Warning: Spoilers Ahead For Outer Banks Season 4.Netflix’s Outer Banks season 4 has set up a shocking fifth and final season. Following the tragic death of JJ Maybank (Rudy Pankow) of the Pogues in Morocco, his life-long friends are out for revenge on his killer. Outer Banks season 4’s ending saw JJ stabbed to death by his biological father, Chandler Groff (J. Anthony Crane). As season 4 worked to unravel the complicated race for the world’s most treasured artifacts, Outer Banks season 5 will likely focus further on the outcome of the multi-season character arcs for the other Pogues through the lens of grief.
Before JJ’s death at the close of the season, the Pogues were juggling a variety of issues. Pope Heyward (Jonathan Daviss Jr.) risked jail time for aiding and abetting JJ’s escape and was nearly forced to join the Marines. At the same time, Sarah Cameron (Madelyn Cline) is pregnant with her first child by John B. Routledge (Chase Stokes), and the pair attempt to make their marriage official in court. Meanwhile, Rafe Cameron (Drew Starkey) may have finally redeemed himself. Despite Outer Banks’ finality surrounding JJ’s death, there are still many loose ends to tie up in the show’s final season.
7. Sarah Cameron’s Pregnancy With John B.’s Baby
The Couple Will Now Need To Find Stability For Their Future Child
After JJ vandalizes the downtown area of Figure 8, the wealthy Kook-dominated side of town, the group searches through the rubble for clues as to where JJ may have run off. Sarah slips into the local drugstore for a pregnancy test, and it comes back positive. In the bathroom of the drug store, Sarah first confides in Kiara Carerra (Madison Bailey), vowing to tell John B. once the group is more settled for the day. Sarah’s pregnancy marks the first among the Pogues of Outer Banks and is one of the biggest twists of season 4.
Sarah and John B.’s relationship has progressed every season since the pair first met in season one. The couple have been there for one another through thick and thin, from treasure hunting to family problems and the loss of both of their fathers. Ward Cameron takes a bullet for Sarah at the end of season 3, which saw the group find El Dorado in South America. Similarly, John B.’s father Big John, who was also on the expedition, passed away from a gunshot wound after an altercation with Singh’s men that could have killed his son.
Sarah intends to marry John B. and keep the pregnancy, as the couple continues to have the happiest and healthiest relationship on the show through open communication and unconditional support. While the pregnancy is welcome for the couple, who are 19 years old at this point in the show, Outer Banks‘ final season will likely see them struggle to find stability to raise a child, as they are currently unhoused. Both additionally have trauma from their respective upbringings in different ways and will have to reckon with these feelings as they embark on raising their child.
6. The Group Will Hunt Down Chandler Groff In Portugal
The Pogues Want To Avenge JJ’s Death
Outer Banks season 4 revealed that JJ was adopted, and his biological parents were Kooks. His mother was the late Larissa Genrette, and his father was Chandler Groff, a former Pogue who married into Figure 8 wealth. While JJ is cautiously optimistic about getting to know his father, the season ends with the revelation that Chandler is an internationally wanted violent criminal, and he likely killed both Larissa, JJ’s grandfather Wes, and more people in the Outer Banks and beyond. As Chandler races the Pogues for the prized Blue Crown in Morocco, he stabs and kills his son.
JJ was a lifelong best friend to the Pogues and Kiara’s boyfriend. While reckless, his selfless nature often kept the group together and helped several of the members out of jams throughout Outer Banks’ four-season run. Devastated, and knowing that Chandler was set to head to Portugal with the rare artifact, season 4 ends with the group plotting to avenge JJ by killing his father.
At the same time, Pope made a life-altering decision. Usually the most level-headed of the Pogues, Pope instead acted on impulse and shot and killed Lightner (Rigo Sanchez), a violent mercenary. The murder was to avenge Terrance, a ship captain who acted as a surrogate father to Cleo Anderson (Carlacia Grant), Pope’s girlfriend. Terrance helped the Pogues survive the Caribbean and was murdered by Lightner in front of Cleo this season. Once Lightner’s men find out who killed him, they will likely also go after Pope.
5. Rafe And Sarah Reuniting With Wheezie
The Oldest Cameron Siblings Made Up This Season
Outer Banks season 4 finally saw Rafe’s redemption arc. While hesitant at first, he ultimately decides to help the Pogues after Chandler makes an enemy of him as well, finally placing them both on the same side of the treasure-hunting battle. When Rafe tells Sarah he fears trusting her after everyone in his life has let him down, Sarah reminds him that she is all he has left. The pair finally make up after three seasons of opposition.
