Outer Banks Season 4: That Big JJ Maybank Twist Explained

This article contains spoilers for Outer Banks season 4 part 1.

After much anticipation, the first part of Outer Banks season 4 has arrived, and left fans with some major cliffhangers. The biggest cliffhanger regards the fact that JJ Maybank’s (Rudy Pankow) parents aren’t who we thought they were. That’s right: in episode 5 “Albatross,” JJ receives a cursive-written letter from Wes Genrette (David Jensen), who wrote it in case something happened to him. Wanting answers, JJ goes to Barracuda Mike’s to try to track down his father. He then discovers that Luke (Gary Weeks) has been in town and hiding from him this entire time. 

The letter explains that there are forces both “natural and supernatural” that make this secrecy necessary. It continues to say that while Wes would like to have a conversation about everything, JJ should speak with his father first and ask him about Albatross. At first, Luke only offers the fact that Wes was a “good man,” and denies knowing anything about Albatross. JJ calls him a liar, not believing him, and goes to leave but the cops show up and Luke, who is still a wanted man, needs to use him to escape, promising to tell him everything. 

They go to the lighthouse and JJ tells his father that he’s got his own life to worry about now and has spent enough time worrying about his but Luke finally reveals the truth: Albatross was the boat that Larissa Genrette died on. It turns out Luke isn’t JJ’s father by blood and the woman who left when he was younger was just one of Luke’s girlfriends. Larissa was his real mom. He once again comments on how Larissa was a “good person” before adding that he should be proud to have her as a mother. 

It’s clear that Luke knew Larissa and while we don’t really get the full details of why he raised JJ or who was responsible for the arrangement, he tells him that he took him on to try to help. As for Wes, he clearly didn’t know about JJ’s existence until recently and figured it out on his own because it was reported that Larissa, who supposedly had postpartum depression according to a newspaper article, drowned with her infant son, a.k.a. JJ.  

Who Is JJ Maybank’s Father?

His real father is Chandler (Anthony Crane), who in episode 2 told JJ that he believes in him. This comment does seem to imply he knows who JJ really is. So who exactly are Larissa, Wes, and Chandler? Well, Wes’ direct ancestor, Francis Genrette, was a British officer who caught and killed the notorious Blackbeard as well as his wife, Elizabeth. Since then, for 300 years, generations of their family have been haunted by Elizabeth’s ghost and have died violent deaths, including his daughter. He shares that Larissa saw Elizabeth a week before she died and now, he has had a visitation and fears he does not have much time. He hired the Pogues to find Elizabeth’s most prized possession, an amulet because he believes if they can find the amulet, which was Elizabeth’s last request, the curse will be broken. 

The coroner reveals to Deputy Shoupe (Cullen Moss) that Wes did not have a heart attack, he was murdered and has strangulation marks on his neck. With only Chandler left, he tells the Pogues that he will still honor the deal and to let him know if they find anything. We soon learn he’s not really on their side though because during an interrogation with Shoupe, he tries to frame the Pogues, telling the Deputy that he thinks they were in the area the night Wes was killed. In episode 5, we later see Chandler with Hollis (Brianna Brown), the two of them looking out at Goat Island together as she says it’s going to be glorious. Considering Hollis’ storyline so far has been getting Rafe (Drew Starkey) to invest as a partner to syndicate the property, it would make sense for her to be working with Chandler. 

The sad part is that if Wes hadn’t been killed, he probably would’ve embraced JJ and been a wonderful grandfather, finally giving him a family member outside of the Pogues who actually loved and cared about him. He could’ve shared stories about his mother and answered any questions JJ had. 

While plot twists like this aren’t uncommon on TV, specifically for teen shows, this adds a whole new layer to the character due to his trauma. Luke, who is an alcoholic, physically, emotionally, and verbally abused JJ for his entire life. He also thought his mother left him and all of this took a big toll on him, causing him to build walls to protect himself from further pain, which we’ve seen time and time again.

Naturally, finding out that they aren’t actually his parents throws JJ’s entire identity into question. His whole life, he’s been punished for his father’s mistakes, given a reputation he didn’t deserve solely because of his last name. He’s been a proud Pogue but really, he’s a Kook by blood and would have lived a very different life if he was not raised by Luke. How will he handle that? And if it wasn’t for them needing the money and getting back into the “G” game due to JJ losing the last of their savings during The Enduro, one has to wonder if he would’ve ever discovered the truth. 

Outer Banks season 4 part 1 is available to stream on Netflix now. Part 2 premieres November 7.