Outer Banks Star Madison Bailey Teases Season 2: 'We Go Through a Lot of Emotions'

What is life without John B?

Season 1 of Netflix's breakout treasure hunt drama Outer Banks ended on a massive cliffhanger that saw John B (Chase Stokes) and Sarah Cameron (Madelyn Cline) alive after evading police and miraculously outsmarting a hurricane. Presumed dead by everyone back home, they sailed off to the Bahamas to search for gold.

Season 2 will explore what life is like for the rest of the Pogues — JJ (Rudy Pankow), Pope (Jonathan Daviss) and Kiara (Madison Bailey) — without their daring, Hawaiian shirt-clad leader. And Bailey tells PEOPLE viewers can expect plenty of grief, love triangles and soul searching on the marsh.

"We don't know that they're alive and heading to the Bahamas," says Bailey, 21. "We're figuring out what life is like with just us three, it's a unique dynamic."

"We go through a lot of emotions this season," she adds. "You'll see a lot of diversity and range in our acting."

It wouldn't be Outer Banks without a steamy teen romance, either. Season 1 left off with a kiss between Kiara and Pope, suggesting a relationship might be in the cards for the two. A growing number of the show's fans online, however, are rooting for Kiara to end up with JJ instead.

"We're figuring out what the kiss meant in season 2," Bailey says. "We've been friends for so long, and it was also in the heat of the moment … we're all dealing with this grief in very different ways, so it's interesting to see how our relationships will differ when we're all feeling this hurt."

Fans will also learn more about Kiara, the Outer Banks' earth-loving renegade Kook. "People will see more about where Kiara is coming from, how she's a Kook choosing this Pogue world and why. There's a little more about why she feels a divide with the Kooks, too," Bailey teases.

The actress is currently on set in South Carolina with the rest of the cast, where they'll be filming for at least the next four months. In her downtime, she's partnered with Hydro Silk to produce a funny tutorial demonstrating how to shape one's eyebrows with the Hydro Silk Touch-Up tool — and then use one's brows to communicate while wearing masks during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Coronavirus restrictions have offered up more bonding opportunities — playing cards, sharing meals, or watching the presidential debates — with her castmates, including Stokes, 28, and Cline, 22, who confirmed their relationship on Instagram in June.

"They're precious, truly, it makes perfect sense," Bailey says of the couple. "They're one and the same."

Bailey introduced her own partner, Mariah Linney, a basketball player at the University of North Carolina, on social media in June. The pair met through TikTok.

"I messaged her on Instagram and our energy just clicked so well, our sense of humor is so similar, our hearts are so similar," she says. "It's just soulmate energy."

Though the couple doesn't have any coordinating costumes planned for Halloween, Bailey says she's thinking of honoring Outer Banks.

"I want to be John B for Halloween," she says. "We all should dress up as each other!"

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