Outer Banks Season 3: What To Expect

This article contains spoilers for Outer Banks season 2.

Outer Banks season 2 took us on an adventure from the small barrier island off the coast of North Carolina to the Carribean island of Nassau, Bahamas. After John B avoided capture in the OBX, he and Sarah laid low in Nassau until they made money moves and attempted to steal their gold back from Ward. When their plans fell through, and their allies got detained, they returned home to OBX to old problems and new mysteries to solve.

While John B and Sarah were Bonnie & Clyde in the Bahamas, the Pogues were doing everything they could to clear John B’s name. Pope’s run-in with heiress Carla Limbrey, and her half-brother/footman Renfield, led the Pogues on yet another hunt for Denmark Tanney’s hidden treasure—this time a large jewel-encrusted, golden-plated cross. But it wasn’t just about the gold, Pope discovers he’s descended from Denmark, and wants to reclaim what rightfully belongs to his family.

The Pogues have unfinished business with the Camerons, and it’s likely to come to a head in season three. Here is what we can likely expect to see.

Big John Teams up with Carla Limbrey

The big reveal in the season 2 finale is that John B’s dad, Big John, is actually alive! He went missing nine months before the start of the series and was believed to be dead after Ward Cameron double-crossed him and left him for dead off a remote island. Now we know he survived the ordeal, and has possibly been plotting his revenge the entire time. He reached out to Carla Limbrey, after she failed to secure the miracle relic she was looking for inside of the gold cross.

Big John offers to help Carla get what she wants in exchange for her helping John B. Carla has an unknown degenerative disease, and doesn’t have long to live, which is why she’s desperate to find a cloth she believes can heal her ails. With her bastard half-brother Renfield dead, and no other apparent heirs, she has an entire estate at her disposal, and those resources could prove useful to the Routledges.

A Reckoning for Ward Cameron

After Ward Cameron confessed to his crimes, he faked his death, then secretly arranged for his family to sneak out of the OBX on a container ship called the Coastal Venture. The Pogues snuck onto the ship, wanting to steal back the cross and save Sarah, who’d been taken there against her will. John B managed to save Sarah, and overpower Ward in the process, but the gang had to escape the ship without their loot.

Now the Pogues have to find their way back home, or to the Cameron’s little slice of extradition-free heaven, so they can finish what they started. They have almost nothing to lose and have come so close to getting what they want, they’ll be fully emboldened to go after Ward again. And with Sarah on their side with whatever insider knowledge she has, they might be able to gain an upper hand.

The Camerons have been accumulating wins, but each of them at a cost. They’ve lied, stolen, and killed to get what they want, and they’ve made a lot of enemies along the way. Ward crossed Big John and Carla Limbrey, among others, and it’s only a matter of time before the people he’s wronged seek vengeance. The Pogues have allies they don’t know about. And with Ward’s former partners teaming up, the Camerons have to watch their backs.

We hope to see Ward get his just desserts, and at the very minimum, get his ass beat by one Big John. Hopefully his comeuppance includes being taken for all of his stolen gold and whatever valuables the Pogues can carry.

The Pogues and Kooks Go to War 

The Pogues narrowly escaped the Coastal Venture, and landed on a seemingly deserted island somewhere between North Carolina and the Caribbean. Instead of stressing about it, John B and the gang get to work making the place home… but that’s not likely to last. Ward and Rafe Cameron are not just going to wait for the Pogues to show up this time. Once they’ve settled somewhere they can keep well-protected, they’re likely to return to the scene of the attempted mutiny to find the Pogues and get rid of them for good.

If the Pogues make it back to the OBX before Rafe finds them, the smaller-scale hostility between them and the Kooks may escalate into bigger battles. With the Camerons suddenly gone, suspicion may fall on John B and his friends for “running them out of town.” And if Rafe comes back to town spinning a tale, the Kooks will fall in line behind him. Bonfire fist fights could give way to more elaborate conflicts, and the petty class divide could become a violent back-and-forth.

The Rise of Rafe Cameron

Rafe is an addict who has been coasting on his father’s money all of his life. When Ward gets hold of The Royal Merchant’s gold, Rafe shoots and kills Sheriff Peterkin, so they can fly the gold out. Rafe becomes exceedingly more unhinged, and tries to drown Sarah once he believes she’s no longer with the family. When Ward “dies,” Rafe tries to step up in his own drug-addled way, which culminates in him teaming up with Carla and Renfield, and ultimately stealing the cross.

Rafe has been descending further and further into madness and violence, but he doesn’t shoot the lifeboat when his sister and her friends are escaping. Maybe, he’s not as cold as he appears. Or perhaps, he let them go so they could live to be killed another day… in a more creative way. Regardless of why he hesitated in the moment, he is clearly a threat. And with Ward temporarily out of commission, Rafe is going to “man up” which is going to be a bad time for everyone.

Let’s just hope friendlies find the Pogues before the Camerons do. Sarah is officially one of them, which leaves nothing in the way of Ward or Rafe taking her out. That said, Sarah is fully aware of how dangerous her brother and father are, and probably won’t hesitate to protect herself or her friends if she sees them coming. We hope to see Sarah get a touch of revenge, especially against Rafe, and in the infamous words of Ivan Drago, “if he dies, he dies.”