Spoilers for Outer Banks season 4, part 2, ending ahead. Though four seasons of Outer Banks saw the crew surviving kidnappings, shootouts, motorbike crashes, plane crashes, and tropical storms, the latest installment tragically ended with a Pogue death.
Season 4 of Netflix’s low-key-ridiculous teen soap opera follows the teen treasure hunters on their quest to locate Blackbeard’s long-lost Blue Crown, pitting them against the season’s main antagonist and JJ’s biological father, Chandler Groff (J. Anthony Crane). In the feature-length finale, the show’s core friend group faced the devastating loss of one of their own and officially entered their revenge era for the upcoming fifth and final season.
Does JJ die in ‘Outer Banks, season 4? In the Outer Banks season 4 finale, all of the Pogues—John B (Chase Stokes), Sarah Cameron (Madelyn Cline), Kiara (Madison Bailey), JJ (Rudy Pankow), Pope (Jonathan Daviss), Cleo (Carlacia Grant), and new ally Rafe (Drew Starkey)—head to Morocco to track down Groff and the Blue Crown. Though JJ and Kiara can retrieve the season’s treasure, Kie is soon captured and held at knifepoint by Groff, who threatens to kill her if JJ doesn’t give him the crown.
Groff tries to lure JJ to the dark side in the season’s second half, but the most loyal Pogue tells his money-hungry father in the finale, “I already have everything, and I have everything I’ve ever wanted. Things that you’ll never have.” JJ hands over the crown and pulls Kie away from Groff, briefly holding her… before Groff brutally stabs his son in the stomach. As JJ dies in Kiara’s arms, his last words are, “Take care of the others. I love you, Kie.”
What comments have the cast and crew made regarding JJ’s death in ‘Outer Banks’? In an interview, OBX creators Shannon Burke, Josh Pate, and Jonas Pate revealed that they “always knew” JJ would meet his demise before the series ended. “We had thought that it was going to be JJ basically from the beginning,” Burke said. “For a long time, we had known that someone was going to die.
In season 4 JJ is being reckless but also giving up everything. [Those are] the two extremes of JJ: He’ll give up anything for the group, but he’s also completely reckless and sometimes flies the plane at the mountain. That’s a dichotomy. We had always assumed that JJ would be involved.
Why is Rudy Pankow leaving ‘Outer Banks?’ In the hours since JJ’s death scene debuted on Netflix, the OBX fandom began swirling with speculation that some long-rumored behind-the-scenes drama could have led to Pankow’s departure from the series. Despite the creators’ assurances that JJ’s death was “always” planned, there are rumors that Pankow asked to leave the series instead.
According to Stylecaster, fans have speculated that Pankow and his co-star Madison Bailey, the other half of the fan-shipped Jiara (JJ and Kiara), have not gotten along for the past few years due to personal drama. Fans have also speculated that Pankow’s longtime girlfriend, Elaine Siemek, may have also contributed to his departure.
Regardless of the reason, Pankow has indicated in interviews that he is ready for a future beyond the Outer Banks. Speaking with Backstage in August 2024 ahead of his starring role in Romeo and Juliet, Pankow said of his time on the Netflix hit, “I’m so thankful to be in this position… to be working on this craft with these characters. But I know that’s not going to last forever. I’m capable of trusting that it’s going to be OK no matter how busy I am or how not busy I am.”