Spoiler alert: The following article contains spoilers from Outer Banks season 4, part 1.
Outer Banksseason 4’s story – while exciting – has just repeated season 2’s biggest Pogues twist. Although the show may have started with a main focus on John B (Chase Stokes), the creators have proved that allOuter Bankscharactershave a history that links them to the show’s larger mysteries. The Netflix hit show follows a group of teens living in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Each season, the Pogues search for a treasure linked to the real folklore of the area, with their ancestry in town often being key in solving the major mysteries drivingOuter Banks.
Season 4 features John B, Sarah, JJ, Kiara, Pope, and Cleo hunting after Blackbeard’s treasure, as set up inOuter Banksseason 3 ending. New characters Wes Genrette and Chandler Groff were initially introduced as having a complicated past with Blackbeard. Now,Outer Banksseason 4 part 1 endinghas revealed they also have connections to one of the main Pogues. This twist is reminiscent of season 2 and successfullyraisesOuter Banks’thrilling mystery by personally implicating JJ (Rudy Pankow) in a brand-new treasure hunt.
JJ’s Hidden Kook Parentage Twist Repeats Pope’s Denmark Tanny Reveal From Outer Banks Season 2
Elizabeth’s Curse And Villain Chandler Groff Repeat The Cross Of Santo Domingo Revelation
JJ’s connections to Larissa Genrette implicate the youth with the family that killed Blackbeardand therefore include him in Elizabeth’s curse. It remains to be seen whether the curse killing the Genrette family is real, or if there is something else targeting them.Outer Banksseason 4 ending suggests Chandler Groff might be behind everything, potentially because he is after Blackbeard’s treasure. Whether Groff knows that he is JJ’s real father is unclear, but their connection will definitely be essential to part 2 of season 4.
Who Is Francis Genrette In Outer Banks Season 4? The Real Person Who Killed Blackbeard Explained
The man who the Pogues meet at the end of Outer Banks season 3 returns in season 4 and reveals his ancestor, Francis Genrette, killed Blackbeard.
The revelation of JJ’s ancestry is similar to a season 2 twist, which established Pope as a relation to Denmark Tanny— the man who hid the Royal Merchant treasure. Pope faced a similar opponent in the character of Carla Limbrey, a descendant of Tanny’s executioners and those after his family’s cross. The plot in season 2 even featured a supernatural element similar to Elizabeth’s curse, that of a healing shroud hidden in the Cross of Santo Domingo. More importantly,Pope and JJ’s hidden Kook ancestry changes everything the show had established about the charactersregarding their proud Pogue identity – a further similarity between the stories.
JJ’s New Reveal Means The Majority Of The Pogues Are Technically Kooks
The Pogues' Kook Ancestry Has Major Implications For Outer Banks Class War Theme
A principal theme inOuter Banksis the battle between Kooks and Pogues.JJ’s ancestry complicates the group’sPogue4Lifemotto, making it difficult to ignore that most are technically Kooks. Previously, Sarah and Kiara had proved that one can choose to be a Pogue. Both characters were given the honorary Pogue status for rejecting the Kook life of wealth and abusive privilege. However,Outer Bankshas emphasized that the characters' familial ties can never truly be severed.Hence, Sarah can never seem to escape her family and old relations, and neither can Kie.
The same seems to apply to JJ, Pope, and John B. Their Pogue history burdens them with criminal and struggling records that prove hard to overcome. Pope, for example, has always been pressured by his family to pursue a better education, while JJ has had to carry his father’s bad reputation in town as if it were his own.
Outer Banksseems to be building up to a reconciliation between the Kooks and Pogues. For his part, Rafe might prove to be key in the process, if his intentions to make amends with Sarah are genuine.
Pope and JJ’s wealthy ancestry challenge their Pogue statusand defiant stance against the Kooks. The showrunners could ignore this by suggesting they can be honorary Pogues, like Sarah and Kie. However, the show’s heavy and continued exploration of the clash between the Pogues and the Kooks hints there is more at play here.Outer Banksseems to be building up to a reconciliation between the Kooks and Pogues. For his part, Rafe might prove to be key in the process, if his intentions to make amends with Sarah are genuine. In any case, it’s fascinating that the same ancestry twist is featured twice in the story.
Outer Banks
Cast
Outer Banks follows a group of teenagers in the Outer Banks of North Carolina as they uncover a legendary treasure linked to the mysterious disappearance of the group’s leader’s father, leading to a series of dangerous and thrilling adventures.
