We’ve finally made it to the Outer Banks season 5 finale, and it’s the best episode of the season so far.
After Kiara (Madison Bailey) found the Blue Crown and used it to bring back JJ, spiritually, the Pogues lost the Blue Crown again, just like they have all the other treasures they’ve found over the course of the last few years.
As they head back to the Outer Banks, there is a massive hurricane approaching the island. When they land, they learn Groff (J. Anthony Crane) tried to kill Rose (Caroline Arapoglou) and Wheezie (Julia Antonelli) shot him. Rose also reveals that Groff stole all the Royal Merchant gold. She begs them for help, and she claims that she’ll cut them in at 50%. The Pogues are not interested in her unserious offer.
With Hurricane Cassandra threatening the island, the Pogues have two more things to do before they leave. They’re going to find Groff and kill him and steal the gold back. The problem is that they’re running out of time.
We learn why Groff wants the Blue Crown
Groff is hiding out on Blackstone with the storm approaching. He needs to get going for Venezuela, where he plans to use Luis to launder the money, and then he’s going to pay a visit to Finch, steal the Blue Crown, and use it to bring back JJ’s mom, Larissa.
It’s clear that Groff has been trying to get his hands on the Blue Crown to do just this the whole time, but it’s a little convenient.
Rafe makes a plan to break Sofia out of jail
Meanwhile, Rafe (Drew Starkey) is still kicking it on the island, and Sofia (Fiona Palomo) is still in jail. The island is getting evacuated, and Rafe is going to use it to break Sofia out of jail and leave the island for good. Barry (Nicholas Cirillo) is going to help him.
The Pogues get caught in the chaos of the Outer Banks evacuation
The Pogues check back in with their families, and it’s mayhem. The whole island is fleeing. Pope goes to find Heyward (E. Roger Mitchell). The Carerras are helping Heyward. Pope (Jonathan Daviss) and Kie try to leave to find Groff, but their parents won’t let them. It’s clear that this is a serious hurricane, and they need to get off the island. Of course, they won’t go.
Groff heads to the marina and steals a sailboat from a guy. He’s going to use it to load the gold onto and sail out of the Outer Banks in the storm.
Kie and Pope can’t find Groff, but the army is stopping people at the bridge into Figure Eight, where the Kooks live. Apparently, this is all because Groff stole a boat from a Kook, and the Kooks are blaming the Pogues. Kie knows that it was Groff, and she leaves and heads for Blackstone.
Because Pope and Heyward can’t get through, they head back to the boat and try to outrun the storm to the mainland.
John B (Chase Stokes) and Sarah (Madelyn Cline) are trying to find Groff in the rain while the island evacuates. They visit Tannyhill to find Groff, but they can’t find him at all. They, too, head back to the boat, but they get caught on a fence when lightning strikes a power pole. A power line almost hits the fence while Sarah is on it. Luckily, John B gets her off just in time. That’s another callback to season 1!
Rafe breaks Sofia out of the jail
At the jail, Rafe and Barry wait for the officers to head out before Rafe goes in and rescues Sofia. Before they leave, Shoupe (Cullen Moss) spots Barry and makes him get in the cruiser with him to go to the ferry. He threatens to arrest him if he doesn’t. That leaves Rafe without a car.
Rafe cuts the power to the building and sneaks in when one of the deputies leaves. He makes Sofia claim there was a leak, and then Rafe jumps him and beats him up. They almost make it out until the other deputy arrives. Rafe and Sofia fight their way out just to find out that Barry is gone, and the car is locked.
Rafe and Sofia are forced to run away, but Shoupe sees them leaving.
He chases them down through the cemetery in the storm. Shoupe pulls his gun on Rafe, but then a tree falls and crushes Shoupe. He’s trapped, and floodwater is rising around him.
Rafe wants to leave, but Sofia forces him to go back. She wants to help Shoupe. Rafe steals his gun, but they lift the tree off him. Rafe admits to killing Peterkin. He tells Shoupe that he’s leaving and Shoupe will never see him again. For some reason, Shoupe just lets them go.
They get to the lighthouse to ride out the storm.
Pope and Heyward get swept out by a rogue wave, but John B and Sarah save them
Pope and Heyward head back to the shop and grab supplies. Cleo calls him and asks if he is okay. She asks him to move to Nassau, but the phone disconnects. Heyward tells Pope to get a bucket to bail out the boat, but it’s already flooded.
A storm swell comes and knocks Heyward into the water. Pope dives in after him, and they end up floating on the Welcome to Outer Banks sign just like Jack and Rose in Titanic. Luckily, John B and Sarah are heading their way.
As they wait, Pope apologizes for what he’s done, and Heyward forgives him.
Just in time, Sarah and John B arrive on the Snapper and save Pope and Heyward. They head for the lighthouse, which is the highest ground on the island.
There, they find Rafe and Sofia, but no one knows where Kie is.
