🤐 SPOILER ALERT 🤐
The Pogues are back in town! After a high-stakes season of romance, drama and familial betrayal, Outer Banks’ second outing is even more thrilling than the first — we didn’t think it was possible either. (Let’s just say things haven’t exactly calmed down in North Carolina.)
In case you’re in need of a quick refresher, John B (Chase Stokes) and Sarah Cameron (Madelyn Cline) ended the first season on a barge heading to the Bahamas. The legendary gold treasure of the Royal Merchant that the two discovered with their friends is now locked in a safe in Nassau — Sarah’s devious dad, Ward (Charles Esten), sent it there after stealing it from them. Now, the Pogues plan to steal it back.
Unfortunately, not everyone is looped into that plan. In fact, John B’s best friends the Pogues — JJ (Rudy Pankow), Pope (Jonathan Daviss) and Kiara (Madison Bailey) — still believe that he and Sarah died at sea, and are mourning their loss by carving “P4L” into a tree.
Luckily for everyone, the friends aren’t separated for long. Read on for a quick recap of all the shocking twists, death-defying escapes (there’s so many) and swoon-worthy romances that took place during the show’s second season.
They sure did, but not before getting recognized en route. During their voyage, the crew finds a wanted poster with John B’s face on it and learns that there’s a $50,000 reward for his capture. The ship’s captain Terrance (Terence Rosemore) decides to lock them up before they reach the dock, but — of course — they escape before the Bahamian police are able to arrest them. After stealing a phone at a hotel, John B sends a photo to the Pogues back in the Outer Banks to let them know they’re still alive. That night, he sneaks into the Cameron family’s vacation house on Paradise Island and finds the giant safe that holds the gold. Sadly, he’s unable to open it. Upon returning, he discovers that Sarah’s been kidnapped by Terrance. Cleo (Carlacia Grant), one of Terrence’s associates, picks up John B and takes him to where she’s being held. Once there, John B convinces Terrance and co. not to turn them in, in exchange for a cut of the gold. The newly-aligned group goes back to the house on Paradise Island and are able to open the safe, but Ward gets an alert on his phone that someone is on the property and calls the police. When the police arrive, they’re all forced to flee the scene before they can take the gold. Bummer.
After the Pogues learn that John B and Sarah are still alive, they set out to clear John B’s name for the murder of Sheriff Peterkin. (Remember: Ward framed John B for the murder of the sheriff after his son Rafe [Drew Starkey] shot her on the tarmac.) Pope has the brilliant idea to place a phone in Ward’s pilot’s car, so they’re able to listen in on his calls — and soon they hear the pilot demanding more hush money from Ward. He has the gun Rafe used to shoot the sheriff and demands an in-person meeting which the Pogues then crash, witnessing Ward murder Gavin. To make matters worse, the incriminating gun falls down a storm drain. After the cops don’t believe the teens when they report the murder, Kiara takes one for the team and dives into the island’s sewer system to retrieve the weapon and bring it back to the police for evidence. Now that is a good friend.
You didn’t think they were going to give up that easily, did you? Sarah finds out that Ward and Rafe are coming to Nassau to transport the gold, so they make a plan with the Bahamian crew to intercept the treasure in transit. Thanks to a clever sinkhole diversion, Terrance and Cleo convince Ward and Rafe to get out of the vehicle transporting the gold, allowing John B and Sarah to steal it. Unfortunately, Rafe shoots Sarah before they’re able to get away. (Yes, you read that correctly.) John B takes Sarah to a sketchy island doctor who operates on her wound while Terrence and pals take the gold to the docks. The good news? Sarah survives. The bad news? The police apprehend the others and seize the gold. John B and Sarah are able to escape on a boat but, unfortunately, they don’t have any gold cargo with them.
Charleston, South Carolina! And they run into some familiar faces once they’re there. While all of this was going on in the Bahamas, Pope received a letter from a very wealthy, very sick woman named Carla Limbrey (Elizabeth Mitchell) who asked to meet him in person at her opulent Charleston mansion. The Pogues take a trip down the coast to the port city, and Carla reveals that she has evidence that Rafe killed Sheriff Peterkin. She’s willing to trade the evidence in exchange for Pope’s help finding a mysterious key that’s tied to his family.
