Netflix’s hit show “Outer Banks” is back with another wild adventure that pushes the Pogues to their breaking points. This third installment has everything from intense family drama to long-awaited romances finally coming together. The only aspects missing were the values of friendship and family and the excitement that the previous seasons had.
Warning: this contains spoilers for “Outer Banks” seasons 2 and 3!
Season summary: the adventure continues
The Pogues are living on a deserted island dubbed ‘Poguelandia’ after escaping Sarah’s (Madelyn Cline) family at the end of season 2. After about a month of waiting for someone to find them, a pilot does and takes them to Barbados. The villainous Carlos Singh (Andy McQueen) kidnaps Kiara (Madison Bailey) for information on the golden city, El Dorado. She and Sarah’s brother Rafe (Drew Starkey) are being held in a fortress guarded by an army of Singh’s men, and the Pogues quickly realize they are in over their heads. They somehow find a way to escape Singh, and the Pogues make the journey back to the Outer Banks.
Once they are back in Kildare, John B (Chase Stokes) and the rest of the Pogues go head-to-head with Singh in the search for the El Dorado gold. This high stakes adventure is nothing short of outrageous, but there are plenty of twists that make it almost tolerable.
Father of the year
The infamous Ward Cameron (Charles Esten) makes his grand return this season in a coma. The effects of his fight with John B at the end of season 2 leave the viewers questioning if he will wake up, but he does in episode 3. He wakes up a “new man” and suddenly wants to resolve his relationships with his children. He gives Rafe control of his businesses, tries to connect with Sarah again, but ultimately goes back to his old ways. Ward follows the Pogues to South America and teams up with Singh to take the gold for himself. It’s not until Sarah is being held at gun point that he decides to be the good guy… again. He jumps in front of her and tackles the shooter off a cliff. It’s safe to say he’s actually dead this time.
Ward’s character goes from bad to good so many times this season; it’s clear the writers didn’t know what to do with him. It’s exhausting trying to keep up with his character line this season, and many viewers would agree it was a good choice to kill him off.
Back from the dead
Episode 3 also showed the emotional reunion of John B and his presumed-dead-actually-alive father, Big John (Charles Halford). Big John has been chasing El Dorado all his life, and urges John B to join him. The catch: no other Pogues allowed. He splits up the Pogues. In their time together, Big John murders two people, lies to John B and chooses the gold over him multiple times. He’s portrayed as arguably worse than Ward, because he can’t see his own faults. In the final episode, Singh shoots Big John and he dies in John B’s arms.
There was little reason for Big John to come back. He didn’t add anything to the story line and he died in the end anyway. His character is another example of the writers not knowing what to do with the season.
A dud villain
Carlos Singh is a boring character if there ever was one. His only personality trait is that he’s rich and he likes treasure hunting, but he sucks at it. He has to ask a group of teenagers to help him, and when they don’t, he gets angry. That’s the entirety of his villain arc. Sure, he has an army of men with guns, but he doesn’t come off as scary. He poses no threat to the Pogues and doesn’t come close to outsmarting them. He doesn’t even make it hard for them to find El Dorado.
Singh doesn’t create any major twists, he’s just there for the ride. His presence doesn’t add anything to the story besides the inclusion of another crybaby rich guy. The show would have been better if he wasn’t there, and Big John was the bad guy the Pogues had to go against.
“No Pogue on Pogue macking”
The Pogues made a pact in season 1 that their relationships would never turn romantic, and they would stay friends forever. This season threw that promise out the window.
Many fans have wanted Kiara and JJ (Rudy Pankow) to get together since season 1 of “Outer Banks”, and it finally happened. JJ accepts his feelings for Kiara early in the season, but he denies them in true JJ fashion. Kiara tries to pull them out in many angsty one-on-one scenes, but he doesn’t budge. They play this cat and mouse game all season until her parents send her away and he goes to rescue her… again. They finally admit their feelings to each other and become a couple.
Cleo (Carlacia Grant) is the newest member of the Pogues and she quickly becomes close with Pope (Johnathan Daviss). They create the “No Love Club” and vow to ward off any potential relationships due to their experiences with heartbreak. Back in Kildare, she stays with Pope and his family, and they notice a spark between them. In the final episode, while searching for El Dorado, they confess their love for each other.
The romantic relationships between the Pogues are cute and they make sense. They go through life or death situations all the time, so they are bound to get close to each other. All of them dating a member of the group may cause some problems in the future though. They could choose their partner over the group, or a relationship could end badly and the dynamic of the group could change. The platonic relationships they had in season 1 were the best, and some would argue that these new developments ruin them. Them all dating each other destroys the backbone of the show. Friendship is the main theme of the show, and the writers can’t take that back now.
Wrap-up
“Outer Banks” still has elements of that fun and adventurous series it started out as, but now it seems to be loosing its appeal. The show became more popular than expected, and now the writers are over-compensating for it. They are creating far-fetched storylines that destroy the values they created in season 1. If they don’t do something amazing for season 4, this series will end sooner rather than later.
Overall, I would give this season a 5/10. There are some great moments, and I would encourage fans to watch it, but to also be prepared for disappointment.
