Diksha Sundriyal
The fourth season of Netflix’s ‘Outer Banks’ raises the stakes for the Pogues by throwing them into their most challenging treasure hunt yet. Split into two parts, the season begins with an invitation by a mysterious Kook who offers them money in return for finding an amulet. Soon, however, it becomes clear that there is a much bigger treasure at stake, one that can get the Pogues hundreds of millions of dollars. However, the higher reward comes with a greater danger that the Pogues must survive. At the same time, the season also puts them in some very tough positions where they are forced to take stock of their lives and figure out what they want to do with it. The Pogues are not kids anymore, and the grim reality dawns on them in the final moments of the season. SPOILERS AHEAD
Do the Pogues Find the Blue Crown?
The fourth season started with a hunt for Blackbeard’s wife, Elizabeth Teach’s amulet. It then turns to Blackbeard’s treasure, which he accumulated over the course of his career as a pirate. In the end, however, it all comes down to one thing in that treasure: the Blue Crown. With a rich history of its own, the Crown is supposed to make its owner incredibly powerful, basically invincible. It also has the power to grant a wish. While it’s good to know, this information isn’t what lures people towards the Crown. Its past makes it an invaluable item, which means that whoever gets it can sell it to the highest bidder and make so much money that they will be set for life.
The search for the Crown leads the Pogues to Morocco, but they are not the only ones after it. There are the Lupine Corsairs, a group of highly trained mercenaries who have been after the thing for a very long time. They are highly resourceful and so motivated that they don’t care if they have to kill a bunch of kids to get what they want. Then there is Chandler Groff, JJ’s biological father, who turns out to be even worse than the Lupine Corsairs. He used to be one of them, but his greed made him go after the Crown on his own, and he, too, has no inhibitions about killing anyone, even if it is his son. He already has a lot of blood on his hands, so he doesn’t mind how much more red they accumulate along the way.
Luckily, things work out in the favour of Pogues. Interestingly, Rafe becomes a rather unexpected help on several occasions. He, too, is interested in the treasure, but he knows that he cannot get to it alone. The way to the Crown is marked in a map, which the Corsairs got their hands on from the catacombs, and it can only be read with a unique lens, which happens to be the gem embedded in the necklace worn by Larissa Genrette, who was buried with it. At one point, Groff has both the map and the gem, but Rafe takes it from him. He already knows that the next location is a place called Agapenta. Around the same time, the Pogues find out about Agapenta from the pictures they find on the ship of the Corsairs, which are the decrypted version of the map.
All the seekers converge at Agapenta and thus ensues chaos. While the Lupine Corsairs come all guns blazing, ready to shoot anything that stands in their way, the Pogues give them a good fight. They split up into three groups, with two trying to hold the fort and one trying to get to the Crown. Through the map, John B discovers that the Crown is hidden within a giant statue at the top of the hill. Someone needs to climb that statue, but the task becomes more difficult due to the approaching sandstorm. While John B. and Sarah’s instinct is to wait for it to pass, Rafe decides to get the Crown on his own. JJ doesn’t trust him, so he follows and is joined by Kiara.
Due to the injury on his hand, he got while fighting off Groff, Rafe is unable to climb the statue. JJ takes over this task, even if it means he would be putting himself at risk by becoming an easy target. The sandstorm works in his favor, and seeing him close to the Crown, the Lupine Corsairs decide to let him do the heavy lifting. Sure enough, JJ finds the Crown hidden inside the eye of the statue. He almost wears it, but then Kiara calls out to him, asking him to come down before the storm or their enemies get him. In hindsight, it would have been better if she let him stay on the top and wear the Crown. Perhaps, then, things would have turned out differently.
Why Does Groff Kill JJ? What was JJ’s One Wish?
With the Crown in his hand, JJ descends the statue, but the sandstorm is still raging. Rafe runs for cover, and JJ runs after Kiara. However, they are separated for a split second, during which Groff shows up and holds Kiara at knifepoint. The choice is clear: JJ has to give up the Crown in return for Kiara, and he doesn’t have to think twice about it. He cares about Kiara more than he cares about the Crown, and he makes it pretty clear to his so-called father that he doesn’t need the Crown to get his wish.
While the exchange goes smoothly, it seems that Groff is still harboring ill will for the son he never showed up for. Earlier that day, JJ had abandoned Groff in the well, refusing to help him despite the man’s cries for help. Groff holds that against JJ, though he forgets how he left JJ to die in the ocean and had also framed JJ for the murder of Hollis. He might also have been triggered by the fact that JJ had a full life with friends who are like family to him, while Groff has never been loyal to anyone his entire life, which means he cannot inspire loyalty in anyone for himself either. Even when he has the Crown, Groff isn’t happy with simply walking away. Rather, he tells JJ that he should have thrown him the rope when he was in the well and stabs JJ such that the boy has no chance of survival.
