Pogues for life really does mean for life to fans all over the world.
Ahead of the release of the final season of Outer Banks, the cast came together for one last look back at the adventure that changed their lives. At Pogues for Life: A Fan Farewell Event in Los Angeles, moderator Josh Horowitz sat down with Chase Stokes, Madelyn Cline, Madison Bailey, Jonathan Daviss, Carlacia Grant, and Drew Starkey for a funny, emotional trip through their years in the OBX.
And the Pogues weren’t saying goodbye alone. Tens of thousands of fans joined the celebration virtually on Tudum, tuning in from around the world — including Sweden, France, Brazil, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Canada, Ukraine, and Puerto Rico — to watch the cast reminisce in real time and answer some burning questions.
The night delivered plenty of surprises for the Outer Banks faithful: an early screening of Season 5, Episode 1, exclusive behind-the-scenes content, bespoke games, the official Pogue Awards, and even appearances from Silver Falls’ finest: Nikki Rodriguez, Noah LaLonde, and Ashby Gentry.
In an intimate and at times “wackadoodle” chat (more on that later), the core cast looked back on the auditions that started it all, revealed the strange language and running jokes they developed behind the scenes, confessed to the props they permanently borrowed from set, and settled some very important questions — including who’s the biggest Pogue in real life. But as the conversation turned to what they mean to one another — and what the Pogues have come to mean to fans everywhere — things got understandably emotional.
Read on for everything we learned from the Pogues’ sit-down. The final season of Outer Banks Season 5 arrives Aug. 20.
The OBX cast will be hearing “Pogues” and “Kooks” for the rest of their lives — and they’re not complaining. In the beginning, some of the cast, including North Carolinian Madison Bailey, knew exactly what those “weird little words” referred to. However, Madelyn Cline didn’t exactly know the origin of the word “pogue” at first. “I didn't know what a Pogue was until Season 3,” said Cline, “until [executive producers] Jonas [Pate] and Josh [Pate] explained that a pogue is a baitfish. I was like, ‘Got it, got it, got it. The past couple of seasons make a lot of sense. We were bait.’”
There’s no shame in being confused. Famously, moderator Josh Horowitz once asked Dakota Johnson if Pogues and Kooks could fall in love, and she had no idea what he was talking about.
Although, for the record, Bailey totally believes that Pogues and Kooks can be compatible — as long as their astrology is aligned. “The heart wants what it wants,” she said.
Everyone was aligned that Strakey was the one true Pogue among them. (Although Stokes and Grant joked that he can’t really be a Pogue because he owns a Nalgene bottle.) Starkey proudly claimed the title. “I’m from Hickory, North Carolina,” he said. “So it’s pretty close to how I grew up.”
Cline got emotional remembering her first time reading for the role of Sarah at the production offices in Charleston, South Carolina. After going through her scenes several times, Jonas pulled her aside, telling her, “I want you to win.” She said, “I remember going home, and I was like, ‘I feel like my life’s about to change.’ And it did. The show changed my life.”
One of the first and biggest champions of the series on set was Jonathan Daviss’ dad. “That man immediately told us, ‘You guys have something special,’” said Stokes.
Bailey added that while she didn’t realize how big the show would get, she “was not thrown off by it blowing up. I am extremely thrown off by us being here five seasons later — that I could not have expected, and I know better than to even ask for that, so I’m grateful,” she said.
It’s not just about Pogues and Kooks and “woogity.” Behind the scenes, there’s a whole language that might sound foreign to anyone who’s not in the know. Everyone on set knows when it’s “wackadoodle time,” said Daviss — it’s the loopy hour at the end of a shooting day when “the Red Bull high,” as Cline put it, has worn off, and the crew knows it might be time to call it quits.
Then there’s “you’re opening,” a refrain the cast says to whoever’s nominated to be the “funny person” that day, and whom everyone else will aggressively try to out-funny.
And don’t forget, “first snack,” which is when the whole set shuts down because the cast and crew are running to craft services for the earliest meal of the day — especially popular was Daviss’ favorite: breakfast fried rice. “If you’re not first, you’re dead last,” said Cline. “Then you’re also hungry going into lunch.”
There have been too many hilarious days to count, but everyone will remember the day Daviss delivered the words, “They’re cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!” The line didn’t make it into an episode, but no one could stop laughing. “Like, we had to shut down set for 30 minutes to an hour,” said Grant.
Not only do the cast members have their own shared language — they share a legacy they’ll carry forward forever. “I think this is our ‘collective’ in a way,” said Daviss, launching into an impromptu speech of which the show’s writers would be proud. “We came up together, we have this show together, we have each other. We went through a crazy experience with each other. Now we’re all branching off into the rest of our lives, but we’ll always have this. This is our college, this is our start. These are our family. I champion everything you guys do. I’m so excited whenever I see you guys do something else and branch off into something new, because you’re an artist at heart, and that’s what makes it special. You get to evolve and change and do different things, and know that you’ll always be able to come back to a type of home, so I hope we can always be that for each other. I really do.”
If you’re not crying yet, Grant then credited her cast members, not only for welcoming her in Season 2 with open arms, but also for helping her deal with the level of attention Outer Banks brought her. “They made it very easy,” Grant said. “In our initial chemistry read, I feel like we all chose each other … They helped me every step of the way, even dealing with fame. I can call each and every one of them.”
This group has a taste for treasure in real life, and under full immunity from the series’ producers, they confessed to snagging their favorite props from the set. Daviss grabbed a gold brick from the Royal Merchant from Season 1, and as for John B’s most iconic accessory? “We actually ran out of John B's bandannas, and that's because I took them all,” Stokes confessed. “Where are they? I don't know, but I took them. Sorry.”
Speaking of John B’s favorite accessory, Stokes has heard your bananas theories about his bandanna. “The weirdest theory I saw was that John B’s bandanna is actually magic,” Stokes said. “Because I found out in an interview this week that John B has almost died 27 times in four seasons, and he’s had the bandanna on him every time.”
There was full agreement that Pope’s dad, Heyward, played by Roger E. Mitchell is the champion among them. And Mike Carerra, played by Marland Burke, gets the unofficial “Hottest Dad in Outer Banks” award.
When asked what P4L means to you, Stokes said, addressing the fans, “I think it means community. It started with us at the Chateau in 2019, and it’s grown to all of you guys. You’ve embraced it, you’ve taken it in, and it’s become way bigger than I think any of us ever expected.”
Outer Banks Season 5 premieres on Aug. 20.
