Diksha Sundriyal
The fourth season of Netflix’s ‘Outer Banks’ presents a new treasure hunt to the Pogues. Following their success in finding El Dorado, they are approached by a rich man named Wes Genrette. He invites them to his house, Blackstone, and tells them about his connection to Blackbeard’s executor and the curse that has befallen his family since. The man offers the Pogues a lot of money, but in return, he is looking for something very peculiar. It is the amulet of Blackbeard’s dead wife, Elizabeth. As the Pogues start looking for it, one thing leads to another and they find themselves drawn in the tale of Blackbeard and Elizabeth. SPOILERS AHEAD
Outer Banks Adds a Fictional Spin to Blackbeard’s Story
In the tale that Wes Genrette tells the Pogues, Elizabeth Teach is Blackbeard’s wife. In real life, however, there is no account of a woman named Elizabeth being married to Blackbeard. Reportedly, the infamous pirate had as many as fourteen wives over the course of his life. His last wife has been identified as a woman named Mary Ormond from Bath, North Carolina. There is no proper documentation for the rest of his wives to confirm their identities, which puts the story about Elizabeth in question, though it also provides a lot of space for the creators of the show to add their own spin to the stories surrounding Blackbeard and his wives.
While there may not have been an Elizabeth as his wife, there were several other Elizabeths in Blackbeard’s life. His mother was named Elizabeth Thache, who died tragically young, following which his father, Captain Edward Thache, Sr., married another woman and had several children with her. Blackbeard also had a sister named Elizabeth, and one of his daughters was also named Elizabeth, who married Dr. Henry Barham in 1720. Considering how common a name Elizabeth is, it does not come as a surprise that the writers of ‘Outer Banks’ chose it while fabricating a story that serves as an important driving point of the story in the fourth season of the show.
According to the story, which gets clearer over the course of the season, Elizabeth used to be enslaved by the Barbary pirates. She was in Morocco when Blackbeard found her and won her freedom. He also fell in love with her and married her, taking her aboard his ship. According to Wes Genrette, the pirate gave an amulet to his wife as a token of their love. Eventually, their ship ran aground in North Carolina, where Wes Genrette’s ancestor Francis found them. He beheaded Blackbeard and killed Elizabeth, too. Before she was to be killed, she begged Francis to let her die with the amulet her husband gave her. However, Francis didn’t pay any heed to her requests. He killed her while her amulet remained on the ship that eventually went under.
Elizabeth’s Amulet is Key to Breaking the Genrette Family Curse
Wes Genrette tells the Pogues that due to the actions of his ancestor, his entire family line has been cursed by Elizabeth’s ghost. Almost all of them have met violent deaths, including Genrette’s daughter, Larissa; stories about him have circulated around town for far too long. Now, Genrette has started seeing the ghost, too. He believes that getting the necklace and giving it back to Elizabeth might put her soul to rest and break the family’s curse. He had been looking for the amulet for a long time, but it was only after he found the logs of Blackbeard’s last ship, the Adventure, that he discovered its real location. Now, he needs the Pogues to retrieve it.
According to the story, the amulet was still on board when Francis killed Elizabeth. The ship went down off the coast of Goat Island, where it remains still. When Pope remarks that the Coast Guard has already excavated the ship, Genrette reveals that the amulet was not found by them because it is in a hidden compartment in Elizabeth’s dresser. Now, they know exactly where the amulet is. All they need to do is get it. Despite the nature of the job, the Pogues are up to the challenge, and sure enough, they get the amulet, even though they almost die for it.
Once in possession of the amulet, they discover that the amulet has inscriptions that sound a lot like directions. Considering that Blackbeard’s treasure still hasn’t been found, it makes sense that the directions are to his treasure. Later, the amulet is found to have been a key to a door that leads to the catacombs, which lead to the next clue in the hunt. This means that Genrette’s intentions behind getting the amulet may have been more than just to lift the curse on his family. It also means that the Pogues’ adventure has just begun, and there’s a long journey ahead of them.
Read More: Outer Banks: Is The Blue Crown a Real Lost Artifact?
