Rudy Pankow and his Pogue castmates react to the season 4 finale shocker: “P4L”

SPOILER ALERT: The story contains details about Season 4, Part 2 of Netflix Outer Banks.

Season 4 Part 2 from Netflix Outer Banks was a tortured hero arc for the proud Pogue JJ Maybank. Shaken by the discovery of his Kook ancestry in the final minutes of Part 1 and by the threat against Poguelandia 2.0, he went berserk and raged. He was then betrayed by his biological father, Chandler Groff, who threw him overboard to die.

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But after hitting rock bottom and resorting to drinking, he recovered with remarkable sacrifice and jumped after Sarah when she was caught in a wave during a violent storm as the Pogues' boat approached the Moroccan coast. He attacked a militiaman who wanted to shoot Sarah and John B. JJ then climbed a tall statue in the desert during a sandstorm to grab the Blue Crown for the Pogues. He quickly gave it up to save Kiara when Chandler threatened her with the knife, only to be killed by his biological father, devastating his friends.

While the development may have shocked fans, it came as no surprise to Rudy Pankow, who plays the fearless – and sometimes ruthless – JJ.

“When I first found out that JJ was going to risk everything and not make it, I understood it because when I read the character breakdown for the audition it said: faithful to a fault,” he said of JJ in a Netflix video post Death you can see below. “And I think as the stakes got higher, he became more concerned with taking the risk and putting his friends before himself.”

JJ has done this several times over the seasons, including taking the blame for Pope capsizing Topper's boat, being arrested for it, and subsequently severely beaten by his violent, drug-addicted surrogate father, Luke.

Pankow understands the profound impact JJ's death would have on the Pogues and the show.

“He has to judge every moment of his life whether it's worth it, and I think he is constantly, yes he is,” Pankow said of his character. “Life is truly precious and fragile and its death truly defines the future of OBX with the question of what it is worth and how to cope when someone so close to you is gone.”

JJ and John B have been best friends since childhood – or “brothers for life” as John B emotionally called it when JJ and Sarah finally washed ashore in Morocco after the storm and asked JJ to be the godfather to his and Sarah's unborn to be baby.

“The beauty of John and JJ is that it shows the true definition of what friendship is – it's not just the high fives, it's the lows, it's about holding each other accountable,” said Chase Stokes (John B). “And I am forever grateful for the experience I had with Rudy. It was just so much fun filming the show.”

Madelyn Cline (Sarah) called JJ “the heart of Outer Banks“He's such a wild card and it was something we all loved,” she said.

Carlacia Grant (Cleo) added: “His character has always represented the choice of friendship,” and Jonathan Daviss (Pope): “He's just the embodiment of that Pogue image.”

In the last two seasons, JJ had found love with one of his Pogue girlfriends, Kiara, whose life he saved in his final minutes by telling his father that he didn't need it because “I already have everything I need.” ever wanted.”

“Being Pogue is all about making your own definitions of happiness, joy and community, and I think his character embodies the spirit of never giving up and rebelling against what is expected of you to save that, what really matters,” Madison Bailey (Kiara) said.

For Outer Banks Co-creators/executive producers Jonas Pate, Josh Pate and Shannon Burke discuss JJ's death and what to expect from Season 5. Read the exclusive interview with Deadline.

The Alaska native Pankow only had a few short films and a few small one-off guest roles on his resume when he landed the series regular role of JJ Outer Banks.

“This show is by far the greatest thing I’ve ever done,” he said. “Having this as my beginning is the beginning of my life. I’ll miss it.”

Pankow, who has since played the lead role in several films Outer BanksThe groundbreaking success also appealed to the series' loyal fans.

“To all the fans who show JJ so much love and support, I just want to say thank you, it really means a lot to me.” And P4L. (Pogues for Life)”

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