Outlander Is Releasing The Season 5 Premiere Early, Here’s How To Watch

outlander season 5 claire jamie starz
(Image credit: Starz)
(Image credit: Starz)

The Droughtlander is ending even sooner than expected! Outlander's Season 5 premiere was originally scheduled to release on Sunday, February 16 to give fans a belated way to celebrate Valentine's Day, 18th century-style. Now, however, Starz is giving fans a Valentine's Day present and releasing the fifth season premiere a couple days early! Yes, the long-awaited first episode of Outlander Season 5 will debut on Friday, February 14 at midnight. Here's how to watch.

The Season 5 premiere won't release on Starz itself on February 14, but rather on the Starz app and Starz On Demand. Both the Starz app and Starz On Demand are included with a Starz subscription, so plenty of Outlander fans will be able to catch the Season 5 premiere ahead of the February 16 broadcast.

If you're interested in watching early on the Starz app or Starz On Demand, the Season 5 premiere releases at midnight on Valentine's Day for your streaming pleasure! If you still plan on watching on February 16, then beware of spoilers on social media for the couple of days in between. Starz has released some info about the season, but the big twists are still shrouded in mystery.

The fifth season of Outlander will see the Frasers getting closer than ever to the coming American Revolution, and Jamie is currently on the wrong side of history thanks to his deal with the British Governor Tryon. That said, they have the advantage of knowing the basics of what happens in the war thanks to Claire, Brianna, and Roger as 20th century natives.

Even though that knowledge wasn't enough for Claire and Jamie to stop Culloden, all they have to do this time is to find themselves on the right side when the wrong things start to happen. Jamie is going to have to find a way to defend the life he already built for his family on Fraser's Ridge, while Claire has to use her modern medical knowledge and familiarity with the future to try and keep the family intact.

Meanwhile, Brianna and Roger will have to try and build their own life, though Bree is haunted by Stephen Bonnet and Roger has to find his place in a world he was not built for. As if this wasn't enough, Governor Tryon setting his eye on Murtagh means Jamie is tasked with hunting down his beloved godfather, which he almost certainly won't do.

Still, Murtagh's survival means even the greatest experts in Diana Gabaldon's source material don't know what's going to happen, since Murtagh died long ago in the books' timeline. The premiere should shed a great deal of light on what's happening in the rest of the fifth season. For now, check out the Outlander Season 5 trailer:

You can catch the Season 5 premiere early when it releases on Friday, February 14 at midnight on the Starz app and Starz On Demand. If you're going to wait until the linear premiere on Starz, you can find Outlander's big return for Season 5 on Sunday, February 16 at 8 p.m. ET in the show's regular time slot.

Unfortunately, the next Outlander Droughtlander will be even longer, so we should all try to enjoy Season 5 as much as possible ahead of the long wait for Season 6. For some more viewing options now and in the not-too-distant future, check out our 2020 winter and spring premiere schedule.

Laura Hurley
Senior Content Producer

Laura turned a lifelong love of television into a valid reason to write and think about TV on a daily basis. She's not a doctor, lawyer, or detective, but watches a lot of them in primetime. CinemaBlend's resident expert and interviewer for One Chicago, the galaxy far, far away, and a variety of other primetime television. Will not time travel and can cite multiple TV shows to explain why. She does, however, want to believe that she can sneak references to The X-Files into daily conversation (and author bios).