The Stars of ‘Outer Banks’ Discuss the Final Season and Their “Gold” Moments

After five seasons, Outer Banks has come to an end. I had the chance to speak with Chase Stokes, Drew Starkey, Jonathan Daviss, Madelyn Cline, Madison Bailey, and Carlacia Grant one last time about the character moments they are most proud of, what they asked to have included in the show’s final episodes, and more. Please note: these interviews will contain major spoilers.

Season 5 finds the Pogues at their absolute breaking point following the tragic loss of JJ in Morocco. Stranded far from home and mourning the heart of their crew, they’ve lost the Blue Crown and continue to face a gauntlet of familiar threats. With Chandler Groff still at large, Dalia and the Corsairs closing in, and the Kooks ensuring the Pogues have no home to return to, John B, Sarah, Kiara, Pope, and Cleo must rely on their scrappy instincts — and an uneasy alliance with Rafe — to keep from falling apart for good. Their mission is now a desperate race to reclaim their future and finally win the freedom they’ve been chasing since the beginning. It’s the Pogues against the world as they seek to avenge their best friend and bring it on home… one final time.

Throughout the season, we see all of the characters at their strongest and most vulnerable as the story reaches its epic conclusion made up of emotional goodbyes, full-circle moments, a baby, a proposal, and a beautiful wedding.

“I had fun stunts this year, more than others,” Grant explained, later adding that she fought for Cleo to have that heroic action. “I have a real fear of flights and hanging out the side of a plane; I had to mentally prepare for that. But yeah, that was a big, strong moment. The motorcycle, that whole sequence, I think, was great.”

“When he’s saying goodbye to the island and leaving, and making the decision to leave, it’s funny, him having all these little moments with each of these characters and saying goodbye,” Starkey expressed. “For the first time in a long time, Rafe is feeling a bit of peace about things and resolution, and the moment of saying goodbye to his sister, for me, it felt like it was two kids again who had really kind of this childlike love for one another, and really, I think truly for the first time in a while, seeing her as his sister and his family.”

“Honestly, I really, really love the wedding scene,” Cline told me. “I think seeing all of us together, happy after coming back from everything, and going through everything we’ve been through, and still really strong and friends, it’s like, I love that. That’s my favorite.”

In the finale, the Pogues finally get the gold, so the cast revealed which moment they felt was equally priceless in their OBX experience, whether on or off-screen.

“I think exactly that moment when John B comes up out of the water, and he’s got the gold bar. I think that was the payoff of 50 episodes at that point,” Stokes answered. “These kids have gone through every trial and every tribulation. And so, to get to that point of having what they have was just so fun to shoot, and it was on the water. It was just such a quintessential Outer Banks type of moment.”

Bailey shared, “This is kind of later in, but I think I had that moment, the season three premiere. It was our first premiere. We didn’t have one [for] season one, season two was COVID, and season three was our first time seeing an in-person scale. I mean, even just watching our little TV show on a big screen, that was a gold moment for me.”

“If I take it outside of the show, I remember the first Poguelandia. I was just in awe of what it was. I’d never thought in a million years that this show would be able to breed an experience like that for people who could come in and celebrate the show with a concert. I’d never in my life heard of a show doing anything like that, especially a show that’s not a music show,” Daviss commented. “You get to see your fans and interact with them, and not only do that, but we got to enjoy a concert with them. Something we would just do, but it was a part of the show. I think that right there is something to my grave, I won’t be able to explain to people who weren’t there how incredible that moment was for me.”

Watch my full interviews below:

All episodes of Outer Banks are streaming on Netflix.