When the first season ofOuter Bankspremiered on Netflix back in 2020, it was clear that the platform had found another hit show with so much potential. Released atthe height of the COVID-19 pandemic, watching a show full of exciting outdoor adventures with complex characters was exactly what people wanted to watch while staying at home.
Fast-forward to 2023, Season 3 is released and fulfilling the potential that we knew the show had since the first season. Here is every Season 3 episode, ranked from worst to best:
10The Bells (Episode 2)
The second episode of the season continued the fast-paced sense of urgency that the first episode had, quickly moving the story forward from where we picked up the first season. With the group attempting to mount a rescue attempt on Kiara (Madison Bailey), Kiara has no choice but to put whatever trust she can muster up to trust Rafe (Drew Starkey) to try and escape the capture of Singh (Andy McQueen).
Related:Outer Banks: Every Main Character, Ranked by Likability
As well as the main mission, John B. also keeps hearing a familiar sound, reminding him so vividly of his father and childhood. Rafe and Kiara manage to escape the grip of Singh’s security, but Kiara ends up double-crossing him toreunite with the groupwho barely manage to escape themselves. John B. (Chase Stokes) meanwhile decides to follow the noise (the bells) in hopes of somehow finding his father.
9The Dark Forest (Episode 6)
After a close call with the police after their attempt at stealing the Cross of Santo Domingo from a train, the group is nothing less than deflated. John B. also returns to tell the group that the Charlestown trip with his father was also a complete bust, but still can’t bring himself to tell them what the two of them are actually doing. Rafe also takes his own story to the next level, by completely going against his father completely and taking over the family business as he sees fit.
As John B. has been away from the group constantlywith his father, Sarah (Madelyn Cline) finds herself enjoying Topper’s (Austin North) company, with him showing her the affection she hasn’t been getting from John B. JJ (Rudy Pankow) also overhears Rafe talking about having gold, which JJ realizing he must be talking about the cross. He lets Pope (Jonathan Davis) know, filling him with anger that he rarely ever develops.
8Fathers and Sons (Episode 3)
After John B. trusts his instincts and follows the sound of the bells, this episode starts with a deeper insight into John B. and Big John (Charles Halford). The last time they saw each other beforeBig John’s disappearanceis also shown, with him and John B. having a massive argument before Big John leaves. However, Big John has a quick bonding moment with his son, apologizing for what he did.
Big John and John B. then try to escape the ever-closing security of Singh, who has the sole focus on capturing the two. With Singh managing to locate the two, a massive chase commences with them managing to reach the open water. In Guadeloupe, Ward (Charles Esten) wakes up to realize Rafe isn’t there, leading to him discretely making his way back to the OBX.
7Tapping the Rudder (Episode 8)
Starting with Sarah recapping her recent events, we get a deeper insight into why she cheated on John B. She felt isolated from him being away with his father on their secretive mission, along withher own identity crisis, struggling to decide whether she’s truly a Pogue or a Kook.
Meanwhile, John B. and JJ find themselves in their own dilemma, with the police showing up at John B.’s place, saying they “just want to talk.” John B. and JJ wait out the police, but they don’t realize a tracker was placed on John B.’s car.
Ward is still on the island, hiding out in a fishing hut by the river. He decides to take matters into his own hands and decides not to give Rafe control of the company after all, leading to Rafe snapping at his father, almost ending in the worst outcome possible.
6The Diary (Episode 4)
Episode 4 opens with the news that Big John went searching for Denmark Tanny’s diary, in hopes that it can fill the missing pieces to the complex puzzle that is El Dorado. However, his plan is ruined as he realizes the diary is completely ruined, with no way to read the contents.
John soon returns to the house where John B. and Sarah still are, where John is faced with the choice to let Sarah, the daughter of his enemy Ward, into the family. The rest of the group also begins to settle back into life at home, a place they haven’t seen too much off recently.
John B. and his father resume the hunt for the original diary, given the copy the latter was searching for previously. The search brings them back to Mr. Sunn’s home, where they’re ambushed by a pair of smugglers who are there for the exact same thing.
Another huge chase ensues, with John B. and his father attempting to steal the diary for themselves. Meanwhile, Sarah overhears some super valuable information from her brother Rafe as he talks to their father.
