After season three of Outer Banks was such a letdown, I debated whether to watch season four. I was delighted to see that the show redeemed itself– the visuals carried the beachy, carefree atmosphere that the show is so well known for, the chemistry was incredible, and the writing was compelling throughout all five episodes. 

Season four opens with a shot of John B. holding a beer on JJ’s roof, a nice visual callback to the similar opening of season one. Season four follows Sarah Cameron, John B., JJ, Pope, Kiara and Cleo after using season three’s treasure to buy JJ’s old run-down house. A bet gone wrong forces the Pogues to quickly find more money or lose Poguelandia 2.0. 

My favorite part of this season has to have been the relationships between all the main characters. You can feel the depth of their love, often making sacrifices for their significant others, even in life-or-death situations. Specifically, I was thrilled to see how happy Cleo made Pope and how Kiara calmed JJ down. Sarah and John B are honestly a match made in heaven. It is amazing how Madelyne Cline and Chase Stokes can make the camera believe they are head over heels for each other, especially after their public breakup. 

Another aspect of this season that I adore is the addition of new characters to the cast. Outer Banks has always been good at picking actors that work well together on the show, and this season is no different. The show also does a better job of portraying its teenage characters than most shows. They are fun, rash, dumb and embarrassing in all the ways that any 19-year-old is. Their personalities are also vastly different from one another, making the show more entertaining and relatable for audiences. 

While I enjoyed the season, it was very predictable. I was only surprised by a few ultimately meaningless twists. Some twists were predictable because of their similarity to past storylines. Others were easy to see coming due to obvious foreshadowing which took away the shock they were building up to. 

Overall, I found the first half of season four to be very entertaining and I definitely plan on binging the second half sooner rather than later. Those disappointed by season three should give season four a shot.