After three seasons, the official “ships” — that is, fandom-approved TV relationships — of the Netflix teen drama “Outer Banks” seem solidified. There’s John B (Chase Stokes) and Sarah Cameron (Madelyn Cline); JJ Maybank (Rudy Pankow) and Kiara Carrera (Madison Bailey); and Pope Heyward (Jonathan Daviss) and Cleo Anderson (Carlacia Grant) all coupled up going into "Outer Banks" season 4, which debuts on Netflix on Thursday, October 10. But two of its young stars are actually rooting for an entirely different pair this season.
In a recent interview with People, “OBX” star Madison Bailey joked that her character Kie’s budding romance with fellow Pogue JJ was "going to be the death of my Kiara gay agenda.” (The 25-year-old actress publicly came out as queer via a TikTok video in May 2020.)
In the same interview, Bailey’s costar Madelyn Cline teased that the duo "have an idea for Sarah and Kiara" to eschew the fellas altogether and be each other’s onscreen love interests. “John B. and JJ will make each other very happy. And it's not like they're going to be alone. Everything's going to be fine,” Bailey added.
Cline quipped that she and Bailey have been "throwing the metaphorical spaghetti on the wall" but the idea is “not sticking” with the series’ co-creators Josh Pate, Jonas Pate and Shannon Burke. But Bailey isn’t totally writing off any future explorations into Kie’s sexuality: “I think everybody's like, 'She's a little fluid. We'll figure it out later. There's hopefully many more seasons to figure herself out."
However, for season 4 at least, Kiara’s romantic affections will be firmly focused on friend-to-lover JJ. “I think Kiara maybe is in a more open place for a relationship and I think JJ is still catching up with himself, hence his hesitance [to commit]," Bailey told People.
"I think he's unsure if he can make me happy, unsure of a lot of things, unsure of himself in many, many ways and so Kiara is holding it down. I think she's really patient. I think she understands that and a lot of that goes unspoken. I think she knows he has a lot to deal with, but [JJ is] my person."
Speaking of future seasons of the show, so far “Outer Banks” has only officially been greenlit through its fourth season, which, like fellow popular Netflix series “Emily in Paris,” “Bridgerton” and “Stranger Things,” is being released in two parts. After the first five episodes hit the steamer on October 10, the final five installments will follow on Thursday, November 7.
As for a potential fifth season of “OBX,” there has been no confirmation from the cast or creators about a pick-up for more episodes. Historically, those announcements have closely trailed each season premiere, so we’re going to keep our eyes and ears peeled this next week.
Tom's Guide will keep you posted on all updates surrounding "Outer Banks" season 4, including behind-the-scenes tidbits, character descriptions, casting news, on-set photos and new trailers. In the meantime, you can revisit the first three seasons of the action-adventure teen drama with a Netflix subscription.
