cover art by @artbystephaniex on Instagram
By Alena Nguyen
If you miss laying on the sand as the sun tans your body at the beach on a warm summer day, “Outer Banks” will bring you back to those times- but from the comfort and air conditioning of your own home! The 10-episode Netflix original drama is about 4 teens who go on an epic treasure hunt and discover secrets about their small, swampy North Carolina town as well as one of the main character’s families.
The world of the show captures all that us teens want in a summer- sneaking around with our friends, going on adventures, watching movies in the park, surfing, and of course, a steamy summer romance. The show takes that dream into a reality- for the characters. Welcome to Outer Banks- a swampy town where you either “have two jobs or two houses”, to quote our main protagonist John B. Society is divided into the Pogues and the Kooks- Pogues being the ones who have two jobs, and the Kooks having the two houses. Our four protagonists are all Pogues, with the exception of Kie who is a Kook who prefers to hang out with Pogues.
It all starts with a storm and a shipwreck. Our four protagonists- John B (played by Chase Stokes), JJ (Rudy Pankow), Pope (played by Johnathan Daviss), and Kie (played by Madison Bailey), are chilling on a boat when they notice something underwater- you guessed it, it’s the shipwreck from last night’s storm. John B, embodying the sometimes redundant hero complex he puts up, dives in and retrieves a room key from the shipwreck below. After tracking it to a motel room, the friends are thrust into John B’s father’s expedition of finding “The Merchant”- an abandoned shipwreck that apparently has four million dollars. The plot thickens when Ward Cameron, unofficial king of the Kooks, finds out that John B is very close to finding the money, and everything turns to chaos when John B won’t give Ward the money when he finds it.
I’ve seen this show three times since it came out, and what I remember from seeing it for the first time was how similar I thought it was to “Riverdale”. There’s the two sides of society, the rich and the unfortunate, a romance that brings the sides together, and a mystery that has to be solved. But it wasn’t the fact that JJ is much more attractive than Jughead will ever be that made “Outer Banks” a better show- it was, to sum it up, the “good vibes only” that made “Outer Banks” the more sane and (not surprisingly) realistic show. The minimal use of technology (phones, laptops, etc) and just enjoying nature and the people around them makes one realize how much we as a technology-inclined society are missing out on so much when we don’t live in the moment. The show’s good vibes are contagious and make me antsy for post-quarantine times of just hanging out with my friends. Even though the show takes place in North Carolina, the surfing, shorts and flip flops scream California.
There are a lot of boats in Outer Banks, but there are also a few ships. There’s the main steamy romance, specifically between Sarah Cameron and John B. Their storyline as a couple was quite rushed, and I might be a more devoted John B and Sarah fan if it was played out longer. However, despite the minimal amount of scenes together, fans have noticed the insane amount of chemistry between JJ and Kie and began to ship them together- even after Kie broke the “no Pogue-on-Pogue macking” rule and kissed both John B and Pope. Despite the little romantic chemistry in those kisses, I am definitely a Jiara shipper- their on-screen as well as off-screen chemistry is outstanding and brightens my day. Pankow’s ability to play such a damaged yet loving character truly shines through when he goes on a downward spiral after he (almost) kills his father, and combined with Bailey’s adventurous yet caring spirit, the dynamic between the two make sparks fly in every direction.
The writing and dialogue was often predictable and often exaggerated and their attempts to relate to the teen audience sometimes fall through. In a cringey attempt to relate to the young audience, one of my favorite lines is when John B trips over a wire and Sarah Cameron runs up to him and asks (as if she didn’t just witness what happened), “did you just YEET over that chain?”. Even though there are some flops, the dynamic yet relaxed pace of the conversations in the show allow each character to embrace and flaunt their own personality traits, so unlike some shows, they all don’t sound the same. I have to give an honorable mention to JJ’s “Be safe, John B, just gimme that John D already” line in Episode 1. It truly demonstrated the Stefan and Damon from “The Vampire Diaries” dynamic that John B and JJ share.
“Outer Banks” is definitely a show for those who are sick of following the downward spiral of “Riverdale” and yearn for the hot summer days of bike riding and late nights at bonfires. Stream Season 1 now on Netflix.
TV Wasteland 