7 ‘Outer Banks’ Burning Questions We Need Answered in Season 4
A Pogue’s work is never done, especially when it comes to treasure.
Since we first met them, John B (Chase Stokes), Sarah (Madelyn Cline), JJ (Rudy Pankow), Kiara (Madison Bailey), Pope (Jonathan Daviss) and Cleo (Carlacia Grant) haven’t stopped running from the law and toward buried gold in Netflix’s Outer Banks.
They spent three seasons searching for the treasure of the Royal Merchant, a search that ended up holding the secret to El Dorado, the lost city of gold in South America. In the Season 3 finale, they found the promised land, even though the path to victory was paved with loss, love, and a few felonies along the way.
With the search behind them, the OBX gang has a shot at a normal life for the first time in Season 4. But will they take it? Or will they find themselves right back in the thick of trouble?
Before Outer Banks Season 4 officially kicks off, here are a few burning questions we want answered in the new season.
Outer Banks, Season 4, Episodes 1-5, October 10, Netflix
Outer Banks, Season 4, Episodes 6-10, November 7, Netflix
1. What did the Pogues do with all their treasure?
The first promotional teaser for OBX4 already answered part of this question. The gang has used their newly deep pockets to fund the Kildare County Surf Shop, which they have seemingly built on JJ’s family property. Custom boards, scuba lessons, rad t-shirts. What more could island dwellers want with their day? But in a bigger sense, how has becoming local celebrities who aren’t scrounging for respect or dodging the law changed the Pogues? Something tells us those days aren’t completely behind them. But the Pogues were celebrated as renowned treasure hunters in the final moments of Season 3, much to the chagrin of Sheriff Shoupe (Cullen Moss). Will it go to their head?
2. Can the Pogues ever find another adventure quite like the Royal Merchant?
Sure, the Season 3 finale left them with a shiny new quest to find Blackbeard’s treasure. But unless one of the Pogues is secretly related to Edward Teach himself, this next adventure isn’t likely to be as personal as the Royal Merchant was for them. John B thought he lost his father in pursuit of the treasure (and then he actually did), while Pope learned he was related to Denmark Tanny. Will the next treasure have as much personal stake for the Pogues, beyond Blackbeard’s association with North Carolina? We are about to find out!
3. Can the Pogues ever go home again?
The poster for Outer Banks Season 4 suggests their next adventure will bring the Pogues back to the Outer Banks and North Carolina after their recent trip to South America to search for El Dorado. But what is really left for them back home? Pope ran away from his parents’ pleas to stay focused on school. Kiara’s relationship with her parents got so bad they shipped her off to a behavioral camp in Kitty Hawk, where JJ coordinated his own prison break. Both John B and Sarah lost their dads, and Topper (Austin North) burned down John B’s house and the Pogues’ safe haven. The plot synopsis for the new season seems to suggest the gang might be living together in some new digs they’ve deemed Poguelandia 2.0. But it says nothing of the familial relationships some of them might need to mend for there to be any real homecoming.
One relationship that might be beyond repair is the one between Sarah and her brother Rafe (Drew Starkey), who has gone to extreme lengths to seize control of the Cameron family name since audiences first met him. In the penultimate episode of Season 3, Rafe second guesses his own plan to have his father killed and only narrowly saves him from the hitman’s bullet. From there, he puts Ward (Charles Esten) on a plane bound for the El Dorado treasure, but not before he makes amends with his pops and gets his blessing to take over the family business. While that wasn’t exactly a legally binding contract, it’s likely all Rafe needed to ascend the throne of the Outer Banks’ most notorious family in the aftermath of his father’s death.
5. Is Ward really dead?
On that subject, it definitely seemed like Ward died when he fell off a cliff protecting Sarah from a vengeful assassin. But after audiences were fooled once by his attempt to evade a murder charge, we can’t help but wonder if Ward is still up to his old tricks and managed to survive the fall. Or did he truly find his conscience – and his fatherly instinct – just in time to sacrifice himself for Sarah? Let’s just say, if he pops back up, we won’t be surprised.
6. Can the trifecta of Pogue couples make it work?
The Pogues are all officially coupled up! Sarah and John B, JJ and Kiara, and Pope and Cleo. With the romantic tension no longer fueling more than a few heated moments between our heroes, now comes the big question: Which of these couples can go the distance? Fans have been banging the drum for JJ and Kiara since day one, but Pope and Cleo have had a genuinely sweet connection since we first met her in Season 2. Meanwhile, John B and Sarah continue to… have their issues. Could Season 4 finally reveal the ultimate OBX endgame couple?
7. Will Topper ever let go of Sarah?
Topper, Topper, Topper. Just when you think he’s ready to move on, this lovelorn Kook finds himself pulled back in by his former girlfriend, Sarah. It’s usually when she has her latest spat with John B and needs a familiar shoulder to cry on. And yet, Topper falls for it every time. You almost feel bad for the guy… until she inevitably went back to John B last season and Topper got so mad he burned down the guy’s house with the Pogues inside. He also pointed the police right to John B, who was wanted for yet another murder. Hell hath no fury like a Kook scorned!
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