Outer Banks season 4 part 1 has finally arrived on Netflix, and after working our way through the first five episodes of the series in record time we're left with a number of burning questions.
Following that cliffhanger ending to the first half of the series, what exactly comes next for the Pogues and who is JJ's dad? And vitally, is JJ now a Kook?
We need answers, so let's unpack everything we learned in the first half of the season and get into exactly what this means for the future of the Pogues and Kooks.
It should go without saying, Outer Banks season 4 spoilers ahead!
Every character death fan theory, explained. 🫡
Outer Banks season 4 part 1 ending
The fourth season sees the Pogues having having set up a bait, tackle and charter shop though quickly finding themselves running into financial issues after JJ (Rudy Pankow) overspends.
The gang take up Wes Genrette's (David Jensen) proposal to find Blackbeard's treasure, with him writing one final letter before his death addressed to ‘Master JJ Maybank’, and when JJ finds the letter Wes writes to him urging him to ask his dad about ‘Albatross’.
When JJ does end up asking his dad Luke Maybank (Gary Weeks) about what it all means, his dad ends up revealing that it's the boat Larissa Genrette died on, before dropping another major bombshell that no one saw coming: “I’m not your blood father".
Right. So what does it all mean and who is JJ's dad in Outer Banks?
Who is JJ’s real dad in Outer Banks?
Ok, so it turns out that JJ's read dad in Outer Banks is Chandler Groff (J. Anthony Crane).
This means that through Larissa, Wes is also JJ's grandpa, with it remaining unclear at the end of the first half of the fourth series whether Chandler is aware of JJ being his true son or not.
Who is JJ's real mum?
As above, JJ's real mother is Larissa Genrette, daughter to Wes Genrette and a direct descendant of Francis Genrette (AKA the guy who killed Blackbeard and his wife Elizabeth).
Larissa was married to Chandler Groff, with her ultimately facing an untimely end drowning on a boat called the ‘Albatross’ as part of what Wes deemed the Genrette family curse.
In season 2 we learned that there were rumours Larissa's baby had died with her, though evidently her baby did in fact survive and ended up being looked after by Luke Maybank.
While JJ never really knew much about Larissa, for much of his life he believed that his mother had abandoned them, with the woman he thought to be his real mum in fact being a different girlfriend of Luke's.
Wait, so is JJ a Kook?
While Chandler Groff being his real dad is clearly news to JJ, this notably means that JJ is in fact technically a Kook now, a huge revelation given that JJ always prided himself on being a Pogue along with John B (Chase Stokes), Pope (Jonathan Daviss), Sarah (Madelyn Cline), Kiara (Madison Bailey) and Cleo (Carlacia Grant).
So what does this mean for the group dynamic and what exactly will unfold in part 2 of the series? Does this mean JJ is now part of the Grenette curse? With the curse having resulted in both Larissa and Wes's deaths, there's a lot of loose ends that need tying up in part 2.
Speaking on the major plot twist, Outer Banks co-creator Shannon Burke told Netflix’s Tudum “That was the most extreme thing we could think of: That JJ’s actually a Kook,”
Co-creator Jonas Pate added, ““Well, you’re always trying to torture your characters, right? What would torture JJ the most? The revelation that he’s a Kook.”
Eek, the next five episodes cannot come soon enough!
The wait is almost over!
