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Outer Banks showrunners explain death in season four finale

by November 11, 2024

Go in Outer Banks Season 4 Part 2, fans knew there was a lot at stake for the Pogues. But no one was prepared for what actually happened in the season four finale.

[Major Outer Banks season 4 spoilers ahead.] In perhaps the series’ biggest twist, OG Pogue JJ (Rudy Pankow) died. Outer Banks Season 4 finale after tricking the Pogues into traveling to Morocco and retrieving Blackbeard’s Blue Crown.

Fans have expected Pogue to die for some time, but fan theories don’t make his end any less tragic. Finally, after a period of devastation for JJ (who wasted all his gold money, found out he was a bloody madman, became a fugitive), he only had the treasure when it was snatched from him. In a cruel twist of fate, his biological father Groff (who had already tried to frame him for murder by this point) was killed three Mal), grabbed Kie (Madison Bailey) and threatened to kill her if JJ didn’t give up the crown. But when JJ let go, Groff stabbed him in the stomach. JJ died in Kiara’s arms.

Cosmo chatted with Outer Banks Showrunners Shannon Burke, Jonas Pate and Josh Pate discuss JJ’s fate and how Rudy took the news. And yes, of course we asked what this might mean for Rafe and Kiara’s shippers Outer Banks‘ fifth and final season.

When did you decide this would be JJ’s final season?

Shannon Burke: We were pretty sure early on that it was going to go in that direction. We thought one of the Pogues was going to die almost right at the start of season one, and we were pretty sure it was going to be JJ. We just weren’t sure when we would play this card. We knew this would be JJ’s season – this is JJ’s story. And we realized pretty early on that Okay, we’re going to play this card now.

Did you always imagine that he would be deliberately killed by his father, or was that also discovered in the writers’ room?

Josh Pate: When we were designing the season, the idea of ​​having Groff come back as a real father and then switching with Luke opened up a lot of agency and led to Groff becoming the perpetrator. And when we started thinking about Groff, we wanted to write a really sociopathic character. Someone who was chameleon-like and had many faces, had dark secrets and was a congenital liar on a level you couldn’t believe. Just a truly evil creature.

How did Rudy react when he heard the news? What were those conversations like behind the scenes?

Jonas Pate: Charles Esten [who played Ward Cameron in seasons 1 to 3] I talked to Rudy about how your character has to come to an end sooner or later in every series. What you want is for your character to have a good outcome. And I think when Rudy found out about it, he felt like this was a chance for a really good exit. I think he was excited by the dramatic possibility.

Jackson Lee Davis/Netflix © 2024

There was a feeling of inevitability while watching the finale. JJ became more and more reckless throughout the season, even expressing suicidal thoughts to Pope in Part 2. Why was it important for you to bring him to the edge?

Jonas: Some of the things he did were so reckless that it bordered on a death wish. It’s a pretty established dramatic story arc where someone is reckless and then saves themselves, but then all the karma piles up on them and they meet their end. So it kind of presented itself.

Josh: Finding out that Luke wasn’t his real father, but of Kook blood, was extremely destabilizing to his identity. JJ was the most Pogue, so that was a big part of our attempts to push the character to the extreme.

Shannon: We wanted his storyline to be as emotional and tragic as possible. So you start with this character who has done crazy things – robbed a drug dealer of $30,000 and bought his friends a hot tub – and has done crazier and crazier things, but it’s always for the group. And then he started last year [doing things that weren’t so great for the group].

We just wanted to push him to the extreme, have him make amends at the end of Episode 9 and then we wanted him to be in the best place he’s ever been with Kiara in Episode 10. Before he climbs up the pillar to the griffin, he says: It’s my fault and I want to make it up to you. And you feel like Kiara and JJ have almost gotten over something and are in a place they’ve never been before because JJ was always unhinged and Kiara was intense with him… So we wanted to, that he goes on a whole journey and gets to this place where they’re together and then it’s taken away from them, so it’s the most emotional and tragic thing.

Speaking of Kiara, JJ’s death is of course very sad for the shippers of Jiara, but it may open the door for the shippers of Rafe and Kiara –

Jonas: Oh, don’t encourage my brother!

Well, I wonder where Rafe and Kiara stand at the end of the season?

Josh: I don’t know how much they’re thinking about each other at the end of this season. I think Kiara is really driven by revenge and so is Rafe. His motivations are different, but he is more committed to the Pogues than ever before. Still, it’s difficult to get to Rafe and Kiara’s ship directly, considering where they’ve been in the past. But we also know how great Drew and Madison are as actors and how great they are together. So we’ll definitely explore that relationship.

Enemies to Lovers is a classic for a reason.

Shannon: Hey Jonas, did you hear that?

Jonas: I think you’re all in the minority.

So you’re against Rafe and Kiara?

Jonas: I’m against it. I mean, for me –

Josh: Wait a minute, let’s not give too much away.

Shannon: It was heavily debated.

Jonas: We are aware of it, let’s put it that way.

Outer Banks drew Starkey as Rafe in episode 410 of Outer Banks: Cr Jackson Lee Davis, Netflix 2024

Jackson Lee Davis/Netflix © 2024

They just announced a Season 5 renewal, and while JJ may be dead, there are still a lot of unanswered questions surrounding his storyline this season – the Genrettes who own Goat Island. Do we think there’s a chance we’ll see JJ again in some capacity?

Jonas: I would say: never say never.

I want to talk about the other big twist this season: Sarah’s pregnancy. It surprised me, considering she had just told John B. that she wasn’t ready for a baby right now –

Josh: That’s why we gave her one.

Tell me more about that decision and why did you see it happen for Sarah?

Jonas: In a way it was organic, and that has to do with our larger vision for the series. What do you think, Shannon?

Shannon: They’ve been through a lot of different things as a couple and this is kind of the next phase. We have this overall arc in mind of where everyone is going to end up and what the ending is going to be, and it just felt like it was time to play that card and let them move into the next phase of their relationship. Obviously they were together, they weren’t 100% faithful to each other and they did things wrong, and they made up. They are now devoted to each other and this is the next level.

Was there ever a discussion about whether she would keep the baby or whether she would show her that she had that thought?

Jonas: We certainly talked about all the outcomes of this story early on, but at the same time, as Shannon said, they’re devoted to each other and married – in their own weird beer can ring way. So it felt real. And there wasn’t a bigger statement that we thought about outside of these two characters. People might understand it one way or another, but we didn’t think about it.

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