Is JJ Dead on Outer Banks?: See Who Is Returning For Season 5
The Outer Banks returns for its final season, but one Pogue won’t be back... Or will he?
If you haven’t had a chance to watch Outer Banks yet, then now is the time to change that. The Netflix show follows the escapades of a group of teenagers living on one of North Carolina’s barrier islands. Set in the fictional coastal town of Kildare Island, Outer Banks is both a teen drama and an action adventure, making it accessible to more than those in their teenage years.
With Season 5 streaming from August 20, here's what you need to know to catch up so far, as well as the fate of one beloved character.
What Is Outer Banks About?
Outer Banks follows John B, the de facto leader of a crew of impoverished teens who have grown up on ‘The Cut’, the poorer side of the island. They have proclaimed themselves Pogues, and routinely have run-ins with the richer residents or ‘Kooks’. In the first season, after John B discovered a key clue to a legendary treasure - the Royal Merchant Gold that his father went searching for - the Pogues rallied together to claim it, but they weren’t the only people looking for it.
In subsequent seasons, the group tracked down The Cross of Santo Domingo and visited El Dorado, while the fourth and upcoming final season centres around Blackbeard's Loot and the Blue Crown. Since the show started, the teens have traversed the globe and got shipwrecked on an island for a month. When Season 4 ended, they had arrived in Morocco.
Who Are The Pogues?
The Pogues initially consist of John B, JJ, Kiara, and Pope. The quartet do everything together, and they are bonded closer than family. As the seasons have progressed, the group has expanded from four to six to encapsulate Sarah and Cleo. Sarah began her story as the ‘Princess of the Kooks’, and the Romeo & Juliet dynamic to their union had audiences on the edge of their seats.
Now, Sarah is a full-fledged Pogue, having disowned her family after her father tried to kill John B, and in turn, her brother Rafe tried to kill her. Cleo joined the group during the second season after she helped them escape from a ship they were being held hostage on.
What Happened To JJ In Season 4?
At the end of the last season of Outer Banks, the Pogues lost one of their own as JJ died. The lifelong best friend of John B and risk taker of the group, JJ has been one of the show's most tragic characters. Having grown up with an abusive, neglectful, and criminal father, throughout Outer Banks, JJ has been driven by a self-destructive streak. Even the happiness that a relationship with fellow Pogue Kiara couldn’t curb his compulsion, and it was his risky behaviour that saw them get caught up in the hunt for Blackbeard’s treasure.
During Season 4, JJ’s world was shaken further with the revelation that the abusive man who raised him was not his biological father. Instead, JJ was revealed to be the son of the affluent Chandler Groff, a man who hires the Pogues to help with the treasure hunt. Unfortunately for JJ, Chandler revealed himself to be yet another terrible father figure as, during the final moments of the season, he betrayed JJ and stabbed him, with the young Pogue seemingly succumbing to his wounds.
Is JJ Really Dead?
It is always exceptionally sad when a favourite character dies on a show. Sometimes though, a death is needed for progression, and going into the fifth and final season, JJ’s death makes a great catalyst for John B and company.
The death of JJ will almost certainly spur the team on to take down Chandler Groff once and for all, with the discovery of the treasure a welcome afterthought. His passing sets the stakes high, and, were he to be revealed as having survived, some of the potency would be numbed.
As much as fans don’t want to accept it, JJ is very likely still dead, but that doesn’t mean the character can’t return. John B and JJ have always had a tight connection, and his love for Kiara ties them together, so we can envision a narrative in which he reappears, just not in corporeal form. JJ can guide and assist the team through dreams and visions. More simply, JJ can be present via flashbacks as the group remembers their fallen brother.
Either way, it is almost certain that, should the baby that Sarah is pregnant with be a boy, he will be named in JJ’s honour.
Where To Watch More Of JJ Actor Rudy Pankow
If the thought of JJ being absent from the final season of Outer Banks is making you sad, there are plenty of ways to watch the actor that plays him. Rudy Pankow’s performance as the troubled teen has been one of the strongest elements of Outer Banks, and thankfully there are several more projects where fans can watch his work.
First up, Pankow plays the older brother of Tom Holland’s character in video game adaptation Uncharted. Like Outer Banks, Uncharted is all about hunting down legendary artefacts, and although Pankow’s role is small, it is pivotal.
Earlier this year Pankow starred opposite Maika Monroe in the romantic weepy Reminders of Him. He plays Scott, the love of Kenna’s life who tragically dies in an accident that most blame Kenna for. Based on a book by Colleen Hoover, anyone familiar with her writing will know that Reminders of Him will require tissues.
Next up, whilst his Outer Banks co-stars have been hard at work filming the final season, Rudy Pankow has made three new projects. The first is Hulu comedy Never Change, in which a class of 30-somethings return to high school to complete their education after it was abruptly ended in 2005 due to a tornado.
Another Pankow project, Thud, is currently in post-production. Described on IMDb as a fantasy romantic comedy, in Thud, Pankow will play the Devil against Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Grim Reaper in a story that finds them falling in love after colliding at a destination wedding.
Finally, Rudy Pankow is currently filming Cowboy. Directed by Cameron Duddy, Cowboy is set in the rodeo world and will see Pankow star alongside Ben Foster, Gabriel Basso, and Simon Rex.
