Outer Banks New Season: A Review

Season 5 of Outer Banks officially dropped August 20th. There have been mixed reviews about the new season, despite the growing anticipation. According to Rotten Tomatoes, the new season received a 38% popcornmeter review. The popcornmeter is a percentage of fans who have reviewed a TV show or movie in a positive way. The higher the popcornmeter, the higher the positive reviews.  This came as a surprise to me, as I did not find the season that bad. 

The season starts off with the six main protagonists: John B., Sarah, Pope, Cleo, Kiara, and Rafe all in Morocco after their best friend JJ died. The friends are forced to deal with the mourning of their best friend, while also attempting to get back the decadent Blue Crown, which was stolen from the group by JJ’s birth father, Chandler Groff. The Blue Crown is a crown said to bring people back from the dead and is an expensive antique that is said to be worth millions of dollars. This crown is their ticket to getting millions of dollars to rebuild their lives back in the Outer Banks. As they juggle both, the friends find themselves with a race against time to catch up with Groff. 

After season 2, the subsequent seasons have felt a little repetitive. The main plot often follows the Pogues, John B., Sarah, Pope, Cleo, Kiara, and JJ as they become broke and must go on a treasure hunt in an attempt to make money. Even though I have felt the previous seasons have been repetitive, I still have enjoyed watching the show. There is something about the beachy lifestyle and carefree, adventurous attitude of the characters that keeps me interested in the show. 

This new season had a similar feel to the last couple of seasons, but the hardest part was the loss of one of the most beloved characters, JJ, who was killed in season IV. His absence made the show feel incomplete. JJ was one of my favorite characters, so seeing him killed off made the show difficult to watch. 

While the show certainly had some repetitive parts, I would certainly not agree with the 38% Popcornmeter it received. The new season brought more adventure by taking the characters to different countries and introducing new settings. This gives the characters different challenges and places they must work through. Overall, I would give the season a solid 7/10.