5Poguelandia (Episode 1)
The first episode of the season starts off with the group beginning to settle on what they are accepting as their new home,the lush island that they washed up onafter the explosive Season 2 finale. On one hand, they didn’t get what they wanted, but they ended up on an island where they can live out their Pogue dreams of having full freedom.
After seeing the group out hunting and gathering, one morning a plane flies over the island, which ends up landing and picking them up from the remote island. Their pilot Jimmy seems a little shady, especially to Sarah. As they keep investigating, they confirm their worries that Jimmy is crooked, leading to the plane crashing on the edge of the Barbados coastline.
With the plane crashed in the sea, the group is easily surrounded by armed guards, with seemingly no way out. Kiara manages to reach the shore, but the rest of the crew has to watch her being hounded by guns and dogs.
4Welcome to Kitty Hawk (Episode 9)
After Rafe sets fire to John B.’s home in a fit of rage-fueled revenge with Sarah betraying his trust, the episode opens with the group surviving the fire, but can do nothing but stare at the ruins of a home that meant so much to the group, especially John B.
Not long after, Barracuda Mike (Justin Matthew Smith) shows up to find JJ after the botched U-Haul drug mission in the prior episode, with JJ fleeing on foot into the woods, escaping him. Kiara returns home to speak to her parents, but she’s forced into a car that takes her to the wilderness camp, Kitty Hawk. JJ quickly realizes that something is wrong, instantly trying to hatch a plan to find and rescue her.
With the group ready to leave for South America to find El Dorado, JJ asks for an hour to rescue Kiara, but Mike shoots his tire out leading to JJ having to cut a deal with Mike. Back at the airport, Rafe turns up with Ward, asking the group for help, throwing the plan off the rails completely.
3Heists (Episode 5)
With the news breaking that the group is all alive, as well as Big John who has been presumed dead for so long, it means that Singh has a pretty good idea of where to look. But the group’s full focus is elsewhere, with them determined to see Sarah’s bold plan through tofinally steal back the cross. In Charlestown, John B. and his father end up at the city museum, hoping to find the second piece of the statue.
Topper agrees to let the crew use his dad’s truck to carry the cross back if they manage to find it. After stopping the train through some quick thinking, Pope and Cleo (Carlacia Grant) think they’ve found the cross as they see a crate with Ward’s name on it.
The police catch onto the robbery in place, leading to a massive chase with a near-death moment for JJ. After escaping the police, they realize the whole thing was a waste of time, as the crate turns out to be a decoy.
2Happy Anniversary (Episode 7)
With the episode full of the energy that made season 1 so brilliant, episode 7 sets up the next 3 episodes in dramatic fashion. The episode starts with Sarah and Topper going for breakfast, where Kiara is working. Sarah decides to face the music and tell her everything that happened with Topper, but Kiara doesn’t lash out at her luckily.
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Meanwhile, JJ and John B. continue their own quest, heading back to the professor’s house with the goal of locating Singh, or at least finding some sort of clue. John B. barely finds what he was there for, finding the sketch on the floor the professor left behind. He also finds a newspaper clipping for an expedition in South America, giving him all the hints he needs. The two reach a houseboat where the last member of the expedition lives, that being Tommy.
It also turns out that the message sent to Sarah asking to meet was from Wheezie (Julia Antonelli), her sister, was sent by Ward. Admitting that everything is his fault, it’s clear that it’ll take more to sway Sarah’s view of him. The end of the episode sees Sarah telling John B. about her cheating with Topper, leading to John B. snapping on both her and Topper himself.
1Secret of the Gnomon (Episode 10)
The finale starts with the part of the group arriving in South America, with Sarah refusing to let her father be part of the mission. Later in the episode, however, he still manages to appear to the despair of everyone involved, particularly Big John. JJ and Kiara touch down not long after, with some ground to make up.
In the main town, John B. and Sarah overhear a commotion upstairs next to them, with John B. realizing that it’s his father leading to him and Sarah attempting a bold rescue. After waiting out the night before their last push for El Dorado, John B., Big John, and Sarah set off for the city of gold. Big John’s reluctance to have Sarah around adds an unwanted spanner in the works.
After a standoff with the three, Singh and Ward, the three evade the ambush, growing ever closer to the treasure. They come across a large cave, which Sarah and John B. wiggle their way through, eventually leading to themstanding in front of the lost gold of El Dorado, finally completing the mission that has caused so many problems for everyone trying to track it down. At last, Big John’s final quest is complete.
