The popular Netflix series Outer Banks finally released its third season on February 23, 2023. Many people, including me, have been waiting for this season to come out since season two, which came out in 2021 at the end of the summer—the very first season premiered in April 2020. Outer Banks is one of my top three favorite shows, full of action, romance, friendship, mystery, and many more entertaining aspects. 

For those who haven’t heard of OBX or haven’t gotten the chance to watch it, the main gist is John B, and his friends are searching for gold that was once on the famous ship, the Royal Merchant. They go through multiple obstacles, such as the group’s family members, the police, and others on the same mission as them. In OBX, there is also a split between two groups of people; Pogues and Kooks. Pogues are on the side of the island that is more run-down and live off the cut. Kooks, on the other hand, are wealthy families who all go to the same country club, have yacht parties with each other, etc. In OBX, it always was the Pogues and the Kooks. The OG Pogue characters in this series include John B, JJ, Pope, and Kiara. A few others get added to the group as the seasons go on. For example, we get introduced to Cleo in season two, and at the end of that season and continuing into season three, she becomes a part of the Pogue group. Another addition to the Pogue group is Sarah Cameron. Ironically, Sarah is known to be the kookiest of the Kooks. She is a part of the Cameron family, probably Kildare’s wealthiest and most well-known family. Sarah was never super close with the Pogues. However, she had a friendship with Kiara that ended badly in the past but got rekindled further into the first season, and John B at the time worked and took care of her family’s yacht. Long story short, Sarah and John B ended up falling for each other after a small adventure to a university that Sarah and her family had access to, which held important information regarding the treasure hunt John B and the other Pogues were on. 

There are tons of romantic factors within this Netflix series which seems to attract tons of viewers, and I know this aspect did a great deal in attracting me to watch this show!!! It shows young teenage love, which is so cute and pleasing to the viewers’ ideas, but young love is CONFUSING. Allow me to do my best to explain the “love” situations throughout the series up until the end of season three. I will mainly talk about Kiara and all her “love” problems in this series, but get ready because it is pretty interesting. Being the only girl in the OG Pogue group, Kiara is attractive to all three other boys: John B, JJ, and Pope. Within the first episodes of the first season, we see Kiara being super flirty with John B, and she calls him her best friend but nothing more… so she says. She probably meant it, but BOY, she did not act like it. When the group came across a shipwreck in the marsh they were hanging out at, John B decided to check out the wreck to figure out whose ship it was. Before he jumped into the water, Kiara told him to be careful, then kissed him. Yeah, that seems very “he’s my best friend and nothing more,” doesn’t it? Certainly not; therefore, I believed she liked him then. There was another scene with John B and Kiara further into the episode; it consisted of them looking for something in a lighthouse near the water. They found out lots of shocking news that had John B freaking out. Kiara was doing her best to calm him down. She eventually hugged him, and once she pulled away, John B went in and kissed her right on the lips! Kiara pulled away, and they both acted awkward after what had happened; they both knew that it was weird, but at the same time, they heavily flirted with each other. The group, especially Kiara, would emphasize the “rule” of no “Pogue-on-Pogue making.” So her and John B’s little “thing” ended quickly after that. 

Pope seemed to show much more interest in Kiara at the end of the first season. While the Pogues were figuring things out regarding the treasure, Pope and Kiara were together on a small mission at the time. Pope confesses his love for Kiara by saying to her randomly, “I love you, Kie.” (Kie being Kiara’s nickname that all the Pogues and most people call her). He went on and on about how he was in love with her, but she kept saying that he did not know what he was talking about and that he was wasted. She eventually got overwhelmed by all the feelings being confessed to her by Pope, so she had to say sternly, “Pope, it’s not gonna happen.” This made Pope get quiet immediately after being super talkative about how he was feeling about Kiara. The episode continued, and the Pogues continued with their mission. Eventually, Kiara, JJ, and Pope caught up with Rafe Cameron (Sarah Cameron’s brother… a full Kook, a Pogue would say). Rafe was with his dealer Barry, and they started fighting Kiara, JJ, and Pope. At one point, Rafe had his hands around Kiara’s neck, choking her. Once Pope saw this, he grabbed the first thing he saw to hit Rafe with and started beating him, saving Kiara. This seemed to spark something in Kiara. In the last episode of the first season, she and Pope kissed. They became a thing for a long while, and it continued into season two, but it was evident that Pope was much more into Kiara than she was into him. Kiara ended up ending things with him because it did not feel right.

Finally, in season three, Kiara and JJ become a thing. This was sparked in the last episode of season two when JJ was hit in the face by the butt-end of a machete and fell into the ocean, (this makes so much more sense when you watch the show, trust me!!) Kiara, with no hesitation, jumped right in after him. The other Pogues eventually saved them both, which shows how Kiara risked her life to save JJ. Now that is all the information I am giving because I do not want to spoil what happens between them in season three!!! So watch it to find out!

The “love” situations are all crazy, and there are much more with Sarah, John B, and Rafe, but I figured I just went over just one. I told you, Kiara’s situation is quite interesting, right??!! 

I may be biased, but I highly recommend watching OBX; it is so good. Season three of this series set the tone for the next season as well!!