The new number one show on Netflix is Outer Banks, a show that follows the lives of four kids who live in the Outer Banks and search for treasure. It sounds cliché, but the number of plot twists in this show makes it an exciting one to watch.
The four friends who search for treasure are part of a class group called the Pogues, the working class on the island. There is Kiara, John B, JJ, and Pope. There is another group on the island, the rich people. They are called the Kooks. The main Kooks in the show are Sarah, Topper, and Rafe.
Every person has a front they put up towards their friends, and have internal struggles throughout the entire show, which is often relevant in real life as people put up fronts in front of their friends to hide their internal struggles. John B lost his dad out to sea, and that left his uncle to take care of him on the island. However, his uncle has been gone for months and John B is threatened to go into foster care. He has to cope with this while looking for clues he thinks his father left him.
JJ is the brave soul of the group, who hardly ever thinks anything out. At home, though, he experiences abuse from his father, who is a drug addict. Pope wants to go on this adventure with all of his friends, but at the same time he has to balance his responsibility to earn a scholarship for college and make his parents proud.
Kiara is stuck in the middle of the two enemy groups, the Pogues and the Kooks. Her parents worked hard to put Kiara into the “Kook Academy” and she became best friends with Sarah, the “Kook Princess”, until suddenly Sarah cut her off and Kiara started hanging out with John B, JJ, and Pope. Her parents want her to choose her life to be a Kook and have nice things handed to her, but Kiara is a hard-core environmentalist and socialist, and strongly believes that good money should be handed to charity.
The Kooks, who seem to have everything nice handed to them, also hide their internal struggles. Sarah, who gets everything she wants and already has her future mapped out for herself, wants to live life out of the “bubble wrap” and wants to explore what life is really like outside of everything getting handed to her. She wants to make her own decisions and have a mind of her own instead of going along with the rest of her family. If she does this, however, she would have to give up life as a Kook.
Topper, Sarah’s boyfriend, seems to be doing just fine as well. He seems really possessive over Sarah at all times, but you see later it is because he truly does care about her. His mom puts all the blame on him for everything that goes wrong, calling him irresponsible and careless. Topper feels like he does everything that is asked of him, but still cannot please his family.
Sarah is the favorite in her family, and Rafe is her brother. He doesn’t feel loved by his father and just wants some appreciation from him. He doesn’t understand why Sarah gets special privilege over him and doesn’t have to work a day in her life. Rafe turns towards drugs to get him out of his slump and it turns out to be a steep slope for him.
These internal struggles of each character, no matter what position they are put in, allow the audience to empathize with a small aspect of all of the characters, which is one reason why this show is so popular.
The Kook and Pogue dynamic changes over the episodes, starting off as mortal enemies about to kill each other and eventually morphing together. John B and Sarah start to talk and adventure together, and Kiara and Sarah have to find a way to reconcile. Topper has to deal with finding himself after losing Sarah to the Pogues and Rafe is still headed down a slippery slope. This keeps the audience engaged in the constantly changing dynamic between the two groups.
As John B learns more about his father and the gold, he realizes the treasure hunt will lead him to conclusions about what really happened to his dad and the truth behind the Kooks. The Outer Banks doesn’t fail to thrill its audience with mystery and important and realistic themes such as sacrifice in friendship (especially between the Pogues, who would do anything for eachother). The Outer Banks certainly will keep you entertained the entire way through the show with the outstanding character development and plot.
Hi! My name is Abigail and I am a senior editor for The Mycenaean. I am also a member of Leesville’s cross country team and track team, as well as the president of National Technical Honor Society.