‘Outer Banks’ Stars Tease What’s Ahead in Season 4: “Explosions, Craziness, Pogue Activity”
[This story includes major spoilers from Outer Banks season four, part one.]
The first half of Outer Banks season four ended with several cliffhangers for the Pogues, many of which should be resolved, to some degree, in the second half of the season.
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Over on Kildare Island, Rudy Pankow’s JJ probably gets the biggest bomb dropped on him when he learns that he’s not the son of his alcoholic and abusive father, Luke (Gary Weeks). His birth parents are actually the late Larissa Genrette and Chandler Groff (J. Anthony Crane) — making him the kind of person he hates, a Kook, and the grandson of Wes Genrette (David Jansen).
“It plays out in a series of outbursts,” Pankow tells The Hollywood Reporter of how this news will land with perhaps the Pogue-iest of the Pogues when the show returns Nov. 7 with the final episodes. “I think it’s an identity crisis in Part Two.”
He continued, “Like, who am I? Where do I stand? What kind of person am I now? Are my friends gonna judge me? And who do I look up to now? I think that’s how it’s going to play out.”
However, in Charleston and on the hunt for Blackbeard’s Blue Crown, Carlacia Grant’s Cleo, Jonathan Daviss’ Pope, Madelyn Cline’s Sarah and Chase Stokes’ John B are having their own rough time.
Pope and Sarah go into catacombs beneath an old church in search of the treasure, but are forced to hide among the rats when Lightner (Rigo Sanchez) and his boss Dalia (Pollyanna McIntosh) show up and grab a mysterious scroll that is most likely a map. When the mercenaries exit the catacombs, they close the only other exit left, leaving the Pogues to drown as the underground area begins flooding.
When Outer Banks returns next month, Daviss teases he’s “still in the catacombs, so hopefully we’ll find a solution to that problem. A lot going on the cliffhanger, a lot of revelations happening, those things will be continued to be explored.” The Do Revenge actor also says fans can expect to see “explosions, craziness, Pogue activity.”
Cleo, for her part, is reeling from the loss of Terrance (Terence Rosemore), her beloved father figure who returned to the series after being introduced in season two and who was last seen in season three. The shipping captain was brought in to work with the mercenaries as a crew member-for-hire on their hunt for Blackbeard’s treasure. But when he realizes Cleo is involved, all he wants to do is protect her.
After the mercenaries kidnap her, and she tries to fight back, Lightner kills Terrance, a loss that the actress says will stay with her character throughout the rest of the season.
“Cleo is working to find her way to work through her trauma and to work through the loss of Terrance, also while getting revenge, also while trying to maintain this relationship [with Pope] and a relationship with friends, all while finding her footing and being in a new country that she’s not from,” she tells THR. “Cleo is not the type to ever quit going after what she wants. That’s the tea.”
Back on Figure Eight, Drew Starkey’s Rafe seems to be turning over a new leaf and trying to make amends after years of feuding with his sister, Sarah, and continues his relationship with Sofia (Fiona Palomo).
Early on in the Part One episodes, Rafe is approached by Hollis Robinson (Brianna Brown), a realtor who previously worked with his late father, Ward (Charles Esten). She tells him about a big deal she has coming up that she would like to work with him on, but it would require him to put in a big chunk of money.
Sofia is initially hesitant and advises Rafe against it, even when her father asks her to try to convince him to agree to the deal. However, when Sofia overhears Rafe telling Topper (Austin North) and Ruthie (Mia Challis) that Sofia is not his girlfriend, she changes her mind. Sofia talks to Hollis, who tells her she’ll give her $25,000 if she can convince Rafe to do the deal. She takes the money.
After the interaction with Hollis, Sofia changes her tune with Rafe and tells him that he should make the deal, despite his intuition telling him not to. He does, and then he takes Sofia out to Goat Island, the property that is allegedly being bought in the deal, and tells his girlfriend that he wants to keep a part of it and build a home with her. She has a change of heart and tries to tell him not to agree to the deal, but it’s too late.
When asked how Rafe will react if/when he finds out that Sofia took money to try to convince him to take the deal, Starkey tells THR: “Trust is a huge thing for him, and I don’t think he’s ever really had anyone that he can trust, either his family or loved ones. So I think that’s a sensitive subject for Rafe.”
One positive thing to happen to the Pogues? All of their relationships seem to be going strong, and that’s not likely to change in the final batch of episodes.
John B and Sarah have been on and off since they began dating in season one, but by season four, they’re fully and indefinitely coupled up, going as far as to say they’re married (though, it’s not legal yet). The Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery star shares that she feels she and Stokes’ characters are endgame in Outer Banks.
“We started out as the season one star-crossed lovers, the will-they-won’t-they,” Cline tells THR. “It’s kind of like that forbidden love. But at this point now, they always come back to each other, and I feel like that’s just how their relationship is, and they always will, especially given everything they’ve been through, if what they’ve been through hasn’t torn them apart. I feel like they’re trauma-bonded for life.”
Pope and Cleo also seem to have found their stride, despite some heavy stuff likely in Cleo’s future while she copes with the loss of Terrance and almost being killed by Lightner multiple times.
As for JJ and Madison Bailey’s Kiara, who many people regard as the it-couple of Outer Banks, there may or may not be some bumps along the road for them. Fans have been speculating online that during Kiara’s Kook year, she may have been romantically involved with none other than Rafe.
Bailey and Cameron play coy when asked about this possibility, stumbling over their words. “No chance. I was at Sarah’s. We were friends. That timeline doesn’t overlap, because that was our friend time,” the Black Lightning actress says, giggling.
But whatever may be in Kiara and Rafe’s past (if anything), Bailey’s betting on her and Pankow’s characters in the long run.
“These characters have so much in common, and I think that they’ll go the distance if they keep their friendship at the forefront,” she tells THR. “They are two people who are so independent that that’s why they work together and just being themselves and giving the space for the other person to be themselves. So, as long as there’s never a hold-up on that, then I think they’ll be alright.”
Outer Banks season four, Part One is streaming now on Netflix. Part Two drops on Nov. 7
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