Season 3 of the hit netflix series “Outer Banks” premiered on February 23, 2023. The series stars Madelyn Cline, Chase Stokes, Rudy Pankow, Madison Bailey, Jonathan Davis, and Drew Starkey. This show has its flaws (pathetic CGI, sometimes questionable acting, stereotypical tropes), but I appreciate the unrecognizable cast and the fact that it’s filmed here in Charleston. Overall, I will always defend this show at the end of the day because season 1 did get me through quarantine in 2020, and it was basically the only thing I cared about. Plus sometimes the bad effects are kinda campy and make the show a little more fun, and a little less intimidating.

I was pleasantly surprised with season 3 of this show. I feel like Netflix series that start out strong can quickly go downhill when they go on for too long (Stranger Things sorry), but this show has stayed pretty consistent with its quality. Some small things that were different bothered me, like the random little camera zoom-ins every five seconds that had never happened before, and also certain nicknames for certain characters that came out of nowhere. 

I usually like the treasure hunt aspect of this show just as much as the teenage drama aspect, but towards the end I started to get slightly bored with a certain character and a certain parental figure. Honestly, John B and Sarah Cameron have always been the most boring characters to me. I don’t love either of the characters as people and the drama between them is a little repeated throughout the seasons. Which reminds me, I know technically I do live one state below where this show takes place, but never in my life have I seen such Shakespearean type quarrels between rich kids and poor kids. I feel like it was such a made up problem how much they hated each other, and used it as an argument against other characters. They practically had made up slurs for each other. The ‘pogue for life’ thing also has been getting old since season 2 but I can get over that. 

And, of course, the CGI was slightly laughable. The scene with the crabs, the storm, the plane crash at the beginning was actually so bad. I still preferred watching it over Marvel’s extreme overuse of decent CGI. I won’t name names, but while some of the actors on this show are not exactly Oscar deserving, it honestly kind of adds to the fun teenage aspect of it all. At the end of the day, the kids in this show (30 year old actors) are just kids, and honestly probably would be saying stupid stuff in a stupid tone of voice like they do in the show. Sometimes when Sarah is acting silly and wearing her Shein tube tops I completely forget that she’s been shot, drowned, lost at sea (twice), betrayed by her entire family, seen her boyfriend on death row, and been held at gunpoint literally countless times. How she is still on any level of normal is actually unfathomable to me. On the other hand, some of the actors in this show (Drew Starkey and Rudy Pankow) I really want to see go farther beyond treasure hunting under the Ravenel bridge.

Some of the romances in this season I felt were a little forced because Netflix is a people pleaser and loves to give the audience what they want, even if it’s poorly executed. The little love triangle between Sarah, John B, and her ex Topper can sometimes be interesting but not really because I’m really sick of seeing Topper and literally no one is rooting for him and Sarah so it’s super unnecessary drama. Also, again, I get that she’s been through a lot, but Sarah is actually such a backstabber sometimes it makes me so mad. I’m sorry but I think it is physically impossible for her to be in a relationship without cheating on her boyfriend (and then said boyfriend forgiving her after five minutes).

I could be pleasantly surprised again, but I’m a little concerned about the season 4- that I’m sure will happen because of the ending- because I feel like they could have just wrapped it up (spoiler I guess) when they finally got the gold from the bad guys, but now they’re gonna have to unravel the happy ending and Sarah is gonna have to cry at gunpoint another dozen times before her and those other meddling kids find the pirate treasure. I’m also hoping that they actually stay in the outer banks next season instead of some random third world country, and I also really hope that Kiara’s parents get a grip and learn how to be at least slightly decent parents. Still, overall, I enjoyed watching this season and I’m curious to see the show’s future.