Outer Banks Recap & Review

‘The outer banks, paradise on Earth.’ The Netflix show, Outer Banks, was released in 2020 currently consisting of 2 seasons, with the third going to be released at the end of February 2023. Season 2 came out in 2021, it’s now been about 2 years since and many people may need a bit of a refresher.

The show follows young John B and his friends who enlist on a journey to find a sunken ship which is linked to the disappearance of John B’s father. The young teens that reside in the Outer Banks have been divided into two cliques, the Kooks and the Pogues. The Kooks are standard, spoiled kids whose parents have money, while the Pogues have to work for their being. It’s a two houses or two jobs kind of thing.

During the first few episodes, we are introduced to the main four Pogues: John B, JJ, Pope, and Kiara-they are a tight knit group and do everything together. John B runs into trouble with the CPS since neither of his parents are currently in the picture, local Sheriff Peterkin gives John B a warning. He then decides to go out and look more into the disappearance of his father and what his father had been working towards.

After a hurricane hits the Outer Banks, the main group finds a key to a motel room which was on the sunken ship, inside this motel room is a safe which contains a gun, money, and an envelope. JJ takes the gun and money, later into the episode the Pogues go to a party on the beach. John B gets into an altercation with Kook member, Topper. In defense of John B, JJ pulls the gun on Topper when he attempts to drown John B.

John B then goes onto his employer’s, (Ward Cameron, Kook princess Sarah Cameron’s father), boat to borrow scuba gear to continue searching the sunken ship. On the journey back from the wreck, the group begins to get followed by two other men in a boat. Kiara then sabotages their boat and the group gets away. Later, John B finds his father’s compass.

Sarah Cameron then catches John B returning the scuba gear onto Ward’s boat, she promises not to tell anyone but Sarah’s younger sister overhears the conversation, word gets around and Topper tells Ward which causes John B to get fired. John B attempts to get help from someone through a connection when he finds a clue in the compass. 

Kiara then finds an envelope with a map of the Royal Merchant wreck and a recording of John B’s father. The group begin to search the wreck but have no luck finding any gold. The Pogues then crash a party, John B asks Sarah to bring him a map of Tannyhill where it reveals the gold to be. Topper then finds John B and Sarah kissing atop of a lighthouse where Topper then attacks John B and pushes him off the lighthouse, landing him in the hospital.

The group then go to the Crain house where the gold has been stashed, they all work together to get into the house and take the gold where they run into Mrs. Crain who attacks them. They leave with only a few bars of gold. John B then finds out that Ward Cameron knows everything and was involved in the disappearance of his father.

It is then revealed that Ward stole Big John’s map to the gold and left him for dead. Ward then gaslights Sarah and they end up preparing to take a plane to the Bahamas with the gold. Local sheriff Peterkin finds Ward and announces he’s under arrest, then and there is when Rafe Cameron, Sarah’s older brother, shoots Peterkin.

Following the sheriff’s death, Ward blames John B to protect Rafe. John B is now on the run from the authorities and people hunting him down. John B and Sarah then flee on a boat together when a big tropical storm hits. The authorities spot them which only causes them to sail further out. The boat then capsizes in the storm infront of everyone where they are both then pronounced dead.

Although, what the public doesn’t know is that John B and Sarah are not dead. They end up catching a ride on a cargo boat to Nassau where they continue their journey on retrieving the gold.

Season two begins with the Pogues mourning their loss of John B and Sarah, and the community mourning their loss of Sheriff Peterkin. The captain and staff of the cargo ship that John B and Sarah are on find out about the reward for turning in the two. He attempts to; but John B and Sarah escape and find a way of alerting the Pogues they are alright.

As John B and Sarah go to the vacation house where the gold is stashed, a security alarm is set off and sends a notification to Ward’s phone. This results in the Bahamian police showing up to arrest John B. Sarah then distracts the cops which gives her and John B a chance to escape. Ward and Rafe then head to the Bahamas, when they arrive John B, Sarah, and a few of the cargo ship staff help them separate Ward and Rafe from their security. They ambush them in a field, where then Sarah gets shot.

John B takes Sarah to the doctor where she then flatlines, but a few moments later her pulse returns. Rafe then reveals it was him that shot Sarah in an attempt to shoot John B. The Pogues find out more about the Limbrey house, they then escape the house and meet up with John B and Sarah. Soon after, cops sent by Ward capture John B.

JJ tells John B his plan to get him out, Officer Shoupe finds John B, who reiterates his innocence and tells him about the attempted murder. Shoupe’s SBI colleague reveals that the gun Rafe used to kill Peterkin is enough to arrest Rafe.

The cops are led to Rafe where they arrest him. The Pogues give the tape to the cops. Topper’s grandfather, Judge Holden, signs the warrant for Ward’s arrest. The cops corner Ward on his boat and the Pogues join them. Ward blows up the boat, here it is assumed he commits suicide.

In a recorded confession, Ward admits to killing Big John and Gavin. He owns up to Peterkin’s murder, allowing Rafe to walk free. JJ and John B see the Camerons board a boat named the Coastal Venture with the gold and the Cross (and Sarah as a hostage). Pope causes an explosion with JJ’s gun; the Pogues hide in a container. Ward is revealed to be alive.

Ward escapes and tries to strangle Sarah; John B incapacitates him; he and Sarah jump off. Someone then throws JJ overboard when Kie jumps off in an attempt to save JJ. The crew members help Rafe recover the Cross by shooting at Pope, who jumps overboard with Cleo; they get on the lifeboat, followed by Kie and JJ, who recovers consciousness. The Pogues leave, landing on a deserted island. The Sheriff’s department investigates their disappearance. It is revealed that Big John is alive and agrees to help someone if she helps John B.

Senior Laynie Ritchie shares her thoughts on both seasons, “Season two was a lot better than season one. I’m really excited to see what they do with the cast. In the first season I feel like the way they developed the characters wasn’t very different from the first season.” Although both seasons have strong plots, the character development is there but in the same way it has been. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing about the show, but it is something that could be expanded on.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Daniel Fienberg, “Confusion about the passage of time both within individual episodes and within the first season as a whole — you could tell me these 10 episodes take place over four days or over two months and I’d probably believe you — is just one of many narrative problems.”

Although the time period isn’t the biggest deal, it is a bit confusing when trying to figure out how quickly things are moving. There are some minor flaws in the show which aren’t all too noticeable, yet if fixed they would make a big difference.

IndieWire reporter, Steve Greene, shares opinions on the second season somewhat similar to Fienberg. With small issues in the show, Greene has a few positive things to say, “The show’s greatest asset is still the Pogues. As a unit there’s an easiness to their back-and-forth whenever there’s a break in the action. When ‘Outer Banks’ gives them some breathing room to learn about and from each other that comfort makes for something both grounded and satisfying. That Season 2 manages to squeeze in some of the carefree high school kickback sessions that peppered previous episodes is as confounding as it is welcome.”