Outer Banks fans have raced through the Netflix drama’s fifth and final season, but for many viewers, one absence proved impossible to ignore.
All 10 episodes brought the Pogues back for one last adventure, with the group dealing with a devastating loss while pursuing revenge and travelling around the world in their attempt to reclaim the Blue Crown.
But JJ Maybank, played by Rudy Pankow, was no longer alongside them following his death in the Season 4 finale — and viewers admitted the final chapter simply “didn’t feel the same” without one of the show’s most beloved characters.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for Outer Banks.
JJ Maybank’s Absence Looms Over the Final Season
JJ’s story came to a tragic end when he was fatally stabbed by his biological father, Chandler Groff, played by J. Anthony Crane.
The death devastated fans at the end of Season 4, but some continued hoping the character might somehow return when Outer Banks came back for its final run.
One viewer admitted they had held onto the possibility that the mysterious Blue Crown might provide a way to bring JJ back.
“I hoped so much that JJ would come back to life thanks to the Blue Crown, but it was no use,” they wrote on X. “I mean, why is it always my favourite characters?”
As the new episodes unfolded, other fans quickly discovered just how different the series felt without him.
“It’s really hard watching this show with JJ gone, it just doesn’t feel the same, he should be there with them,” one viewer wrote alongside crying emojis.
Another fan was only 20 minutes into the opening episode before noticing the change, saying it already felt “weird” without JJ.
Final Pogues Scene Makes JJ’s Absence Even More Emotional
The sense of loss continued all the way through to the finale.
A final group shot brought the Pogues together, but the sight of the gang without JJ proved particularly difficult for longtime viewers.
“The last frame being just the Pogues. But JJ should be there, man,” one fan wrote.
Another described JJ as “genuinely one of the best characters” in the entire series before adding that Season 5 “didn’t hit the same without him.”
For viewers who had followed JJ throughout the show, his absence was about more than simply losing one member of the ensemble. His relationships with the other Pogues had become an important part of the series, particularly his bond with Kiara Carrera, played by Madison Bailey.
JJ and Kiara Flashback Leaves Fans Heartbroken
The final season revisited that relationship through an emotional flashback showing JJ and Kiara meeting for the first time as children.
The pair had started as best friends before their relationship eventually developed into a romance, making the glimpse of their earliest connection especially poignant after JJ’s death.
“That JJ & Kiara flashback of when they were young and they first met,” one emotional viewer wrote alongside a crying emoji.
Another reacted: “The first time Kiara and JJ met. Aww, my babies,” adding crying and broken-heart emojis.
The sequence gave fans another reminder of the history between the characters while underlining how much had been lost before the Pogues embarked on their final adventure.
Outer Banks Universe Will Continue With a Prequel
Although Season 5 marks the end of the original Outer Banks story, Netflix is not completely leaving its world behind.
Shortly before the final season arrived, it was announced that a prequel series had received the green light.
The new project will take place 20 years before the events of Outer Banks and explore the origins of the division between the Pogues and the Kooks.
Creator Josh Pate explained that the prequel will examine how the island became divided between the “haves and have-nots.”
“It really is the story of how the island split — and it’s particularly relevant in our country right now — how it split into the haves and have-nots, how the Kooks and the Pogues started,” Pate told Deadline. “How did this rift start?”
Creator Shannon Burke added that the story will be told through a mixture of familiar and new characters.
“And seen through the stories of some of the characters you know and some new characters,” Burke said. “But they’re 20 years before, so it’s the parents’ generation.”
Familiar Families Could Provide a Link to the Original Series
The original show has already introduced several members of that older generation, potentially providing connections between the two stories.
Viewers have met the fathers of John B, played by Chase Stokes, and JJ, as well as Ward Cameron, the father of Sarah and Rafe Cameron, played by Madelyn Cline and Drew Starkey respectively.
The series has also featured the parents of Pope, played by Jonathan Daviss, and Kiara, along with the mother and grandfather of Topper, played by Austin North.
Exactly how those familiar families will factor into the prequel remains to be seen, but the new series is set to explore the circumstances that created the rivalry at the heart of Outer Banks decades before John B, JJ and the rest of the Pogues began their adventures.
For fans finishing Season 5, however, the immediate emotion has centered on saying goodbye — not only to Outer Banks, but to a final season in which JJ’s absence was felt from the opening episode through the last shot.
Outer Banks is streaming on Netflix.