Let’s begin with the obvious which is the death of JJ Maybank in the Season 4 finale.
After successfully obtaining Blackbeard’s Blue Crown, Chandler Groff stabs JJ in the stomach, leaving him to die in Kiara’s arms and the Pogues (plus Rafe) planning to avenge their friend.
When Deadline asked Outer Banks showrunners whether revenge is the theme of Season 5, Jonas Pate teased, “There’s where we start:”
“That’s where we start but I think it will go through different iterations. If you look at ‘The Count of Monte Cristo,’ one of the greatest revenge stories, you start with revenge, but it goes to understanding and forgiveness, so revenge goes on to different iterations of that, but revenge is where we start for sure.”
Previous seasons of Outer Banks have touched on the theme of revenge before and the Pogues’ temptation to give in to it. While the opportunity for vengeance in Season 5 will challenge the teens more than ever, the question is how far will they go this time and how it could affect them.
What Will Happen to Kiara Carrera?
Season 4 finally saw JJ and Kiara (Madison Bailey) in a relationship; but unlike Sarah and John B. and Pope and Cleo, Kiara’s now alone with the prospect of vengeance as her only comfort.
In addition to how she will handle the fallout of JJ’s death and her grief, there’s the question of what she will do once they return home to Kildare Island. Of all the Pogues, her future is the most uncertain heading into Season 5.
It’s also worth noting that Kiara saw her father protect JJ in Season 4, possibly setting up a better relationship between her and her parents before the show concludes.
Will Rafe Make Up With Sofia?
In Seasons 1-3, Drew Starkey’s Rafe Cameron has been a ruthless Outer Banks villain due to his insecurity and unhinged nature. But Season 4 offered a different perspective of Sarah’s brother, largely due to his relationship with Sofia (Fiona Paloma) to whom he proposes before joining the Pogues to find the Blue Crown.
But after he discovers Sofia played him in exchange for cash, he breaks up with her over the phone.
Knowing that Sofia truly cares about Rafe and only took the bribe after overhearing him downplay their bond, it doesn’t seem like their story is over just yet.
But just how it will end, and whether Rafe is truly reformed and can avoid his typical path of self-destruction, is a question Season 5 needs to not only address but explore.
Will Parenthood Break up the Pogues?
After various ups and downs in past seasons (check out an Outer Banks Season 3 recap here), Chase Stokes’ John B. and Sarah Cameron, played by Madelyn Cline, seem as solid as ever in Season 4 when Sarah discovers she’s pregnant.
But even though the couple is secure, their financial situation is anything but; and unlike previous adventures, this time, they have everything to lose.
The question in Season 5 is how their new responsibilities, and new awareness of their treasure-hunting risks, will affect their decisions and their relationship with the rest of the Pogues, and if the Pogue life is what they will continue to choose by the end of the series.
Will Pope Join the Marines?
After assaulting a police officer to save JJ in Season 4, Pope Heyward (Jonathan Daviss), who’s only ever wanted to go to college, is arrested. To avoid jail time, he has the option of joining the Marines; but he bolts from the recruitment center to reunite with Cleo instead before being whisked after to Morrocco to find the Blue Crown.
What Happens to Chandler Groff?
Outer Banks has a history of terrible fathers, but Season 4’s Chandler Groff (J. Anthony Crane) is the absolute worst.
In Outer Banks Season 4’s shocking Larissa Genrette twist, JJ learns Luke Maybank isn’t his real dad and that Larissa Genrette and Chandler Groff are his birth parents.
In Part 2 of Season 4, Outer Banks‘ JJ discovers Chandler Groff actually killed Larissa and then tries to kill him while the two are hunting for the Blue Crown. While he survives, in the season finale, Chandler ultimately succeeds.
Since the Pogues intend to hunt Chandler down in Season 5, the question isn’t whether audiences will see more of the psychopath but rather how his story will end, and if there will ever be justice for JJ and the Genrette Family.
What Will Happen to Goat Island and the Cut?
Since Season 1, Kildare Island has been divided into two halves: the Cut, where the working class lives, and the wealthy, touristy Figure Eight.
In Season 4, the Pogues learn of a plot to take over and develop the Cut, turning it into an extension of Figure Eight and leaving the Pogues without a home.
In addition, after the death of JJ’s grandfather, Wes Genrette, there’s a lot of talk about the Genrette’s ancestral Goat Island property and frustration over it being turned into a nature preserve.
Since Season 4 threatened the status quo of Kildare Island and left its residents in conflict over its future, Outer Banks needs to revisit this storyline and bring it to a conclusion before the end of Season 5.
BONUS: How Will Season 5 Handle the Cameron Reunion?
At the start of Season 4, the Cameron family seemed permanently shattered due to the death of Ward Cameron in Season 3, Rafe’s violent history with his sister, Sarah, and the fact their stepmother Rose and younger sister Wheezie had fled the U.S.
But according to Outer Banks showrunners, Caroline Arapoglou’s Rose and Julia Antonelli’s Wheezie, are expected to return in Season 5 (check out Outer Banks Season 5’s confirmed cast here) and in the wake of Sarah and Rafe seemingly patching things up.
Why they return and how this broken family will interact is one of Season 5’s most intriguing questions, as is Jonas Pate’s tease to Tudum about Sarah’s “big hole in her life with her (birth) mother” and the show’s effort to “pull in those parental relationships.”
Seasons 1-4 of Outer Banks is available to stream on Netflix; Season 5 has yet to receive a release date.
