11. Listen to Ron D. Moore’s podcasts.
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Moore, who exec produces the show, and his wife Terry Dresbach, the show’s costume designer, give insightful commentary on each episode. Each podcast is free to download on Starz.com.
12. Most importantly, keep reminding yourself: April will be here before you know it! You’ll get through this!
