[There are major spoilers ahead for Outer Banks, particularly the finale. If you haven’t finished the show yet, please do yourself a solid and leave this post!]

If you, like me, binged Outer Banks in approximately two days, you might have some feelings about how the show ended. The finale was a total nail-biter that would take any normal person through the full range of human emotions in less than an hour. But mostly, it left me furious because while Sarah and John B. did miraculously (and unrealistically) survive and escape, they screwed over everyone else in the process, which is complete and total bullsh*t.

As you know by now, the finale shows John B.’s attempt to get from his hideaway onto the boat where he and Sarah can escape down the coast. He obviously can’t achieve this by himself, so his friends do whatever they can to make sure he gets out alive. Unfortunately, that means they do some not-exactly-legal things that probably won’t look so great once the dust settles. These crimes include but are not limited to:

  • Trespassing on the Camerons’ property
  • Stealing gas from Pope’s dad’s dock
  • Stealing a boat from JJ’s father, who might be dead? Unclear. The scene was obviously meant to imply a suicide attempt, which JJ did nothing to stop. Is that a crime too?!
  • Stealing food from Kiara’s dad’s restaurant
  • Beating the crap out of Rafe and that drug dealer guy
  • And obviously, the big one: aiding and abetting in the hiding and eventual escape of a fugitive who is a literal murder suspect

I’m just saying those are not small crimes. Those are…major, by any measure. And even though the authorities probably think John B. is dead, that doesn’t mean those crimes just magically go away for the people who committed them. The cops did let them all go at the end of the episode, but this saga is probably not over. JJ, Pope, and Kiara could definitely still see charges for the things they did because they were majorly responsible for his escape.

That’s the shitty part about this finale—and the show at large. You’re happy John B. and Sarah survived a boat wreck, but they did it at the expense of everyone else. That’s basically the theme of the show. John B. gets his friends wrapped up in his bullsh*t, and they all suffer. I mean, not only did Pope nearly kill Rafe when he used to be the most nonviolent person ever, but he also sacrificed his entire academic future to help John B. on his quest for gold. And John B. let him do it!! What a terrible friend. And don’t even get me started on Sarah, who almost DIED because of John B.’s harebrained escape plan. What the hell, dude?!

If this show gets a second season (which it probably will because people like me are fired up enough to keep watching), John B. better work some literal magic so that his friends’ lives aren’t ruined by his crap. I mean, they can’t join you in the Bahamas and spend $400 million in gold if they’re busy sitting in jail!