'Outer Banks' Season 1 Ending Explained: Will John B clear his name and bring Ward to justice?

As the series starts, the Pogues set out to locate the shipwreck of the fictional Royal Merchant in order to find a treasure worth $400M
PUBLISHED APR 15, 2020
(Netflix)
(Netflix)

Spoilers for 'Outer Banks' Season 1

'Outer Banks' is a coming-of-age story of a handful of children on the islands of Outer Banks situated in North Carolina. The children in question are mainly the Pogues, three of whom are from the working-class community — John B, JJ and Pope. Their fourth friend, Kiara, is a hippy socialist.

As the series starts, the Pogues set out to locate the shipwreck of the fictional Royal Merchant in order to find a treasure worth $400M. John B's father went missing at sea a year prior to the start of the events on the show, to look for the said treasure. But over the next few episodes, we learn that there was more to his disappearance.

The Pogues — like any other good show for young adults — have a rival gang called the "Kooks", which includes Topher and his girlfriend Sarah Cameron. Sarah used to be Kiara's best friend but something led to them falling out.

As Sarah grows disconcerted with her life and her boyfriend, she begins to spend more time with John and eventually falls in love with him. Their romance is frowned upon from many sides — even from their respective circle. However, they remain at each other's sides despite everything that happens.

They are there for each other even when Sarah's father Ward Cameron is revealed to be the real reason John's father died. He even tries to play John B when he learns that the latter discovered the Royal Merchant's treasure. When Ward tries to get away with the treasure, Sherrif Susan Peterkin tries to stop him. However, when Ward's son Rafe kills the Sherrif, Ward pins the blame on John, leading to the whole town going on a fugitive hunt for John.

(Netflix)

In the end, with the help of his friends, John and Sarah manage to escape unharmed. However, they end up being caught in a tropical depression while on a boat. When the signal is lost, everyone is convinced John and Sarah are dead.

However, later it is revealed that they did survive as they were rescued by another boat. Sarah and John then decided to head to the Bahamas where Ward and his wife have stored the stolen treasure.

The first question viewers will have is whether there will be a second season. More often than not, Netflix originals go beyond their first seasons with very few exceptions to this. As such, 'Outer Banks' will mostly be renewed.

Should there be a Season 2, the show might pick up in the Bahamas where John and Sarah have headed. Perhaps another treasure hunt of sorts will follow as they try to figure out where Sarah's parents have hidden the stolen treasure.

Meanwhile, back home, Ward may not be as powerful as he once was. With John's open declaration that he will get Ward for what he did, it is likely that the latter will be under investigation. 

John's friends may be trying to move on considering they think that he is dead. We might also expect Topher to join the Pogues, now that he ended up helping John escape in the last episode.

All episodes of Season 1 of 'Outer Banks' are now streaming on Netflix.

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