Outer Banks Season 3: How is it?
The Pogues enjoy a day in the marsh. (Photo: Netflix).
The long wait for season three of popular show “Outer Banks” ended Wednesday, February 23 when it was released on Netflix. Did the season live up to the hype? My short answer is technically yes but for reasons you will see, also no. This season had a budget of about $50 million dollars according to Wion News, and is filmed all over the world. The season picks up where season two left off: on a deserted island. The island life suits the Pogues well and these scenes are some of the best in the series to me. The Pogues then are rescued via plane and taken to the Caribbean. The journey then brings everyone back to the OBX before finally finishing off in South America and then a brief scene back in the OBX.
The series is just as exhilarating as you would hope and expect, but there is one thing that is a slight drawback for me: the repetitiveness. The show tends to get very repetitive with many characters going away and coming back multiple times, characters surviving different scenarios so often that you just begin to feel as if they’re invincible. In fact, this season the best part of the show was the characters; their development and interactions. This is different from the first and second seasons.
Though the characters have been beloved throughout the history of the show, the plot of the first two seasons has been what has kept people craving more. To break the characters in this season down further, I will detail some of the best, the new and the underperforming characters, specifically in season 3.
Best
JJ (Rudy Pankow) - JJ is nearly perfect in this season. His character feels so authentic, emotional, and touching. This may be because, well, Rudy Pankow is not much different in real life than JJ in the show. Add in the humor that JJ brings and you have someone that is easy to fall in love with.
Here is Rafe Cameron played by Starkey (Photo: Netflix).
Rafe (Drew Starkey) - Rafe may have put on the best display of acting in the whole series in season 2 and he continues this in season 3. Rafe’s role grows to new heights in the plot of season three and Drew Starkey was ready.
Topper (Austin North) - Topper is the character you love to hate. He always has been. With all the good that comes for the Pogues this season it is sometimes a refreshing change for something to not. This is where Topper comes in, and he delivers.
New
Carlos Singh (Andy McQueen) - Singh is this season’s new primary villain, as Ward was in season 1, and Limbrey season 2. The character is played by 32-year-old Canadian Andy McQueen. McQueen was previously nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for best supporting actor after his role in Disappearance at Clifton Hill. Singh does a solid job as , but to me nothing noteworthy or exceptional.
Big John (Charles Harlford) - Big John is shown briefly in the previous seasons, but plays a very significant role in season 3. Whether you enjoy his character or not varies from person to person, but he stays true to what we heard about him in the first couple of seasons: crazy, likable, and obsessed with finding the prize.
Underperforming
Kiara (Madison Bailey) - Kiara goes through a lot this season, specifically a failing relationship with her parents which eventually leads to them sending her to a type of boarding school/rehab camp hybrid. This causes Kiara to spend a lot of the season upset and sometimes emotionally numb. I found this both slightly annoying, as well as distracting, knowing that she also had a whole other problem at home. Coupling this with a great second season from Kiara caused for just a bit of a let down.
Pope (Jonathan Daviss) - Don’t get me wrong, Pope was still a good character in this season, but he wasn’t necessarily dynamic to me. He doesn’t show much change from previous seasons. He is just Pope, and while there is nothing wrong with that and his personality is an important one, I would have liked to see some growth.
At the end of the day, Outer Banks S3 did just what it needed to do: complete the treasure hunt that the Pogues started and entertain the people watching it and it, good thing it did. Season 3 debuted with 154.97 million hours watched according to variety.com. In the end, the Pogues find their treasure and collect their fortunes. In addition, it set up another — recently confirmed — fourth season. Well done Outer Banks, well done.