Outer Banks season 4 episode 1 review: The Pogues' path to a new treasure hunt in the premiere feels forced

Outer Banks season 4 part 1 is finally here on Netflix, and we are so psyched! It's been a long wait, but we're finally here and our favorite Pogues are back. Outer Banks season 4 episode 1, "The Enduro," starts the adventure off a bit slow, though it still did have many good moments. Here's our review. SPOILERS BELOW.

The main focus of the premiere episode of the fourth season is catching us viewers up on what happened in the last 18 months between when the Pogues found El Dorado and then were named heroes in their town as we saw at the end of season 3. So what were they up to? Well if there's one thing you definitely can't say about John B, Sarah, Pope, Kie, JJ, and Cleo is that they're lazy. These guys definitely do not shy away from hard labor!

With them finding the gold, of course they're entitled to it. And it comes out to total a little less than almost $1,172,549. Wow! Pope convinces them to do the responsible thing and group it all together instead of everyone taking their own share to start up a business - the Kildare County Surf Shop that's been teased ahead of season 4. But first, the group of friends has to buy the land where JJ's house sits back from the bank, as that's where they want to build their new business.

Ok, look. I love JJ. Despite his unlevel-headedness he's such a lovable character and a true fan-favorite. And he's definitely made many irresponsible and rash decisions before. But do you want me to be honest? He got on my nerves in this episode. It first started with the auction of buying back the land. He kept raising the bid in an irresponsible way and that's not what everyone agreed on.

They get his home back, but at a much higher cost than initially planned. And it probably was unnecessary as it wouldn't have gone up that high. And look, I understand. Even though it holds many bad memories, this is JJ's house. But he really needed to chill. JJ, think before you act just a little please! But whatever. Everyone moves on and then works hard to build Poguelandia 2.0. And it really is glorious indeed!

All the couples are also in a stable place and cutesy. Yay! With Kiara even telling JJ she loves him. However things take a turn and bad luck follows the Pogues once again when their fuse box gets busted because of a storm, which doesn't allow them to go catch live bait. And that's the biggest part of their business and why customers have kept coming back. They have a big $13,000 property tax payment due, and they plan to use the last bit of gold they didn't sell to cover the expense.

Of course, JJ goes rogue again and decides to bet all off the gold - the $20,000 worth of it - on himself at the Kildare Enduro. Like, dude. First of all, you should not have touched any of it. Second, if you did want to use some of the money, why would you use all of it? That seemed to be an excessive amount to bet for a local race. Sigh.

I liked how action-y this sequence was though, and we got a taste of the never-ending tension between JJ and John B vs. Rafe and Topper. Unfortunately, the Kooks take the win this time, which means the Pogues have lost all their money. Thanks to JJ. And that's what leads them back to the treasure hunting business with Wes Genrette who had approached them about Blackbeard's captain's log.

Once again, JJ really annoyed me in the episode here when he got mad at John B for not covering him properly during the race. JJ, it was not John B's fault that you made a poor decision. Kie even calls out her boyfriend, telling him that he should've consulted them all first and that he's making it sound like he had nothing to do with it. When truly it was all his fault. Yes, thank you Kie.

JJ has had a history of having money and then blowing it all instead of saving it responsibly. Ok, we've seen that. But this time his decision affected everyone and their livelihood. Even though his intentions were good, he really needs to learn to think before he acts. And really, everyone else needs to learn not to dangle money in front of JJ. Don't they know him by now?

The Outer Banks season 4 premiere episode ends on a bit of dark and creepy note as the Pogues visit Blackstone where Wes Genrette and his son-in-law live to hear them out on this treasure hunting proposal. Even though they had initially decided to put that all behind them. But thanks to JJ, now they have to get back into the G game. I mean, we knew this was going to happen. It wouldn't be OBX without a treasure hunting adventure.

Overall I did enjoy Outer Banks season 4 episode 1. I think it had a lot of great Pogue moments with the lighthearted scenes and fun banter between the friends that the writers are so good at doing. I do think this adventure starts off a bit slow. Did we need to know the some of the backstory of what happened in the last 18 months and what leads them back to treasure hunting? Yes. Did it need to take as long as it did? I honestly don't think so. This whole episode could have been condensed way more.

And though as mentioned above JJ has done this before, I still felt like some of these decisions were a bit out of character for him. Or perhaps more like that trait of his was too exaggerated just to get the plot and story to where it needs to be. Which is to get the Pogues back into the treasure hunting business. I feel like the writers could have gone a different way. Or at least not had JJ make two big bad decisions. I don't know. It feels like the circumstances that leads them to Wes Genrette felt a bit forced. Even so, overall I think it's a good enough start to the season. Episode grade level: C.

Outer Banks season 4 part 2 premieres Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024 on Netflix. Be sure to check out the rest of the OBX season 4 part 1 reviews as well!