Kiara kills Groff
Kie finds a bike and rides it all the way to Blackstone, where she finds Groff loading the gold onto the boat. She watches him in the rain, and she pulls out her knife. It’s clear that she’s not going to let him get away, not this time.
As Groff leaves, Kiara jumps on the back of the boat and hangs on. She climbs aboard, and she waits for her moment to attack.
Kiara jumps on Groff’s back and stabs him. They get into a massive fight. The sails are swinging around. It’s madness. Kiara asks him why he killed JJ. Groff says that JJ told him that he has things that Groff would never have, and it made him jealous.
It looks like Groff is about to win, but Kiara throws a rope over him and strings him out on the sail. Groff’s weight makes the sail collapse over the waves. Then, Kie cuts him free, and Groff sinks with the sail to the bottom of the ocean. And that’s how Groff dies.
Now, Kie has the boat and the gold, but she’s having trouble driving it through the storm. She radios for help and shares her coordinates. Pope and John B hear Kie’s call on the radio at the lighthouse. They don’t know why Kie is out in the storm, but they are going to rescue her.
Heyward tries to talk them out of it, but these are the Pogues. They are going to do this.
Sarah, John B, and Pope save Kiara
On the boat, Kie realizes that the boat is sinking because of the weight of the Royal Merchant gold. She needs the boat to stay afloat, so she starts throwing the gold overboard.
Unfortunately, she gets hit by the sail while she’s doing it, and she ends up going overboard. The boat drifts away quickly, and Kiara is left with no place to go. She shoots a flare in the air and starts treading water.
After a bit, she finds herself in the eye of the hurricane, and it grows calmer. She begs JJ for help as she floats on her back, waiting for someone to save her.
Thankfully, John B, Sarah, and Pope arrive shortly after. They scoop her up, and they head back to the lighthouse to ride out the storm. Kie tells them that she killed Groff.
Unfortunately, night falls, and they can’t find the lighthouse anymore. Rafe has to climb up to start the generator to light the beacon at the top. The lighthouse is falling apart, so Rafe has to climb. It looks like he might not make it, but he finally makes it up just in time to turn the beacon on.
Hurricane Cassandra destroys the Outer Banks
While the Pogues are safe and sound in the lighthouse, Hurricane Cassandra absolutely demolishes the Outer Banks. There’s very little left when the sun rises the next morning.
A news report reveals that Kildare is completely devastated. They won’t have power for weeks.
Rafe and Sofia leave and head for Brazil
Rafe and Sofia know they can’t hang out long before authorities arrive. The Pogues help Rafe and Sofia leave, but first, they have to say some goodbyes.
Rafe and Sarah embrace, and he says that he’s sorry that he won’t be able to meet their baby. He also thanks her for all of her help. He tells her that he’s going to make his second chance count.
Then, they leave for Brazil.
The Pogues find all of the Royal Merchant gold
While they are the only ones on the island, the Pogues start their search for the Royal Merchant gold that Kie dumped into the ocean during the storm. Pope triangulates the position of the gold using old sea tactics.
When they’re about to give up, John B pops up from the bottom, and he reveals that he found the gold. All of it. They found it.
Over time, they get all the gold, and they party while they’re doing it. They finally got the gold back!
Pope proposes to Cleo and she comes back to the US
Immediately after, Pope heads down to Nassau to see Cleo. He surprises her, and he proposes to her. She says yes, of course. He only needed a couple of cracks at it to make it happen.
They also make sure that Cleo gets her immigration issues sorted with the money from the gold, so now, she’s free to live in the US.
The Pogues buy a bunch of land and develop it
In an epic montage, Dale Zeasy gets arrested. Then, we learn what happened to the Pogues and what they spent their money on.
John B and Sarah build a new house where the Chateau once stood before Topper burned it down.
Kiara bought the Maybank property and rebuilt. She also bought her parents a boat. She put a bench on the beach in honor of JJ, and she becomes a marine biologist.
Pope and Cleo bought Tannyhill from Sarah and the Camerons. He also bought Heyward a new shop.
John B and Sarah have a baby, JJ, and get married
In the final moments of the series, we see Sarah have a baby, who they name JJ, and Sarah and John B get married. We see the wedding. Almost everyone who knows them, minus Rafe, shows up for the wedding ceremony. Even Sarah’s mom, Ellie, (Natalie Brown) shows up.
Heyward is the officiant of the ceremony. Wheezie, Cleo, and Kiara, plus little baby JJ, are on Sarah’s side while Pope joins John B on his side after walking Sarah down the aisle.
John B and Sarah get married, and the real party starts!
The final shot of the series before the credits roll is the group of Pogues, including little JJ, in front of the tree in John B and Sarah’s yard.
And that's the end of Outer Banks. Overall, this is probably the weakest season of the series so far. The beginning of the season definitely got things off to a rocky start, but just like the Pogues, the series wins in the end.
The second half of the season is as good as anything we’ve seen in this show since season 3.
As an Outer Banks fan, I’m happy the show got the ending it deserved. Now, we just have to wait for that Outer Banks prequel to keep the vibes going.
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