In a previous season, JJ’s survival would have been all but guaranteed, but this season, his story had been subtly hinting towards what was on the horizon for him. For starters, the focus turns much more on JJ this time, especially in the second half of the season, where he seems utterly frustrated with the way things always turn out for the worse for him and his friends. It isn’t just the social injustice that bothers him. The man he believed to be his father his entire life betrays him by signing away the land on which Poguelandia stands. The man, who is his biological father, proves that he is no better, and JJ is disappointed all over again.
All this disappointment and heartache makes JJ even more reckless than he usually is. He had never hesitated from jumping into the mouth of danger, but now, it seems he has thrown all caution to the wind. Kiara even points it out at one point when she tells him to be a bit careful, stating that his luck is going to run out someday. Moreover, the show gives a redemption arc to JJ when he jumps into the ocean to save Sarah and her unborn child. This proves his dedication to his friends despite his preceding streak of ending up at the bottom of a bottle.
All these subtle hints create a rather ominous vibe around JJ, and it culminates in the scene where he comes face-to-face with Groff again. The Pogues have been stabbed and shot at before. They have been through near-death experiences, which makes one believe that JJ will survive. However, the plot armor seems to have worn off, and JJ is confirmed dead. As if to remove any doubt, we see his friends digging a grave for him after John B reminisces about JJ and what a great friend he was over a montage of his best and worst moments on ‘Outer Banks.’ As JJ breathes his last, he tells Kiara the one thing he would have wished for if he had the Blue Crown. It isn’t a well-endowed truck or even getting Poguelandia back from the Kooks. What he wishes for, he already has: his friends. He doesn’t care for invaluable treasures or fathers who never play their part as they are supposed to. His friends are his family, and it is being with them that he has wanted all along. He never needed the Blue Crown to have that.
What Happens to Groff? What Does He Do With the Crown?
There has never been a dearth of despicable characters in ‘Outer Banks,’ but it is Chandler Groff who truly takes the crown in that department. Over the course of the season, he proves himself entirely irredeemable, with not a single good thing about him. He is a certified sociopath who doesn’t care about anyone but himself. His inherent cruelty is also on display a number of times, and just when you think you can’t hate him more than you already do, he does something to prove you wrong.
Groff had no reason to kill JJ. He had the Crown, which is what he’d wanted all along. He could have simply walked away, leaving JJ and his friends to their own devices. But the monster inside him doesn’t allow him to leave without wreaking havoc, so he stabs JJ, even though he is Groff’s own flesh and blood. Still, the stabbing doesn’t come as a surprise because such treacherous behaviour is expected of Groff now. What remains to be seen is the next step he’ll take. With the Crown in his bloodied hands, Groff leaves Agapenta. Considering that his motive had always been to make money, it seems logical that he plans to sell the Crown to the highest bidder. At one point, he tells Rafe that he has a buyer lined up in Lisbon, Spain.
Though it could have been a lie, Groff’s pattern suggests that he usually tends to tell his plans to people, especially when he knows he is going to kill them. When Groff shared his knowledge with Rafe, he’d already made up his mind to kill him. What he didn’t expect was Rafe’s quick thinking, which saved him and landed Groff at the bottom of a dry well. Even if Groff doesn’t go to Lisbon, he’ll still need a buyer, and he’ll need one fast as JJ’s murder has set revenge on the mind of the Pogues, who are not in it for the treasure anymore. They don’t care about the Crown or its money (except Rafe). What they want is to find Groff and bring them to justice, which, for some, might mean killing him. Groff doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would be scared of a bunch of kids, but they are not the only ones who want him dead.
He has also betrayed (several times so far) the Lupine Corsairs, and they are much more dangerous and unforgiving than the Pogues. The second half of the fourth season hints at someone named Anton Finch, who handpicks the mercenaries for his team and provides them the protection they wouldn’t get anywhere else. Groff’s actions and his being in possession of the Crown would bring Finch out of the shadows in the next season. In fact, considering how his forces have failed to capture Groff, he might decide to take the task into his own hands. When the Pogues find Groff, they might consider turning him over to the authorities. But if Finch or the Corsairs find Groff, they are going to kill him, and brutally at that. In any case, the future is bleak for the villain.
Read More: Outer Banks: Is Francis Genrette Based on a Real British Officer? Who Killed Blackbeard?
