Outer Banks is fun again

There is a moment in the first part of Outer Banks season four that is among the Netflix drama’s most unabashedly absurd—and for a series in which a pack of shaggy-haired, slightly moronic teenagers have managed to locate the gold-filled mythical city of El Dorado, that’s saying something. The bewildering moment features a heated turf war taking place over—checks notes—a fresh hatch of baby turtles, and it’s a level of preposterousness that feels in the same tradition as iconically insane teen soaps like The OC and One Tree Hill. (Okay, no, it’s not nearly as batshit as Marissa Cooper shooting a gun in slow-mo to Imogen Heap or a golden retriever eating Dan Scott’s heart transplant but, really, what is?) 

And we very much mean that as a compliment—after a meandering third season that made the mistake of taking its muddled mythologies far too seriously, it seems like co-creators Josh Pate, Jonas Pate, and Shannon Burke have course-corrected for the YA drama’s fourth season, serving up the show’s usual high-octane antics with cheeky self-awareness and a balls-to-the-wall disregard for sense. Don’t confuse that with Outer Banks being a great TV show—from the sallow-tinged cinematography to the less-than-robust writing, especially for its young female characters, it’s still very much a mess. But at least it’s back to being a good time.

The first five episodes of the season—yes, like Emily In Paris, Bridgerton, and Stranger Things, OBX season four will be arriving in two batches, the first on Thursday, October 10, and the second half following about a month later, on Thursday, November 7—also mend a major mistake from the third season by largely keeping John B (Chase Stokes), Sarah Cameron (Madelyn Cline) and the rest of their Pogue pals in one location: the show’s titular setting, the barrier islands that hug the North Carolina coast. (Though previews for the back half of season four show the treasure-hunting teens in more exotic locales.) 

Keeping the kiddos in their hometown means more time spent stoking local tensions—with motorbike races, rezoning plans, and, yes, infant turtles—and letting the Pogues be, well, Pogues. While they eventually are tasked with tracking down the long-lost treasures of the notorious English pirate Blackbeard, much of the season’s first part has JJ (Rudy Pankow), Kiara (Madison Bailey), Pope (Jonathan Daviss), and the crew dealing with far more relatable matters, like neighborhood bullies, fledgling businesses, and familial grief. That balance between approachability and adventure feels far more in tune with Outer Banks’ first season than the guns-blazing, jungle-trekking chaos of the series’ third batch.