After weeks of hype for season three of Outer Banks, there are mixed opinions surrounding the performance of the season. Many people were disappointed with the outcome of it after weeks of being excited, while others were satisfied and got what they wanted with certain events in the season. Even with the controversy surrounding the season, it’s clear that the majority of fans agree that season three isn’t the best season in comparison to the other two seasons.

For context, Outer Banks is a show set in Outer Banks, North Carolina, that follows the story of John B and his five other teenage friends, who call themselves “Pogues”. The Pogues are the working class in the Outer Banks, and their enemies, the “Kooks”, are the upper class who are the most superior on the island and don’t need to work because they are already rich. The Pogues originally had four members: John B, Pope, JJ, and Kiara. As the show goes on, two more members join: Sarah and Cleo. John B is a determined individual who has a goal of finishing his father’s quest for gold that he left behind after going missing. Still believing his father is alive and wanting to continue his legacy, he takes the Pogues with him on his journey.

However, Ward, an individual that was attempting to steal the gold from John B, continuously gets involved with the Pogues’ plans in the first two seasons. His son, Rafe, who is also greedy for gold, joins him as well. At the end of season two, Cleo becomes a close ally to the Pogues and helps them get away from Ward and Rafe until they become stranded on a deserted island that they call “Poguelandia”.

After being rescued in season three from Poguelandia and landing in Barbados, Kiara is kidnapped by Singh, a man bloodthirsty for gold. After Singh comes into the picture, we’re introduced to another source of gold called “El Dorado”, a lost city of gold that the season is concentrated on. The season ends with an 18-month time jump and more, but you’ll have to watch for yourself to see what else there is.

Many people believe that the pacing of season three was strange in comparison to the first two seasons. “The pacing of the first two seasons is at the right amount.” sophomore Selina Zhang said. “It’s not too fast, not too slow, except for the treasure hunt. For me, that was boring and too slow.”

“I think the pacing of season three was too slow. It took a little too long to get to all the big hiking and treasure-hunting stuff.” ninth-grader Taylor Moore said. “I loved Big John and John B until Big John got too obsessed with the hunt.”

JJ and Kiara’s relationship is something that we also see more this season, which many fans have enjoyed. Kiara knows she loves JJ, but JJ believes he isn’t good enough for her. We do get more insight into their relationship at the end of the season, but fans wish they could’ve seen more of their relationship in the season, and it would be more effective to see their relationship evolve if certain scenes were removed and replaced by scenes between the two of them.

Many also argue that the “El Dorado” storyline was something pointless and random to add, ruining the show altogether. A reason for this could be that the creators thought the Merchant gold that the show originally focused on wasn’t the best quest for the Pogues and not the most interesting for viewers. (Source)

This season, many fans also sympathized with Ward because grows as a character. He notices how cruel he’s been to Sarah and starts going against Rafe’s plans as Rafe becomes more independent, wanting to take matters into his own hands. Deep down, Ward does care about Sarah. Though Ward was a terrible father to Sarah, the father-daughter relationship ends on a bittersweet note as Sarah also notices that Ward cares about her deeply.

Overall, though fans weren’t pleased with the content they were given, there were some sweet moments in the season that helped to drive season three out of Singh’s haywire. However, season four has been confirmed, so hopefully, we’ll be seeing more of the Pogues soon on a new adventure.