Outer Banks, the popular Netflix television series, recently released their third season on February 23rd.  The series has been very successful and was instantly elevated to first on trending throughout all of Netflix.  The new season has many flaws and characters that are easily unlikable, but overall continued the “Outer Banks brand” of friendship, whilst including an ending that left me pretty shocked.

Outer Banks is one of my all time favorite television shows, and season three did nothing to change that. However, that doesn’t make the series flawless.  One of my biggest gripes throughout the duration of the season was one character in particular: Big John.  Big John, despite being simply annoying, was meant to be portrayed as a character the audience grows to love.  His death at the end of the season was supposed to be the sad, mournful moment that gets viewers wiping their eyes.  Instead, it was the cease to an incessant irritation.  Big John doesn’t care about his son’s well-being whatsoever.  He constantly chooses the idea of gold and riches over his son’s guaranteed safety, even allowing Singh to shoot John B before Sarah saves him.  The character repeats the same lines over and over, not in a funny or heartwarming way, but in a nearly ear bleeding fashion.  The early storyline of Big John ringing a bell for hours on end to attract his son to a lonely church is simply unbelievable.  Not only is there no way John B hears a bell and assumes it’s his dad calling him, but I refuse to believe Big John sat at the top of that tower for such a length of time just ringing the bell.  It also doesn’t help that Charles Halford is a terrible actor.

Despite all the negativity in the above paragraph, Outer Banks season three was truly a fantastic viewing experience.  The friendship, and eventual romance, of Pope and Cleo is an amazing storyline.  Both of these witty and quick-thinking characters are by far my favorites in the show, as they seem to be the only two of the group of friends that use common sense on a consistent basis.  The ending was also a great way to resolve the season, and left a prospect with which to begin season four on.  Ward Cameron finally overcomes his character struggle between what’s morally right and dies a hero.  Furthermore, the Pogues finally find some success in their treasure hunting efforts.  I assumed the season would end like the others, the Pogues find and uncover the treasure they seek, only for the ultimate goal to be stolen away by Rafe or another antagonist.  However, it instead ended with a Pogue victory, taking more than enough gold from El Dorado to settle everybody’s problems.  Season three may not have been perfect, but the majority of the episodes provided a funny and eventful storyline, filled with mostly easy-to-love characters and an unceasing friendship between a group of teenagers.