Part 1 of Season 4 of “Outer Banks,” released on Oct. 10, takes fans on a high-stakes adventure with fresh plotlines.
In Part 1 of Season 4, the first six episodes released to Netflix revolve around a treasure hunt among six friends, called the Pogues, adding complexity to the storyline and significantly impacting the characters’ future.
Burlingame High School sophomore Madeline Kulin noted this season felt repetitive.
“Every season has a similar plot. They always manage to find the treasure, but somehow, they lose it in the end,” Kulin said.
Kulin’s comment refers to the Pogues’ ongoing struggle to hold onto their winnings. She references their success in finding gold in Season 3, only for one of the Pogues, JJ Maybank, to burn through their $1.1 million as soon as they return to the Outer Banks.
Although the cycle of discovery and loss that has become a constant recurrence in the show keeps fans on edge, some also believe it feels too predictable.
In Season 1, the Pogues narrowly missed out on the Royal Merchant’s gold when it was stolen by Ward Cameron. Then, in Season 2, they tracked down the Cross of Santo Domingo, which Rafe Cameron, the son of Ward Cameron, took in a dramatic showdown.
In the first six episodes of Season 4, the Pogues once again manage to find a fortune, and their inability to keep it intact mirrors their past misfortunes.
However, in this new season, when the Pogues are at their lowest, they are again offered a chance at a treasure hunt.
A mysterious man named Wes Genrette approaches them with an offer to retrieve the legendary treasure of Blackbeard. Genrette promises to pay the Pogues if they recover a lost necklace from a shipwreck.
Carlmont sophomore Maddy Ho stated that the show remaining on the island and focusing on the same characters make this season more captivating than ever.
“Unlike last season, where all the characters were separated, this season, they are constantly together and in the same location, similar to Season One. They all came together and worked out how to rebuild their lives and start over, making this season’s plot more engaging than previous seasons,” Ho said.
Further, some long-lasting characters have exhibited significant growth throughout the show’s four seasons.
“I like how Rafe has developed from Season 1. He is still the villain this season, but shows more compassion for other characters. I think he is trying to step up to the family responsibility because his dad died,” Chu said.
Rather than showing Rafe as purely evil in this episode, the show reveals his more human side.
While Chu highlighted Rafe Cameron’s positive transformation, some viewers mentioned that other main characters have become less likable.
“JJ got so much worse and more irresponsible; after the Pogues finally found the gold from El Dorado, JJ spent all of it. He is also very impulsive in this part and causes the group not to succeed,” Kulin said.
This task of finding the treasure ultimately leads the Pogues to discover the history behind the group. During the final scene of Part One, JJ Maybank and his father, Luke Maybank, stand overlooking the lighthouse after narrowly escaping the cops when Luke drops a bombshell: he wasn’t JJ Maybank’s birth father, and Larissa Generete, whose father hired the Pogues to find the treasure, is his mother.
This major cliffhanger is causing fans to speculate about JJ Maybank’s possible father and how his ties to the Genrette family might connect him to Blackbeard’s curse.
In the meantime, fans await Part 2 of Season 4, which is set to air on Nov. 7.
The stakes have never been higher, as a whirlwind of a season leaves every fan on the edge of their seat, begging for answers.
