Do Pope and Cleo End up Together in Outer Banks? [Spoiler]

Set on and around the eponymous barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina, USA, Netflix’s ‘Outer Banks’ is a story about a group of teenagers searching for legendary treasures. Pope Heyward (Jonathan Daviss) is the brain of the treasure-hunting group. Academically talented, he initially has a scholarship that he and his parents hope will ensure a life for him outside Outer Banks, but he later walks out of the interview for the scholarship to help his friends in their search for San Jose gold.

Cleo (Carlacia Grant) is the latest addition to the group. We meet her in season 2 as a crew member of a ship heading toward Nassau, Bahamas, where Cleo is originally from. By the end of season 2, she ends up on a remote Caribbean island along with Pope and the others. In season 3, a relationship starts to develop between the two. If you are wondering whether they end up together, we got you covered. SPOILERS AHEAD.

Pope and Cleo’s Romantic Unification

Yes, Pope and Cleo end up together in ‘Outer Banks’ season 3. When the season begins, Pope and Cleo are trapped on the Caribbean island they have named “Poguelandia.” Like the others, Pope and Cleo enjoy their time on the island, but they are perhaps the only two in the group who actively want to return to civilization. After they are seemingly rescued, the group arrives in Barbados and encounters the primary antagonist of the season, Carlos Singh, who kidnaps Kiara or Kie (Madison Bailey) and reveals to her that he is searching for El Dorado. What he needs from Kie is the diary of Denmark Tanny, the sole survivor of the Royal Merchant shipwreck and an ancestor of Pope.

After the group (without John B) returns to Outer Banks, Pope has an emotional reunion with his parents and convinces them to let Cleo stay at their home. In many ways, Pope and Cleo are polar opposites. He is book smart while she is street smart; he is an idealist while she is a pragmatist. Pope has been largely protected from the harshness of life by his loving parents, but Cleo doesn’t seem to have such luxury. As she tells Pope, she has been alone since she was 14, and her primary objective has always been survival until she met him. But they connect over heartbreaks and the fact that they often have to be the ones stopping other members of the group from doing dangerous things.

Because of Pope’s familiar connection with Tanny, he understandably remains furious at Rafe (Drew Starkey) for taking away the Cross of Saint Domingo. In season 3, when Pope and his friends learn that the Cross is returning to Outer Banks on a train, they decide to take back the priceless religious artifact. Pope and Cleo pretend to be lovers whose families are against their union to dupe a railway worker. They even succeed in stealing the box that supposedly contains the Cross.

However, Pope discovers that the Cross isn’t there when the box breaks open. Despite his father’s explicit instructions about donating the Cross, Rafe steals it with Barry’s help, melts it down, and sells it as small nuggets and bars. When Pope finds out about this, he nearly shoots Rafe, but Cleo stops him in time.

Pope is romantically interested in Kie for the first two seasons, and they sleep together at one point. However, Kie later ends the relationship. Because of her own relationship woes, Cleo suggests they should be in a “No Love Club” together, and Pope agrees. But their relationship matures throughout the season. In the season 3 finale, as they make their way through the jungles of Venezuela toward the Solana archeological site, Pope and Cleo come across a clearing, where Cleo confesses that she likes him, and they share a kiss.

In the final sequence of the season, we see them holding hands as Outer Banks celebrate their achievements. John B mentions that Pope is leaving for school. It’s possible that Cleo will accompany him. As the season ends, a mysterious man approaches them and their friends and gives Pope a captain’s log he claims once belonged to Edward Teach or Blackbeard, setting up the next adventure for the group.

Read More: Outer Banks Season 3 Ending, Explained