'Outer Banks' Season 3: Netflix Release Date, Cast, Plot
Back in July of 2021, Outer Banks season 2 dropped on Netflix and promptly climbed to the top of Netflix's most-watched titles. Considering the success of Outer Banks' breakout first season and its continued popularity amid the release of the second—not to mention, the massive, loyal fan base the show boasts (Pogues for life!)—it was only a matter of time before Outer Banks was renewed for a third season by Netflix. And renewed it was, with Netflix announcing in early 2023 that Outer Banks season 3 would drop on February 23, 2023.
Has Outer Banks been renewed for season 3?
Yes! Netflix announced the series' inevitable renewal in December 2021, four months after Season 2's release. The OBX cast gave the good news in a Twitter clip where they all celebrated. The first dispatch from set followed on February 28, 2022, via an Instagram photo of the Pogues (including new member Cleo) reunited.
Even before the renewal announcement, the series' creative team was prepared: They've been planning for the show to last five or more seasons. When asked how many seasons of Outer Banks he wanted, co-creator and executive producer Jonas Pate told Decider, "My answer is, as long as we can keep making it good and we’re still excited. That’s the number. Definitely more than three."
When will season 3 of Outer Banks be released?
All ten episodes of Season 3 will arrive on Netflix on February 23, 2023 (so in less than a month!!). Netflix announced the date as a New Year's surprise, along with the official poster and a mysterious tagline: "Nothing to lose."
Series creators and executive producers Jonas Pate, Josh Pate and Shannon Burke also teased the Pogues' next adventure to TUDUM at the time. "The stakes are ramping up. The Pogues realize that their adventures in the first two seasons were merely the prelude to the granddaddy of all treasure hunts," they said.
Is there a trailer for Outer Banks season 3?
Yes! The official trailer for Season 3 dropped in early February, giving the first solid hints toward the season's next-level treasure hunt and the reunion between John B and his father, Big John. In the two-plus minute clip, the Pogues discover that Poguelandia isn't as deserted as they thought, with new villain Don Carlos Singh threatening Kiara. "You and your friends hold the key to the ultimate conquest: El Dorado," he tells her. "And that, my young friend, is my destiny."
The clip also includes two father-child reunions, with Big John joining the race to discover the El Dorado treasure, and Sarah asking a favor of her dad Ward. At one point, John B. begins to consider the toll that the treasure hunting is taking on his friends and family, saying. "At some point, you kind of have to wonder, was the treasure an escape? Or was it a trap?"
Netflix also released a short teaser in September 2022, which showed the crew settling into their deserted utopia Poguelandia, as well as flashes of other high-action adventures. The narration, by John B as always, went, "My pops always said, 'Nothing good comes easy. Nothing worthy is given.' Question is, what are you willing to do to win? How far will you go to get your treasure?"
Rounding out the pre-premiere teasers are a series of photos from the new season, which include a surprising romantic moment between JJ and Kiara, another mysterious pic of Kie in a red satin gown, and a glimpse of new villain Don Carlos Singh.
Who is in the cast of Outer Banks season 3?
All of the main OBX players, both Pogue and Kook, are set to return, including Madelyn Cline (Sarah Cameron), Chase Stokes (John B.) Madison Bailey (Kiara), Jonathan Daviss (Pope), Rudy Pankow (JJ), Austin North (Topper), Drew Starkey (Rafe), Charles Esten (Ward Cameron), and season 2 additions Carlacia Grant (Cleo), Charles Halford (Big John), and Elizabeth Mitchell (Limbrey).
As for new faces, Deadline reported the actors joining the cast in June 2022. Station Eleven actor Andy McQueen will play big bad Carlos Singh, "a Caribbean Don who is intelligent, refined, and ruthless, and is out on a treasure hunt of his own." Control Z's Fiona Palomo will play Sofia, a "likable and scrappy" girl "who identifies as a Pogue but secretly yearns to be a part of the country club crowd [and] starts to form a close connection with Rafe." Rounding out the new cast as Singh’s top security officer and enforcer is Lou Ferrigno Jr., son of The Incredible Hulk actor Lou Ferrigno.
What will Outer Banks Season 3 be about?
Spoilers ahead. The Season 2 finale of Outer Banks left many loose threads that the show needs to address in Season 3. For one, the Pogues ended up on a deserted island after escaping the Camerons' ship sans treasure. The friends are in arguably the worst state they've been in during the show, and the farthest away from the OBX. Despite that, Outer Banks co-creators and showrunners Jonas Pate, Josh Pate, and Shannon Burke told Entertainment Weekly that the resourceful crew are not going to give up going after the gold. "They've been knocked down, and they are not knocked out," Burke said.
