Easily one of the most anticipated shows of the year, season three of Outer Banks aired on Feb. 23. The last season left off with the five main characters, joined by Cleo (Carlacia Grant), deserted on an island. This season began with their rescue, jumping right into the action of the show.
In addition to Cleo (my favorite character by far), a handful of new characters joined Outer Banks full time this season. Most notably John B’s dad, Big John (Charles Halford), and this season’s antagonist Carlos Singh (Andy McQueen). Although I think they both excelled at their roles, I found Big John’s character extremely irritating at times. His long-awaited reunion with John B was sweet, but their relationship afterward irked me. Returning characters Rafe (Drew Starkey) and Topper (Austin North) played large parts in driving the plot, and I actually enjoyed most of the character development they went through, good and bad.
This season’s plot line overlapped with the search for historical treasure in season two. The “Pogues” continued fighting for the cross, but by the middle of this season their search changed to finding El Dorado, the city of gold. This made for a very interesting sequence of events, and although moments of frustration had me turning off the show, I never stopped watching for long. I feel like this season featured more plot twists and action scenes than previous seasons, and it’s what kept me interested.
Outside of the main plot, smaller storylines kept the show from focusing too much on one subject. The Topper vs John B plotline resurfaced, and we saw Rafe truly turn against his father for the first time. Additionally, several main characters ended up with love interests, some of which fans had been rooting for since the beginning of the show. Although these storylines were mostly successful, some of the “relationship” parts seemed unfinished to me, as if the writers put in a last minute scene just to satisfy the fan base.
When I reached the end of the last episode, I didn’t know whether to cry or just sit in shock. The plot came to head through very intense scenes one right after another. Although I wouldn’t call it a cliff hanger, the last few minutes set up a new treasure hunt for season four, already confirmed prior to season three’s release. Although I can’t wait to see where the new season goes, I hope the show ends before its storyline is run into the ground. As for this season, it’s a solid 4 stars.
