Everything to Know About Outer Banks Season 4

This post contains spoilers for Outer Banks season 3.

The Pogues are going on another treasure hunt!

Ahead of Outer Banks season 3, the cast announced the show's renewal for a fourth season during their fan event Poguelandia on Feb. 18, 2023.

"Seeing Poguelandia come to life was nothing short of spectacular," series co-creators, executive producers and showrunners Jonas Pate, Josh Pate and Shannon Burke said in a joint statement to Variety. "The Pogues are enjoying an adventure of a lifetime and we now get to map out more twists and turns as the joyride continues into Season 4 of Outer Banks. Thank you to Netflix, our cast and the amazing fans who helped to make this happen."

Though details about the fourth season have been limited, the season 3 finale perfectly sets up the storyline. Following their adventures at El Dorado, an 18-month time jump shows the Pogues being honored for their discoveries back home. In the final scene of season 3, they are also enlisted to go on another adventure revolving around Edward Teach, a.k.a the infamous pirate Blackbeard.

Here's everything to know about the upcoming season of Outer Banks.

Who is returning for Outer Banks season 4?

It's assumed that the main cast will return for Outer Banks season 4, including Chase Stokes, Madelyn Cline, Madison Bailey, Jonathan Daviss, Rudy Pankow, Carlacia Grant, Austin North and Drew Starkey.

Speaking with PEOPLE exclusively, Daviss admitted he's interested to see how the Pogues' relationships with each other progress in a fourth season.

"There's no way they're not treasure hunting, so how does that play into all of this?" he teased. "How is his relationship with JJ and Kiara now? Is that different? Is his relationship with John B different? They're all still friends, but it has been a year. So I'm interested to see what all those interpersonal dynamics are."

Who is not returning for Outer Banks season 4?

Following the shocking deaths of Ward Cameron and John Routledge in the season 3 finale, it's possible that Charles Esten and Charles Halford won't return for season 4.

Starkey spoke with PEOPLE about how he thinks his character Rafe will react to his father Ward Cameron's demise ... especially after putting a hit out on him in season 3.

"It's interesting because he's already made the conscious decision to go into these uncharted waters of independence this season," he said.

"The first two seasons, you've seen him holding onto this dependency from his family and his father, and then this season, he allows himself to break free of that. It could go one of two ways: he could embrace it and move forward or he could react a little more aggressively."

What will Outer Banks season 4 be about?

As teased in the season 3 finale, the show features a major time jump as the Pogues are honored for their discovery of El Dorado while also given the opportunity to go on a new adventure, seemingly in search of famed pirate Blackbeard's hidden treasure.

For Bailey, the actress told PEOPLE the new treasure hunt feels like a "fresh start" for the show. "[Fans] should interpret it not as the end of an era, but we are very much summing up seasons one and two with a button," she teased.

"It can go really anywhere," she said of the new season. "I think we have a bit of a clean slate."

Of her hopes for the Pogues, she wants them to get a "solid win" in the new season. "With the [season 3] finale we've had our treasure hunt fun, which was kind of just to help John B and also to help Pope's family, and this kind of feels like a job opportunity," she noted.

"I hope they embrace this new challenge with more wisdom and I am excited to see where the relationships go and how have they've matured over these 18 months."

Josh also teased that the upcoming season will feature several flashbacks to fill in the gaps with the 18-month time jump. "We felt like we needed to migrate them out of school," he explained to Tudum. "We think about the first three [seasons] as a trilogy and then we're starting over on [another sort of] trilogy now. We just needed to clear the decks. We're going to have new villains, a new treasure hunt, a new life situation."

Speaking with PEOPLE in March 2024, Stokes teased that the characters will be dealing with self-doubt amid all they've faced the past few seasons. He added that John B and Sarah will also be grappling with the trauma of losing both of their fathers.

“Anytime you experience loss, it hits in spaces and in places that you don't anticipate,” he said. “Being in the situation that John B and Sarah are in, it really will force them to evaluate everything. Where they are, what their purpose is, what their intentions are, and what was the actual value of it? Was it worth it, in hindsight? If they could go back and change things, would they? Or do they feel okay with it?” 

When did Outer Banks season 4 film?

The cast was originally going to start filming in the summer of 2023, however, production was put on hold amid the writer's and SAG strike.

In November 2023, the cast began filming the new season in Wilmington, North Carolina, a move from the show's usual filming location in Charleston, South Carolina. After filming overseas for a few weeks, the cast resumed filming in Charleston in late March 2024.

While speaking with PEOPLE in March 2024, Stokes revealed that the cast is “getting close” to the “finish line" when it comes to filming for the fourth season.

In June 2024, the cast announced that filming had wrapped with a fun video on Instagram, with Stokes noting it's been a "crazy journey."

Is there a trailer for Outer Banks season 4?

In August 2024, Netflix released the first teaser trailer for season 4.

"We finally did it. We finally found the gold," John B can be heard saying in the 45-second clip. "That's where the story should have ended. But really, it was just the beginning."

The teaser then shows the group embarking on a new adventure — the hunt for Blackbeard's treasure — which takes them to the depths of the ocean.

When will Outer Banks season 4 be released?

Outer Banks season 4, part 1 premieres on Oct. 10, 2024. Part 2 will drop on Nov. 7. In the meantime, the first three seasons are currently streaming on Netflix.

Will there be an Outer Banks season 5?

Netflix hasn't confirmed if season 4 will be the show's final season. Showrunners Josh Pate, Jonas Pate, and Shannon Burke previously stated that they had plans for the series to run for four or five seasons, however, they recently told EW that they're no longer adhering to that plan.

"I don't know if I could put a real number on it right now — how long it takes to get to that ending might expand, but we now know the shape of the end of the story. We're going to take it as long as we can, for sure," Josh told the publication.

Josh also teased to Tudum that they already know how the series will end. "We've always known from the beginning what the last scene would be, if we would be lucky enough to get it that far," he said, while Burke added that there's "a lot of dark, blank space" before reaching that final moment.