“Bring it on home, John B!”
This one phrase encapsulates almost the entirety of the third season of Outer Banks. With the return of John B (Chase Stokes) and his loyal band of Pogues comes another ten episodes of wild conspiracy and mystery, ranging from the Caribbean shores of Poguelandia to Barbados, all the way back to Kildare Island and into South America. But how in the world could the writers of this show possibly come up with anything more outlandish than the events in season two?
To complicate matters, the reintroduction of old characters, such as John B’s father “Big John” Routledge (Charles Halford) and the introduction of new ones, such as Carlos Singh (Andy McQueen), the series’ new villain, add to the chaos left by season two. Also, with the cross and the gold securely out of reach of the Pogues, the writers had to come up with something new for them to chase: the classic, quintessential gold mine of El Dorado.
This famed City of Gold has been the focus of so many books, movies and TV shows—it’s almost shocking that the fans didn’t guess it before the season aired. And of course, it must be located squarely in the heart of Venezuela, causing no end of issues for the Pogues to reach their final goal of becoming rich.
Like both seasons one and two, however, the focus of the show is on the relationships between the characters: the strife, the crazy love triangles, the lot. One major example is the strain of Big John’s determination to reach El Dorado at all costs, which almost costs John B his friends.
Separate from all the action , everyone’s favorite love interest, Sarah Cameron (Madelyn Cline), has an identity crisis on Kildare over which life she should choose: Kooks or Pogues? Sarah’s strife is one of the saving graces of this show, showing increased depth and complexity in her character as opposed to being simply a pretty face to look at.
The addition of Cleo (Carlacia Grant) has also helped bring the show along, adding another female role to the band of misfits so that Pope (Jonathan Daviss) has someone to pine over, since Kiara (Madison Bailey) has spurned him.
But how does season three draw this journey to a close? Of course, with a Mexican stand-off in the middle of the Amazon where Ward Cameron (Charles Esten) gets his chance at redemption, dying for his daughter’s sake. El Dorado is found, the gold is rescued and everyone lives happily ever after. Right?
Wrong. And this is what I disliked the most about this season. With the main storyline completely wrapped up in a bow, the writers were forced to add a single cutscene at the end of the credits to give the Pogues another insane treasure hunt to go on, completely separate from the original storyline, simply to make more money. It’s lazy writing and feels very much like just another opportunity to make more money from the series.
This is why OBX3 only gets 3.5 out of 5 Wallys. Because, at the end of the day, this is a guilty pleasure show. We all love it, we all will watch it, but it’s simply not written very well. The plot line is predictable, the acting is a bit cringey and, frankly, it’s just a little too preposterous for me. I understand that there must be a willful suspension of disbelief to watch most shows, but the continued antics from the Pogues grow tedious after a time.
So, will I watch season four? Absolutely. Do I expect the show to get any better? No, and while that’s sad, it is unfortunately the truth.