The Pogues certainly have a lot to deal with once they make it off the island. Though Ward and Rafe Cameron got away with both the Royal Merchant gold and the Cross of Santo Domingo, the Pogues have the loyalty of Ward's daughter Sarah (who has kind of married John B). One of the last scenes of the Season 2 finale showed Rafe promising his father that he'll find Sarah and bring her back to the family. Considering Rafe's murderous tendencies, another confrontation between him and the Pogues is going to get messy.
There's also the huge reveal that John B's dad, Big John, is still alive, and has teamed up with the show's newest villain, Limbrey. We don't really know what Big John has in mind, besides having Limbrey "help" his son in exchange for the shroud. However, Big John is the reason the Pogues started treasure-hunting in the first place, and most of John B's motivation has been to avenge his dead dad. Once the Pogues learn about John B, it'll be a game changer for the whole series.
What have the cast and crew said about Season 3?
Some of the Outer Banks cast and crew have shared their theories on what Season 3 may bring. Josh Pate told EW that Big John's return will be a huge part of it: "John B's relationship with his dad is a huge theme and having his dad back around and eventually they're going to meet back up and John B has to reconcile his idealized version of his dead dad with the reality of his alive dad. It gives us a lot of thematic father-son stuff to work with."
For Chase Stokes, who plays John B, the Big John twist and the revelation that he might have left his son voluntarily will be a big part of John B's journey. Stokes told TV Line, "It was his choice to go out and leave his son, and what does that look like? What does it look like when a kid comes face-to-face with a parent who’s left and chose to put him in these circumstances and has no idea what has happened in the meantime?"
Beyond the central John B drama, Season 2 also shone a light on Pope, who discovers he has a familial connection to the Cross of Santo Domingo. According to Decider, the Outer Banks creative team wants to give each Pogue their own major, season-long arc in upcoming seasons. Josh Pate told Decider, "We can’t shine a light on everybody all the time, that’s just not in our bandwidth. We knew this was going to be a Pope-heavy season. And hopefully, if we keep going, they’ll be other characters who kind of get the spotlight to come forward if we get future seasons.”
Though there are a bunch of treasure hunt-related cliffhangers set up, the Outer Banks showrunners told Entertainment Weekly that romance is going to be a larger part of Season 3, with the show embracing its teen-romance side. Josh Pate says, "That was one thing we really loved about season 1 that's less of an element of season 2 that we really want to get back to. That was the plan, kind of architecting the characters towards opening up some romances in season 3."
One new romance that the finale briefly hinted is between Pope and the newest Pogue, Cleo. Carlacia Grant, who plays Cleo, told Elite Daily that Cleo's transition to the Pogue life from growing up in the Bahamas won't be easy. “I think it’s going to be very hard for her in the beginning. She's not going to be able to walk around with a knife in her hand, which will make her uncomfortable. Will she go to school? ... And the accent. Is that gonna cause issues for her? There are so many ways this can go.”
Kiara and JJ may also get together next season, with Josh Pate telling Entertainment Weekly that the creative team was "immediately open" to the two Pogues getting together, though they "kind of left it" for Season 3. Madison Bailey, who plays Kiara, told Cosmopolitan that the two could work as a couple. "We’re both feisty, we’re both always down for the crazy ideas. There’s just something these two characters have inherently in common that could work," she said.
However, Kiara and JJ's relationship may not be all smooth sailing. Rudy Pankow, who plays JJ, gave Cosmopolitan some insight into how his character would handle it. "I think, if anything, that will maybe even make him more lost, like he’d be more questionable with what he’s trying to do if he’s in a relationship," Pankow said.
As for the newlyweds John B and Sarah, Madelyn Cline, who plays Sarah, told Entertainment Tonight that she's excited for the teens to get to know each other more. "[I]t'd be really fun in season 3, if we get one, to see them actually start to truly get to know each other in a very real sense. They're married, but they actually kind of don't know a whole lot about each other. I feel like that would be really fun. They've obviously been through a lot together."
In addition to making it work with her sort-of husband John B, Cline told ELLE that she wants Sarah to come into her own among her new Pogue family. "I want to see her and John B have to kind of hash out what just happened. I want to see her personal relationships with her chosen family develop. Maybe we could get some backstory on her and Kie’s friendship. Maybe see her try to go to Pogue high school. Maybe see her try to get a job."
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