It turns out that Pope is a descendant of Denmark Tanney. Tanney, a formerly enslaved person who survived the Royal Merchant shipwreck, was able to buy the freedom of his son, but not that of his wife and daughter. After his wife was murdered while attempting to escape, Tanney was hanged for trying to gather her remains. Before he died, he left a cryptic message that a key would lead to the Cross of Santo Domingo, an immensely valuable artifact. Carla gives Pope an image of the key, but when Pope doesn’t recognize it, she instructs her half-brother Renfield (Jesse C. Boyd) to kidnap him. (These guys can’t go anywhere without someone trying to lock them up.) With a little help from the Pogues, Pope escapes and the friends run into Sarah and John B on the streets of Charleston. Reunion! They all hightail it out of there and head back to the Outer Banks where John B is arrested for the murder of Sheriff Peterkin. Like we said, the Pogues and imprisonment really go hand in hand.
It’s time for a (fictional) history lesson: The cross is a valuable historical artifact that was also on the Royal Merchant when it sank. It was a gift from New Spain to the Spanish king and it was believed to have been lost off the coast of Bermuda in 1829. Not only is the cross worth more than half a billion dollars, it’s also rumored to contain the Garment of the Savior — a holy relic that’s reputedly able to perform miracles and heal the sick.
Would you believe it? He does. While John B is in jail, Pope tracks down the key in a hidden container in the ceiling of his great-grandmother’s house. He and Kiara then discover that, in a certain light, the key projects the words: “The path to the tomb begins in the island room.” Before they can make much sense of that, Renfield shows up on the island and, in an attempt to find out where the key is, beats up Pope’s dad Heyward (E. Roger Mitchell). To buy more time, the Pogues give Carla and Renfield a fake key in exchange for the incriminating evidence, but Renfield soon returns with reinforcements to take the real key. Later, Carla shows up at Tanneyhill with the key and asks to see the island room.
Is that a serious question? We know how good these guys are at escaping. This time it’s actually by the book, though. When Rafe’s fingerprints are found on shells in the gun recovered from the sewer, the police release John B and get a warrant to arrest Rafe. Yay! Meanwhile, Rafe attacks Sarah and almost drowns her, but she’s saved by her old boyfriend Topper (Austin North). In order to protect Rafe, Ward takes the blame for both the murder of John B’s dad and Sheriff Peterkin before faking his own suicide in a giant boat explosion. (RIP “My Druthers.”) All of this drives Sarah back into Topper’s arms after John B shows little sympathy for her dad’s presumed death.
Don’t get it twisted — there’s no keeping these soulmates apart. Sarah shows where her loyalties (and affection) lie when she rushes to the Château to tell the rest of the Pogues that Carla and Renfield visited Tanneyhill and found the coveted island room hidden. After the crew rushes to the room, they discover hidden clues that lead them to an angel oak on the other side of the island.
Bear with us. Believing the treasure is buried beneath the angel oak, Carla, Renfield and Rafe excavate the ground at the bottom of the tree, but only unearth the casket of Tanney’s wife, Cecilia. They leave, angrily. Luckily, the eagle-eyed Pogues spot a hole in the top of the tree that contains a spyglass with the inscription: “You’ve come this far. Do not falter. The cross is on the Freedman’s altar.” That cute little rhyme leads them to a nearby church where they find the Cross of Santo Domingo hidden in the ceiling beams! It’s pretty huge and before they’re able to cart it off, Rafe and Renfield steal it and take it to Carla. Goddamnit Rafe. Disappointed after discovering the cross no longer contains the magic Garment of the Savior that can cure her, Carla shoots Renfield. Rafe then abandons her, driving off with the cross.
To the docks. After faking his death, Ward arranged for the entire Cameron family to escape on a ship and head to Guadalupe. His wife Rose (Caroline Arapoglou) drugs Sarah with some tea and brings her to the boat, and the entire family sets sail for the Caribbean. Unbeknownst to them, however, the Pogues stow away inside a shipping container on the barge in order to rescue Sarah and get the cross back.
Glad you asked. Once the Pogues get out of the shipping container, they run into Cleo from the Bahamas. (She works on this ship now — we love a fortuitous coincidence.) She helps them subdue the crew, rescue Sarah and attempt to steal the cross back. Unfortunately, thanks to a now completely unhinged Rafe and truly murderous Wade, the Pogues plus Cleo are only able to get away on a small boat with their lives and not the cross. Thwarted again! After they leave, Rafe promises his father he’ll avenge him and the adrift teens land on an island they immediately proclaim Poguelandia. Meanwhile, in Barbados, Carla approaches a mysterious man who tells her: “I know where it is. I can help you. But you have to help my son.” As he turns, we see that it’s John B’s missing/dead dad! Surprise — he’s still alive after all. Season 3, we’re ready for you.
Outer Banks Seasons 1 and 2 are available to stream now.
