Tamal Kundu
‘Outer Banks’ is a wholesome teen mystery drama series on Netflix. The show has many complex and fascinating characters, but none is more destructive and multi-layered than Rafe (Drew Starkey). Since the moment he has been introduced in the series, Rafe has drawn the audience’s attention due to his emotional volatility. In the season 2 finale, Rafe doesn’t shoot at his sister Sarah Cameron (Madelyn Cline) and her friends and lets them get away despite their attempt to steal the Cross of Saint Domingo from him and his family. Here is what you need to know about his reasons for such actions. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Why Does Rafe Let Sarah and Her Friends Get Away?
The first season shows that Rafe has substance abuse problems and struggles to deal with his father’s constant disappointment at him. He desperately wants to become the son Ward (Charles Esten) will be proud of, but the decisions he continues to make keeps harming that prospect.
Before the season 2 finale, Rafe evidently undergoes certain changes. Shortly after his father’s apparent death, Rafe learns from his stepmother that the family’s real-estate business has encountered severe financial issues. When Carla Limbrey shows up at his doorsteps, he decides to work with her and help her search for the Cross of Saint Domingo. He not only manages to outmaneuver John B (Chase Stokes) and his friends but also a shrewd woman like Limbrey.
Rafe gets the Cross for his family and puts it on the ship bound for an island near Guadeloupe. John, Sarah, and the other show up on that ship and nearly succeed in taking the Cross. Ultimately, it’s Rafe who prevents it from happening. When Pope tries to drop the Cross into the ocean, Rafe grabs a rope attached to the Cross and pulls it back on the ship with the help of the ship’s crew.
Rafe takes a gun from one of the crew members and aims at his retreating enemies. Rafe has witnessed his sister choosing her friends over her family. And unlike Ward, he doesn’t delude himself into thinking that she will return someday. He has come to consider her a traitor. But he doesn’t pull the trigger and lets them go, likely believing that his father doesn’t want him to do this. At his core, Rafe continues to be a boy desperately trying to please his father. It’s an incredibly ironic scene, considering that Ward tried to kill Sarah only a few moments earlier. When Rafe later speaks to his father, he boasts how their family now has both the gold and the Cross. However, Ward doesn’t look happy, and Rafe quickly realizes why. He promises that he will bring Sarah back, not knowing that Ward has become a physically and mentally broken man after attempting to kill Sarah.
