Breaking down the jaw-dropping Outer Banks season 4 finale
Well, once again, Outer Banks has left our collective jaws on the floor. We've been hit with another super-emotional, extremely shocking, cliff-hanger of a season finale. Viewers expected the high stakes going into season 4 part 2, with all the big revelations from part 1. Some might even say they predicted the events that transpired in the last five episodes. But no one could have been prepared — at least, mentally and emotionally—for that absolutely, gut-wrenchingly tragic death.
To say that a lot has happened to our ragtag group of treasure-hunting teens is a complete understatement. There's a lot to parse through, so let's dig in. You probably clicked into this expecting to be spoiled. But, JIC, I'd like to warn you: major spoilers ahead!
Outer Banks season 4 ending explained
Sarah and John B. are expecting a baby
So we already knew this from the first part of season 4, but John B. (Chase Stokes) and Sarah (Madelyn Cline) reveal to the whole group — Pope (Jonathan Daviss) and Cleo (Carlacia Grant) being the last to know — that they're pregnant. JJ (Rudy Pankow) is, of course, the godfather.
This is great, uplifting news at a time when it seems like the group is out of options, with their home Poguelandia about to be taken from them, and them being stuck in Morocco with no passports. The baby is a sign of hope for the future, as the Pogues have an uncertain road ahead.
Rafe breaks up with Sofia
Just as the hunt for Blackbeard's Blue Crown begins, the group gets chased down by police because Rafe (Drew Starkey) steals another man's cash and passport in the city. During all this, Rafe slips away to track down Chandler Groff (J. Anthony Crane) — who we find out this season is actually JJ's Kook father — to collect the $400K Groff swindled from him. In order to collect the debt, Rafe winds up helping Groff out of a deadly situation with the mercenaries.
Rafe basically takes Groff hostage. In an attempt to distract him and break free, Groff reveals to Rafe that he hired his girlfriend/fiancée Sofia (Fiona Palomo) and paid her to "nudge" Rafe into completing the fraudulent deal that cost him. After pushing Groff into a well, and leaving with the original scroll that has the location of Blackbeard's Blue Crown, Rafe calls Sofia and breaks up with her.
Meanwhile, the Pogues follow their own map and clues and find Groff stuck in the well. Though he asks JJ for help, they decide to leave him.
Pope avenges Terrance's death
The mercenaries eventually close in on Rafe, and the Pogues decide to help him. During this intense action-packed scene, Pope kills Lightner (Rigo Sanchez) while protecting Cleo, and avenges Captain Terrance's (Terance Rosemore) death.
If you remember, earlier this season, Terrance — who was a father figure to Cleo, practically raising her for 13 years — dies saving his pseudo-daughter and takes a bullet from Lightner.
We say goodbye to one of the Pogues
Some fans might have been expecting a Pogue death at some point, especially on a show where all its protagonists are constantly finding themselves in dangerous situations. If you recall the season 1 finale, fans were led to assume that John B. and Sarah were goners, but then they turned up weeks later.
Well, this time, there's no way out of it. We see the bloody murder right before our very eyes. After a whole season of questioning his identity, messing things up for his chosen family, and then redeeming himself in the end, JJ dies at the hands of his own father.
Here's how it went down: The expert treasure hunters that they are, the Pogues are able to retrieve the Blue Crown in the middle of a sandstorm. JJ and Kiara (Madison Bailey) try to escape the mercenaries and run with it. However, Groff manages to climb out of the well, captures Kiara, and threatens to kill her unless JJ hands him the crown. JJ gives Groff the crown, saying that he doesn't need it anyway, since he already has everything he's ever wanted — things that his father will never have. (Insinuating his chosen family and friends.) This is when Groff stabs and kills his own son, then runs away with the crown in his hands.
What happens now?
The Pogues grieve their dear friend's death, and decide to give him a proper sendoff, burying his body in the Moroccan desert. Of course, even after the burial they all go back to camp stunned, are all still completely shaken and heartbroken as they mourn the loss of JJ. However, Rafe wants to get things moving. He reveals Groff's plans to sell the crown in Lisbon, and urges the Pogues to get their revenge.
Fueled by their anger and desire to get even, it seems that we'll be seeing the Pogues make their way to Lisbon soon. Season 5 is set to be the last of OBX, and it will for sure be one epic ending.
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