The popular Netflix series Outer Banks just released half of its newest season. Before its premiere, viewers had to wait over a year after the last season’s ending. In the previous season, the “Pogues” (John B, Sarah, Pope, Kiara, JJ, and Cleo) discovered the real El Dorado and its gold. The first episode picks up right where they left off and dives right into the next adventure of their lives.
With three successful seasons in the past, most of the audience had mixed opinions about this season. Some agreed that in the past seasons, the show has felt drawn out and unnecessarily long, while others felt the show was perfectly fine. Senior Katie Petraitis, expresses, “I somewhat thought the show was dragged out just because at some parts it just felt unnecessary.” At some points, the storyline does make it seem very stretched due to it losing its charm. Despite there only being many ways to find treasure, things took a turn when the season introduced a whole new plot that appeared more creepy and dark.
At the start of season 4, it opens up with a bang. As John B and the Pogues collect their money from the El Dorado loot in season three, they are all focused on family. They are starting to rebuild their lives and Poguelandia on JJ’s property. The group is trying to make more money by doing boat tours around the island
, selling bait, and starting a tackle business, but property tax gets the best of them. But as usual, nothing ever works out for the Pogues. Izzy Matos, a senior, explains “I would change the Pogues planning to recreate Poguelandia because they are spending all of the money they just got.” Before you know it they are in debt. They are determined to put their hunting days beside them and take on more events that involve money, like battling Rafe and Topper in a beachfront motorcycle race called, The Kildare Enduro.
A different feeling is brought to the show like never before. Rather than just roaming around different islands for treasure, the group decides to focus on themselves. This season creates a very personal feel. It dives into a breaking point between the Pogues, with JJ’s snobbiness which causes them to have to race. JJ plays a huge role during this period of the show. This takes the focus off of John B, which we have been seeing for the past three seasons, and reels into another person’s life. It gave the audience a new feel to the show which caused them to already start to speculate certain things about JJ’s personal life.
Despite its potential, some scenes felt very unnecessary throughout the season. The writers could have dived right into what they discovered from last season instead of spending a whole episode focusing on the Pogues’ new business. Soon enough, the friends are swept on another adventure. The new relationships also felt very unneeded because some of them felt forced. When adding new characters every few episodes, the tension between the two characters feels very fake and often seems childish.
As the new episodes are approaching shortly, viewers have mixed opinions about how the rest of the season is going to be. Petraitis shares, “I think the rest of the season will be pretty good but I also feel like it might get worse because this season kind of started off bad but also quite interesting”. Some also feel that the show is falling apart because of the lack of tension. Much of the audience liked having someone to root for, but since everyone is friendly and happy with each other again the season leaves people feeling bored. Matos hopes, “the rest of the season is still focused on JJ’s life because I like how they are focusing on other characters’ lives.” Since the last episode left us on a cliffhanger, we get an idea of how the rest of the season will be. Stay tuned to watch the rest of the season on November 7 only on Netflix!
