On Friday, February 23rd, 2023, the highly anticipated third season of Netflix’s Outer Banks was released. In season one, the show follows the story of protagonist John B and his three friends JJ, Pope and Kiara, with characters Sarah Cameron and Cleo joining the main cast later on. The show mainly takes place on the Outer Banks, a fictional island off the coast of North Carolina. The island is divided into two “sides” and is inhabited by two kinds of people: the “Pogues,” the working class who live on the south side of the island, and the “Kooks,” the wealthy upper class who mainly reside on the island’s north side.

In season 1, John B’s dad, who spent much of his time treasure hunting, has gone missing and is presumed dead. However, when John B and his friends get a lead on the treasure that his father was after, they decide to chase after it themselves. The treasure in question is a copious sum of gold from The Royal Merchant, a ship that wrecked near the Outer Banks. Many had previously tried and failed to find the Merchant’s gold. However, by following clues left behind by John B’s dad and relying on the wit and tenacity of his friends, John B and his friends find not only the gold but also the cross of Santo Domingo, a valuable artifact that happens to be a family heirloom of Pope’s. However, this treasure hunt is not smooth sailing for the friends as Ward & Rafe Cameron, the father and brother of Sarah Cameron a “Kook” gone rogue and John B’s girlfriend also have their eyes on the treasure. The first two seasons result in a tedious game of cat and mouse as the two groups, ending in the Cameron’s getting away with both the gold and the Cross. 

Season three begins with John B and his friends stranded on an empty island. They are rescued and taken to Barbados where they meet the season’s main antagonist, Carlos Singh, a Caribbean Don who reveals that there is more to the treasure than just the gold and cross. What Singh is actually after is El Dorado – the fabled city of gold which has never been discovered. Singh believes that with some information that John B and his friends possess, he will finally be able to find El Dorado. Similarly to the first two seasons, yet another game of cat and mouse ensues with plenty of action, and jaw-dropping revelations and discoveries. The season is a great follow-up to the cliffhanger ending of season two and ties up many of the loose ends that went unexplained in previous seasons.

The ending of the third season is a great conclusion to the events of the previous two. If you have made it through the first two tedious seasons, then I would strongly recommend watching the third installment. I would give it a 5/10 star rating. While it isn’t the best show you’ll see, it’s a remarkable improvement from the first two seasons and finally delivers what fans have been looking for.