Netflix

Outer Banks season 4 poster.

This review contains spoilers from Outer Banks season four part one.

The first part of the fourth season of the adventurous, action-packed Netflix series Outer Banks was released on Oct. 10, 2024 and has been the source of much talk as the plot thickens. This show is an enthralling thriller about split social classes on Kildare Island in the Outer Banks, North Carolina. Season four part one delves deeper into each character’s development showing the lengths they will go to for each other.

The show follows lower-class ‘Pogues’ John B. Routledge (Chase Stokes), Pope Hayward (Jonathan Daviss), JJ Maybank (Rudy Pankow), Kiara Carrera (Madison Bailey), and Cleo Anderson (Carlacia Grant) as they seek out lost treasure that has been missing for thousands of years. But not everything comes as easy as they hoped. With upper-class ‘Kooks’ getting in their way and other forces trying to stop them, they have to fight hard to get the treasure for themselves.

In season one and two, the pogues are searching for gold from a shipwreck and the Cross of Santo Domingo, while in season three, the pogues are determined to finally find the ultimate treasure: the lost city of El Dorado. Finally, they end up finding it for themselves with the cost of both Big John (Charles Halford) and Ward Cameron’s (Charles Esten) actual deaths.

The way the writers start off season four by showing the 18 months between finding El Dorado and getting recognised for it was very clever because it shows what their lives are like without treasure hunting. After finding someone who will trade their gold, they end up with a little over a million dollars. This was a very big deal to me since I’ve been watching since season one, and every time they found or got a hold of the treasure they were searching for, it was always taken.

As the pogues search for somewhere to live, the Maybank property is being auctioned off. The stressful bidding war between JJ and a kook that ensues forces them to lose most of their money and create their own fishing and charter business – a reference back to season one that I enjoyed.

Seeing the Pogues running a business and not a treasure hunt was exciting to me. I honestly enjoyed seeing them happy and relaxed for once, but I knew it would not last long. Although I do wish there was more time spent on this aspect of the characters’ everyday lives, the thrilling adventures that keep watchers on the edge of their seat inevitably made a return.

As viewers know from season one, no hunt is ever simple for the Pogues. With this, I liked that the season continued with nostalgic and humorous references from earlier seasons, especially when it came to an intense conflict involving scuba diving and decompression sickness (the bends).

There have been many different theories about whether or not Luke Maybank (Gary Weeks) would make a return before this season came out, and he ultimately returned with a huge plot twist attached. Ending the first part on a massive cliff hanger, Luke tells JJ that he is not his biological father, and his mother is the daughter of Wes Genrette (David Jensen), who is a descendant of Blackbeard. This was shocking, especially since we have seen how abusive Luke has been to JJ over the past seasons, and kept me counting down the days until the second part would be released.

Overall I would say the first part of season four was filled with so many different twists and backstories from multiple different characters – some of which I did not expect – that kept me glued to the screen. In addition to this, I liked seeing more of JJ and Pope’s home lives to better understand their backstories.

Although many may not relate to the plot developments seen in the show, I would recommend a watch for anyone in high school or college because the characters’ personalities and relationships are still relatable for teens today. Other great shows about teenagers and adventure for people who enjoyed watching Outer Banks include Pretty Little Liars (2010) and Stranger Things (2016).

8/10