Rafe briefly mentions attempting to free Wheezie (Julia Antonelli), the youngest Cameron sister, from their stepmother Rose’s custody. Rose frequently conspired to commit crimes against innocent people with the Camerons’ late father, Ward (Charles Esten). Ward redeemed himself shortly before his death by making the ultimate sacrifice to save Sarah in Outer Banks season 3. Now that Sarah and Rafe are finally on the same side and have learned to forgive one another, it is likely that the pair will soon reunite with their third sibling.
4. Rafe’s Broken Engagement
Rafe Broke Off His Engagement After Sofia Betrayed Him To Hollis
Rafe begins a relationship with Sofia, a Pogue who bartends at the local yacht club, in season 3. This season, Rafe tells another Kook that he does not take her seriously because of her socioeconomic status. Overhearing this, Sofia has no qualms about betraying him to Hollis Robinson (Brianna Brown), who intends to involve him in a bad-faith deal for the Goat Island Genrette family property. Sofia successfully conceals this deception throughout season 4, until Rafe proposes to her.
In a direct contradiction to what Rafe has previously said about her, he tells Sofia he wants to build a home for them and proposes with a family ring. When Chandler murders Hollis to yet again maintain full ownership of Goat Island, the layered plot is revealed, and Sofia comes clean to Rafe. In a crisis in Morocco, Rafe breaks off the engagement over the phone. Knowing about Rafe’s reactions to the betrayal, it is safe to assume that this pair is likely to split for good, and leaves the question of a new love interest for Rafe open-ended.
3. Deputy Shoupe Finally Prosecuting The Kooks
The Officer Finally Began Looking Into Local Corruption
Deputy Shoupe has served as a complicated figure throughout Outer Banks. At the end of season one, Rafe shoots Sheriff Peterkin (Adina Porter) and pins the murder on John B. When Deputy Shoupe takes Peterkin’s place in the police department, he is immediately critical of the Pogues and often assumes that the group is always in the wrong and guilty of the town’s murders. In reality, many of the show’s most brutal crimes were committed by Kooks.
Towards the end of Outer Banks season 4, Shoupe finally begins to catch on to the corruption of Figure 8. After Hollis turns up dead and bears strangling wounds, Shoupe finally puts the pieces together. He conducts an in-depth search that determines that Chandler is a member of the international treasure-hunting mercenary group the Lupine Corsairs, and is a wanted man in numerous countries, has created several false identities, and married twice.
He additionally realizes that Chandler must have killed the man on the beach and Wes Genrette, who were both strangled in a short sequence of one another. Realizing that Chandler is a highly skilled manipulator out for blood, Shoupe finally lets the Pogues go and begins to question how he has been prosecuting the crimes of the town. Season 5 could see Shoupe actively working on local criminal justice reform, bringing both Chandler and other corrupt Kooks to justice.
2. Pope’s College Journey
Will Pope Join The Marines Or Go To College?
Pope is the only member of the Pogues who worked on getting his General Education Diploma (GED) while they built their surf shop after returning from South America. While committed to the circle of friends and his girlfriend Cleo, Pope has always been thinking about his future beyond the Outer Banks. Since he has the most stable home life, his parents have long supported his academic aspirations. Despite the many setbacks, Pope planned to attend college after his gap year.
However, after his run-in with the law for protecting JJ from the police after he started a fight in the courtroom over the potential loss of their land, he was nearly forced to join the Marines to avoid prosecution. He instead runs off to help his friends get to Morocco. While most of the other Pogues are now orphans without stable homes,
Pope has always had the support for a more stable future. His decision to run from the law and eventually shoot and kill Lightner in Morocco could jeopardize his future, and if not, weigh heavily on his conscience given his strong morals.
Outer Banks season 5 could explore what Pope’s future will look like. Now that the group has lost everything, he could go back to relying on his trustworthy parents and their family fish shop, and perhaps his original plans for his future. At the same time, Pope is often the responsible backbone the Pogues need, and the next season will likely explore his complex feelings of grief, hopes for his future, and loyalties to the group.
1. The Group Will Fight For Poguelandia One Last Time
They Will Be Extra Motivated To Avenge JJ
After their return to North Carolina after finding the lost city of El Dorado in Outer Banks season 3, the crew buys the land that JJ grew up on. They build a dock and a humble surf shop and cultivate the land with a vast garden of crops. While they peacefully live off the land, JJ’s overeager anxiety about securing the land led to the group paying far above the asking price at auction. JJ additionally gambles off their last piece of gold, leaving the group financially vulnerable.
The battle to save their land, which they dubbed “Poguelandia” after the deserted island they were stranded on in season 3, is left open-ended. Especially now that JJ has been murdered, the group will likely fight harder than ever to keep the land in his honor as another step in avenging his death. With the amount of lingering questions Outer Banks season 5 has to answer, there may even be a time jump that offers a glimpse into how the Cut preserves JJ’s memory.
