StarzDrama! Intrigue! Bad guys ogling Claire! Blood! Sex! Murder! Marsali and Fergus!Yes, Outlander is back, and it’s giving the people what they want, with a literal killer opening that sets the series up for its eighth and last season. This being the final on-screen round with time-crossed lovers Claire (Caitríona Balfe) and Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan), there are plenty of older, previously absent faces who have returned for the show’s swan song, as well as plenty of ghosts who loom large as Outlander makes its way to its final reckoning. And that’s just the first three episodes.More delicious is the fact that the final book remains both unfinished and unreleased at this time, which gives a whole lot of Scream 3 vibes. The irony of that statement being duly noted, what matters is the fact that while fans who have read or at least claim familiarity with the novels will recognize a few of the developments, no one can really claim to know what exactly is coming. Even the show’s leads, who have avoided almost certain death throughout its previous, tumultuous seven seasons — sometimes due to sheer plot armor alone — cannot claim safety; one thing Outlander has been consistently aware of is that time will inevitably claim its own.Such knowledge is appropriate to a story where time travel plays such a large role, but in Outlander there’s always more to it. There’s history, and then there’s the lives lived between its lines. It naturally follows then, that the latest twist would involve the life the married soulmates never got to share in, with the very strong possibility raised that their first daughter Faith, whom they both believed was stillborn, not only lived, but was mother to young Fanny (Florrie Wilkinson), whom the Frasers took in and now believe may be their granddaughter.Along with the looming personal stuff, there’s also the issue of the Revolutionary War, which is still a thing as of the opening. Jamie may have resigned his position in the Continental Army, but war has a way of upsetting even the best intentions at a peaceful life. Naturally, it isn’t long before violence comes right to his North Carolina backcountry doorstep as Jamie and Claire return from the fight to their home on Fraser’s Ridge.It’s awkward timing in more ways than one, and the turbulence of our present time is likely why there’s a noted absence of the usual stirring speeches about the patriotic fight for freedom. With those in highest public office stripping entire populations of not just human rights (an offense in itself), but the basic means of living, seeing how it all began and the sacrifices made to ensure the future may feel like especially bittersweet viewing. And while the central couple may be firmly on the right side of history this time and committed to the American cause, viewers will likely be uniquely open to their friendship and family ties in the Loyalist camp.The politics at play in the final season of Outlander lets the show give into its worst and best habits. | StarzCruelty, of course, is not limited to any border or nationality, and at times Outlander is tedious bordering on unwatchable in its commitment to realistic violence, with its infamous and numerous scenes of sexual assault making it unwatchable to even some of its fans. But the show also risks falling into another common trap: that of developments serving as plot points that must be gone through the motions of in order to arrive at its end game.There’s at least a good excuse for such predictability, since the show’s original villain makes a kind of return that can’t help but take a toll. Viewers have been aware that Claire’s long-suffering 20th century first husband Frank looked exactly like the show’s first villain, the vicious British officer Black Jack Randall (both played by Tobias Menzies), from the beginning, but Jamie is learning this for the first time, with the publishing of a history book authored by Frank that also predicts his death.Everything, it seems, comes full circle, including unsettling glimmers of what awaits America due to its refusal to commit to the ideals it claims to be built upon. The past may never die on Outlander, which is a very fitting concept to potentially end on in a time where our worst side continues to claw its way into our lives and politics.Outlander Season 8 premieres on Starz March 6. New episodes air Fridays.