Note: The following contains major spoilers for “Outer Banks” Season 3.
After the sprawling treasure hunt in “Outer Banks” transported John B, Sarah, JJ, Pope and Kiara to Barbados and beyond, Season 3 sees the “daunting” return home as the Pogues anticipate their reunion with their hometown and their families — or what’s left of them at least.
“Coming home was pretty daunting for Kiara after the way she left — not knowing what parents she was coming home to like not knowing how they were going to feel,” Madison Bailey told TheWrap. “[She] didn’t know what she’s coming home to. Does she still have her room in her house? Is she still welcome in?”
Just as Kiara redefines her understanding of home, Madelyn Cline admits that “home” to Sarah was a “big question mark” as she reevaluates her relationship with her father and brother that was left in shambles of betrayal and, instead, leans on her chosen family of Pogues and the security of her relationship with John B.
“I was thinking like, ‘what is Sarah gonna be coming home to?’ Last she saw her family they were they were on a boat to God knows where,” Madelyn Cline told TheWrap. “There’s probably definitely a lot of nerves like … Are we just gonna go back to normal? Are we just gonna pretend like that didn’t just happen? What does that mean?’”
While each of the Pogues confront the same family struggles they leave in the Outer Banks alongside some new tensions since their return, island native Cleo (Carlacia Grant) stands in stark contrast as she arrives in the coastal town for the first time. Despite not carrying the same weight as her friends, Grant recalls that Cleo experiences “discomfort” as she is displaced from her home on the island.
“She’s used to being on the island — she runs the island; she knows everybody,” Grant told TheWrap. “Now she’s in a place where she doesn’t know anybody, and now she has to rely on the people who she just met and survived [being on] an abandoned island.”
Despite her initial unease, Pope’s family warmly welcomes Cleo into their home as Pope even sacrifices his bedroom for her — giving Cleo a well-needed taste for what it feels like to have a mother and father figure for the first time in her life.
“Everyone’s families, they’re waiting for them; and she doesn’t have anyone waiting for her,” Grant said. “So I think she really leans in to Pope and the Heywards who take her in during that time.”
“Outer Banks” Season 3 is now streaming on Netflix.
