TW: spoilers and opinions

The Netflix show Outer Banks has finally returned after its anticipated wait. 

Where the show left off was that the Pogues had finally found the treasure of El Dorado. Such an accomplishment, however, came after the traumatizing losses of Ward Cameron and “Big” John Routledge.

Since their treasure hunt ended, the Pogues: John B., Pope, JJ, Kiara, Sarah, and Cleo sell the gold that they found in El Dorado for 1.1 million dollars.They plan to buy JJ’s house back and then construct their own shop at the dock for nearby boats in the area. As always though, it didn’t go completely as planned.

Because of JJ, they end up placing an extremely high bid on the house, way more than it should’ve, which causes the Pogues to have less money for the construction of their shop and dock. They make use of old wood they had to help construct their new house and dock.

It all seems to go well, and the shop opens with a few customers. The Pogues don’t actually make enough of a profit. So when they enter a motorcycle race for fun, JJ has the most horrible idea of all his past horrible ideas to bet the last twenty thousand dollars that the Pogues had on himself winning behind everyone’s back. As tensions rise, it leads to JJ and Rafe almost dying from a motorcycle accident which leads to Topper winning, losing the twenty grand. 

All those events combined lead to the Pogues getting a job offer regarding Blackbeard as they finally get their rightful recognition of finding El Dorado. So being in trouble of needing to pay thirteen thousand dollars of property taxes and having no money because of JJ’s immaturity that has remained the same, if not, worsened since season one, they take interest in the job. 

They are handed a captain’s log (Blackbeard’s) and find out that they had to dive into one of Blackbeard’s old sunken ships to find an amulet. It has to be at night because it is illegal, as always, which causes JJ and Kiara to go down, John B. and Pope to stay on the boat to make sure those going down are okay, and Sarah with Cleo to take watch in case the coastal guards are around. 

As JJ and Kiara look for the amulet, they find out that someone is also looking for the amulet, an unknown adversary, and start attacking them. They leave with the amulet in hand but almost dying so they end up at the hospital, once more. 

As they end up with the amulet, Pope decides to study it while the rest of the Pogues go to the beach for a surf day  and Cleo has been missing, but they don’t notice because she has “apparently” sent text messages. The adversaries kidnapping Cleo creates a huge moment in the show as it becomes very clear to the audience that the Pogues are about to lose the amulet. 

Of course, like in past seasons, there has to be villains besides the obvious antagonists Rafe and Topper. However, it seems as if Rafe might have his redemption arc and character development moment in the new upcoming episodes of this season. It seems like his new love interest, Sofia, a Pogue, might just be the guidance that he has sought for unknowingly. If it doesn’t happen, then that would be lazy writing because there is no way that Rafe is going to go back acting like a psycho without the right reasoning, which before was his father. 

Back to the plot, Terrance makes an appearance on the show as he tries to help Cleo while she is kidnapped. As a gun is pointed at Cleo for the amulet, Terrance tries to fight the adversary which leads to him getting shot at and dying on the spot.

The Pogues talk to each other about hiding Terrance’s body before Deputy Shoupe comes to question JJ. 

After all that, the Pogues, but JJ, decide to go to Charleston after determining that that was the location that the amulet was referring to. But they aren’t the only ones going there as the adversaries are there after they determined the inscription too.

JJ gets a concerning letter which causes him to separate from the rest of the group. He looks for his dad, who has been running away from the police, to ask him regarding the letter’s contents. Their reunion is cut short as the cops are hot on their tail and they escape on the boat.

The Pogues, without JJ, begin raiding a church after the amulet leads them there. The group makes their way underground to explore and keep a lookout. But disaster strikes: the adversaries are there as well, while the pogues hide, and they retrieve a scroll. 

Sarah and Pope are locked underground as the adversaries escape. Cleo decides to avenge Terrance upon seeing the adversaries run by trying to fight them. 

At the end, we learn that JJ’s father isn’t actually his blood father in a heated, yet heartfelt conversation. His dad is actually… we don’t know. That’s where the episode ended. The cliffhanger left upon us until November 7 is humongous, especially after knowing that JJ’s father has beaten him growing up.

Overall, this part of the season is very good. It did feel like it was being washed out at certain parts, especially with the new adversaries who are hired by different people –much like the previous seasons–. But the originality of the treasure hunting of this season is truly creative despite it feeling a bit more rushed than previous seasons. It’s safe to say that Outer Banks season four has yet to disappoint!