Season 4 features John B, Sarah, JJ, Kiara, Pope, and Cleo hunting after Blackbeard’s treasure, as set up in Outer Banks season 3 ending. New characters Wes Genrette and Chandler Groff were initially introduced as having a complicated past with Blackbeard. Now, Outer Banks season 4 part 1 ending has revealed they also have connections to one of the main Pogues. This twist is reminiscent of season 2 and successfully raises Outer Banks’ thrilling mystery by personally implicating JJ (Rudy Pankow) in a brand-new treasure hunt.
JJ’s Hidden Kook Parentage Twist Repeats Pope’s Denmark Tanny Reveal From Outer Banks Season 2
Elizabeth’s Curse And Villain Chandler Groff Repeat The Cross Of Santo Domingo Revelation
JJ’s connections to Larissa Genrette implicate the youth with the family that killed Blackbeard and therefore include him in Elizabeth’s curse. It remains to be seen whether the curse killing the Genrette family is real, or if there is something else targeting them. Outer Banks season 4 ending suggests Chandler Groff might be behind everything, potentially because he is after Blackbeard’s treasure. Whether Groff knows that he is JJ’s real father is unclear, but their connection will definitely be essential to part 2 of season 4.
The revelation of JJ’s ancestry is similar to a season 2 twist, which established Pope as a relation to Denmark Tanny — the man who hid the Royal Merchant treasure. Pope faced a similar opponent in the character of Carla Limbrey, a descendant of Tanny’s executioners and those after his family’s cross. The plot in season 2 even featured a supernatural element similar to Elizabeth’s curse, that of a healing shroud hidden in the Cross of Santo Domingo. More importantly, Pope and JJ’s hidden Kook ancestry changes everything the show had established about the characters regarding their proud Pogue identity – a further similarity between the stories.
JJ’s New Reveal Means The Majority Of The Pogues Are Technically Kooks
The Pogues’ Kook Ancestry Has Major Implications For Outer Banks Class War Theme
A principal theme in Outer Banks is the battle between Kooks and Pogues. JJ’s ancestry complicates the group’s Pogue4Life motto, making it difficult to ignore that most are technically Kooks. Previously, Sarah and Kiara had proved that one can choose to be a Pogue. Both characters were given the honorary Pogue status for rejecting the Kook life of wealth and abusive privilege. However, Outer Banks has emphasized that the characters’ familial ties can never truly be severed. Hence, Sarah can never seem to escape her family and old relations, and neither can Kie.
The same seems to apply to JJ, Pope, and John B. Their Pogue history burdens them with criminal and struggling records that prove hard to overcome. Pope, for example, has always been pressured by his family to pursue a better education, while JJ has had to carry his father’s bad reputation in town as if it were his own.
Outer Banks seems to be building up to a reconciliation between the Kooks and Pogues. For his part, Rafe might prove to be key in the process, if his intentions to make amends with Sarah are genuine.
Pope and JJ’s wealthy ancestry challenge their Pogue status and defiant stance against the Kooks. The showrunners could ignore this by suggesting they can be honorary Pogues, like Sarah and Kie. However, the show’s heavy and continued exploration of the clash between the Pogues and the Kooks hints there is more at play here. Outer Banks seems to be building up to a reconciliation between the Kooks and Pogues. For his part, Rafe might prove to be key in the process, if his intentions to make amends with Sarah are genuine. In any case, it’s fascinating that the same ancestry twist is featured twice in the story.
