Outer Banks cast share their honest thoughts on the ending, and one star was ‘thrown off’

We all had a lot to say about the final season of Outer Banks, but what did the cast really think about how their characters’ stories came to an end?

Season five landed on Netflix on Thursday, August 20, officially bringing the story of the Pogues to an end. The fandom didn’t go easy, especially when it became clear JJ (Rudy Pankow) wouldn’t be coming back – Blue Crown or not. 

Lobotomised characters, inconsistencies and dodgy editing are all frequent complaints that no doubt contributed to the fifth chapter’s 38% audience Rotten Tomatoes score. Ultimately, the overwhelming sense is that Outer Banks probably should have finished with season three. 

But that’s not to say it’s a total mess, and there’s still plenty of action and adventure to enjoy. Plus, for the most part, the finale was satisfying enough. 

The cast themselves have been much more positive about where the Pogues ultimately ended up. After five seasons of near-death experiences, treasure hunts and a frankly ridiculous amount of time spent at sea, most of them seem pretty happy with the way their characters said goodbye.

Outer Banks cast get candid about the finale

In a conversation with CinemaBlend, the Outer Banks cast got candid about the finale, with Pope star Jonathan Daviss saying, “I thought it was beautiful. I thought it was timely. I think it was what we needed.

“The writers thought really long about the right way to conclude this chapter. It was kind of like an amalgam of trying to get everybody’s situations just right. What we want when we start is not what we get when it ends, but it’s what we need.”

John B star Chase Stokes chimed in, “Jonas [Pate] told us at the beginning of the show that he wanted to end it with John B and Sarah getting married. And obviously the baby and the naming of the baby is such a beautiful [way of] paying homage to a character that is now gone.”

Stokes also said it’s “really cool” to be part of a show that gets to “tell the full story” and “to know that the idea that this dude had in his little shack office on the side of his house when he wrote this thing came to fruition and seven years later we did exactly what he wanted to.”

Sarah actress Madelyn Cline told Variety that she’s also happy with the ending, saying, “I think we tied the bow very, very nicely.” 

That said, she knew it was time for the story to finish. “We were all ready to close the chapter,” she continued. “We came to a point where we realised the story we wanted and needed to tell had been told.”

As for Kiara star Madison Bailey, she was also satisfied, although she was apprehensive about one part of her story: the fact that her character didn’t kill Groff until the very last episode. 

“I was a little thrown off that we were waiting until [episode] 10,” she told The Wrap. “It felt on the nose.” But then she reiterated that she was “really happy to read that in the script” and liked the way it was done in the end. 

“I love that it’s not too gory or too hard to believe that she could do that,” she added.

One thing we no doubt won’t get is their honest opinions about how they felt without Pankow, although Stokes did echo the co-creators in saying JJ’s death had been on the cards for years. And it was the one thing the cast didn’t have a say in. 

Stokes told the Chicks in the Office podcast: “They sat us all down and they said, ‘This is what’s going on, and this is where this season and this episode are going to end.’ We were like, ‘Oh sh*t. Okay.’ And I guess to their credit it had been something that they had planned.” 

For all the latest film and TV updates and hot takes, like our Facebook page.

Featured image credit: Netflix