A review of OuterBanks. Is it still a thrilling Netflix Show? Or are we experiencing a Riverdale 2.0, a sinking plot hole?

Our guilty pleasure show just came back for two more seasons, but it’s looking like some of us haven't been watching. Are we looking at a return of Riverdale, where the plot is a tangled mess of cliches, with special effects looking like they were created with a budget of £5?

Outer Banks. Covid-19’s favourite show. I can literally remember it; we were all sat inside, quarantined, watching five teenagers get in heaps of trouble to find some gold. I swear, I didn’t know if I wanted to be WITH them or BE them.

The show follows our main protagonist, John B (Chase Stokes) and his friends, The Pogues, who come from the lower-class part of the island. The central plot of the show is about the socioeconomic warfare between said Pogues, the elite Kooks, and a long-lost treasure, with a connection to John B’s father, who is rumoured to have disappeared. He’s not even dead; he just comes back constantly saying, “Bring it on home, John B!” and being annoying for about a season before he gets killed off again. Anyway, the plot is initially strong, with hints of romance, secrets, action, and suspense. Oh, and actors saying, “Did you just yeet over that chain?” Yeah. Gen Z, right?

Now, although I’m criticising, it genuinely is a good show upon a first watch. It’s fun and different, and the vibes are great all around. It’s the perfect pick-me-up and comfort show that you need. Yet, it’s been renewed for four more seasons now…and the reviews are not looking so great anymore.

Before the much-anticipated release of Season 2 in 2021, we were all buzzing for it. Even the ones who felt a little old for the show. And let me tell you, that crazy mystery kept us hooked. Nevertheless, after the season came out, I think we all had such high expectations that it was quasi-disappointing. After the Pogues found the Royal Merchant gold in Season 1, the producers gave up on any sort of character development or real plot movement and rushed into an entire other plot point revolving around an entirely different treasure. In the literal Bahamas. The whole show became completely unrealistic, with the teens getting into more and more trouble and more complicated secrets being revealed. Season 2 ends with arguably the worst aspect of the show: the reveal of John B’s long-lost father, who just ends up becoming a meme within the fanbase as he is simply, a TERRIBLE character!

Season 3 starts with the Pogues stranded on an island after washing up ashore in hopes of finding the Royal Merchant again. Yes, they found it in Season 1, but it got stolen from them by Sarah Cameron’s (Madelyn Cline) mean Dad (I know! Confusing!). So, this season, the plot is to find some Santo Domingo cross and El Dorado instead. The treasures are just infinite at this point. It was never that Outer Banks was some pinnacle of television, but at this point, the ‘finding the treasure’ plot is just overused. To save you all from the boring stuff, eventually, the group do find El Dorado…which is not really a city and more of a big fat goldmine. Somehow, as if we couldn’t have executed this earlier, the show then skips 18 months ahead, and the Pogues are credited for this discovery that I imagine is HIGHLY illegal, so yep, that makes great sense.

Fast forward to October 10th of this year, and we are finally graced with half (yes, only half) of Season 4. Unfortunately, there’s no redemption here, and we are, quite literally, falling apart.

The first part, surprisingly, was pretty good. We got the upbeat storyline back, with the classic rivalry of Pogues Vs Kooks, the group building a new home together with the money from the gold, and all the relationships between the couples that we’ve all been pining for. But to nobody’s surprise, the Pogues get ‘recruited’ ONCE AGAIN for the job of finding another treasure for a hefty sum of money. Which they, of course, must accept because they’ve run out of the cash that they originally had. So the majority of Season 4 relies solely on JJ’s (Rudy Pankow) low IQ, Rafe’s (Drew Starkey) love life that we could not care more about, considering he’s a side character, and the Pogues just being stabbed in the back over and over again. The cherry on top was when the producers killed one of the main characters for absolutely zero reason and then proceeded to make another one pregnant. Like, aren’t these people meant to be teenagers?

I think much of the plot this season fell a little flat. Although there are good twists and turns, some plot holes literally have ended up with no explanation. For example, in the first episode, the Pogues spent all of their gold money on a plot of land (to build a surf shop) when they could have used land that THEY ALREADY OWN, such as John B’s Chateau. The house is no longer there, but the land is! And the fact that they have all this money, yet John B couldn’t afford to buy Sarah a ring? Really Netflix!? It seems like poor writing that could have easily been fixed had someone been paying attention.

Having said that, the execution of this most recent season has definitely given Outer Banks some traction – with many going to watch it to simply see what all the criticism is about (myself included). I’ve also seen many admit that they probably won’t tune in to the last and final season that has recently been announced, but I guess we’ll just have to see.

Can Netflix outdo itself and prove all of us wrong? Will they be able to save the show and leave it on a good note? Or will the show forever remain a shipwreck, and will we keep rewatching Season 1 just to remind ourselves of what the show could’ve been?

Tell me what you think!

• Loved it!
• Absolutely not.