Outer Banks season 3: Does it live up to the hype?

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

From the sandy beaches and strong tides to the smell of the salt water on the shore, the acclaimed Netflix show Outer Banks presents its third season. With the ongoing adventures of the treasure-hunting Pogues, you can expect the plot to remain as impractical as the previous seasons. 

The last season ended with JJ (Rudy Pankow), Kiara (Madison Bailey), John B (Chase Stokes), and the rest of the Pogues ending up on a deserted island, leaving them with nothing and putting their survival skills to the test. With no food, water, or any form of shelter, they were forced to live in desolate conditions for over a month and even named the island “Poguelandia.” However, their stay on the island ended with the rescue of an old man, whom fans thought was someone genuinely trying to help them; however, this helping hand quickly turned into this season’s new villain, Singh. While hunting for the new treasure, El Dorado, it is apparent that the Pogues were also forced to navigate their own personal problems and relationships. Just like the other seasons, season three delivers the same thrilling action, romance, and suspense that fans know and love, but with all the excitement surrounding it, does it truly live up to the hype?

Outer Banks takes place on the shores of North Carolina with a group of teens known as the Pogues coasting through their lives and going on thrilling treasure-hunting adventures. While the core characters are just around 16-17 years old, the Pogues gather clues and certain pieces of evidence to help them look for the number one goal of each season: the gold. The fans are able to watch the Pogues through each step of their journey, dealing with relationship, internal, and family issues, along with a host of other problems piled on to their expedition as well.

The new season started off on a high and positive note, with the Pogues seemingly having fun on the island together, rather than feeling desperate to go home. JJ, for example, almost felt like he was relieved from getting away from the “real” world, so much so that when they were getting rescued, you could see the disbelief on his face. During this moment, JJ had to utterly accept that he had to go back to his regular life, while the rest of the Pogues seemed glad that they were going to leave the island. It is apparent that JJ is trying to figure out his own life after the harsh abuse from his father, and you can see him struggling to be able to accept it’s okay to care about others and that he doesn’t always need to put on a “tough” face. The dynamic between Kiara and JJ was one of the key highlights of this season, and it was something that I was most excited to see. However, I feel that their relationship felt very rushed and that the writers should’ve added more scenes to capture the tensions between them in a more passionate way. Simply adding more scenes demonstrating the chemistry they’ve had since season one could have elevated the build-up to the final kiss scene which is what the fans, including myself, have been waiting for. I do think the producers did a great job at listening to what the fans wanted, but the way they executed it could’ve been so much better.

Not only was Kiara and JJ’s relationship a big hit to the season, but many fans did not expect what happened with Sarah and John B’s plot together. From the beginning of the season, I always thought that there wouldn’t be any serious problems between them, but the writers made Sarah cheat on him with Topper, which I honestly thought was unnecessary. Throughout the show, Sarah’s trauma from her father is genuinely overlooked, and I feel that people don’t realize how much he negatively impacted her life. Her cheating on John B with Topper did add some extra drama to the show, but it ultimately was something that didn’t have to be added and only made Sarah an unliked character. 

Another one of the biggest plot twists of the show was when it was revealed that John B’s dad, Big John, was alive this whole time and that the attempt of Sarah’s father, Ward, at murdering him didn’t work. I had assumed that Big John would be one of the good guys, but I quickly changed my mind after seeing what kind of a character he was. Honestly, he was just flat-out annoying and cared more about finding the treasure than the good of his own son, John B. His scenes were so boring that I even found myself skipping through them.

In the other two seasons, many of the fans agreed that the plot was unrealistic, especially with the strength the characters had and the injuries they were able to survive. The show also presents the fans with some sort of treasure that the main characters hunt, and this season’s new treasure was El Dorado, located all the way in South America. The treasure was something that I definitely can’t deny was cool, but for a couple of teens living in the Outer Banks, it just didn’t fit the atmosphere the show presents. It was still interesting to see the thrilling action among the characters, but it didn’t match the vibes of just a couple of teenagers living in the Outer Banks, which was heavily expressed in season one. 

Even with the unrealistic plot, it was still a good binge-show to watch, I just don’t think it was as good as the other two seasons. The hype around the show before it came out did give me a lot of high expectations, but after watching it, I honestly don’t think it lived up to that hype.

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