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Over the course of four seasons, Madelyn Cline and Madison Bailey have been through it all on Outer Banks. They’ve been enemies, friends, and now teammates back on the hunt for more gold. Outer Banks season 4 part 1 premieres today, October 10, and the fandom can finally rest. (Well, for a little. Part 1 ends on a cliffhanger that is likely to keep us awake at night until the second part's debut on November 7.)
After the Pogues successfully obtained the El Dorado gold at the end of season 3, the fourth season of the Netflix adventure series begins with our favorite group of rowdy teens figuring out what a “normal” life looks like, especially when that normalcy includes an exorbitant amount of money and a new murderous group of adults chasing after them.
Mundane life out on The Cut doesn’t last long, and Cline says to expect a lot of heat in the second half of the season. It's no wonder the stakes in season 4 feel higher than ever before… they literally are. Perhaps this sheer amount of action in season 4 is why Netflix decided to split up the season — for the first time ever — with part 2 arriving later this fall.
If you're reading this after burning through those first five episodes before the sun even rose, Teen Vogue caught up with Madelyn Cline and Madison Bailey to talk about the new season, unpack those Riara fan theories, discuss their favorite memories from filming, and ponder the names of Sarah and John B's future kids.
Madison Bailey: I think Kiara probably wouldn't have put a lot of thought into it. She does make some quick decisions. She probably would’ve donated it for the turtles, [and] now Kiara's back to square one, back in mom and dad's house saying, “Can I borrow five?”
Madelyn Cline: I think Sarah, being a Cameron, invested some of it into something. I feel like Ward would've taught her something or another.
MB: You would've been property hunting.
MC: [Sarah would have been] very, very adamant about the split.
MB: That's so real. I think probably the bike race stuff, there was probably a little more moment there to be happening.
MC: Yeah, that was definitely a hyperfixation.
MB: I do want to know why JJ is the only one who saw that [jump opportunity].
MC: Or knew about it. I watched it the other day during ADR, and I thought about that too, because Rafe would've— nevermind. I have a lot of questions.
MB: There's certain outfits I'm hyperfixated on. They were in the montage. It was so cute. Don't miss it.
MC: I hyperfixate on specific outfits that I wish had more time. And then sometimes the ones that have the most time, I'm like…
MB: No, it keeps me up at night. The [outfits] that get worn for multiple episodes stretch [in size]. I'm always like, but what about that one from that montage piece…?
MC: They're not fitting me anymore.
MC: I think that montage in the first episode.
MB: Yeah. We have good bits [in part 1]. We have great bits in part 2 that are really exciting.
MC: Yeah, I am excited for part 2. Part 1 is a lot of build-up… part 2 is the show. But I really, really enjoyed episode one, the montage bits at Poguelandia. We've talked a lot about this, but it just felt very reminiscent of season one: very Pogue-y, very improv-y, allowing us to just coexist in the space together without any sort of plot driving anything into any different direction.
MB: Just fun interactions — and a lot of those were just one-fourth of a page, or one-eighth of a page. And it's [written] like “Pogues put up the wall,” and we had a lot of freedom [in the scene]. We're just having a lot of fun with those pieces.
MC: I have one in part 2. [Bailey and Cline whisper to each other, laughing.]
MB: Oh my gosh. Bro. It's still funny.
MC: It's still funny!
MB: It's so funny. There was definitely a scene [in] part 1 that… someone tooted in the scene and it was really hard for anybody to gather any seriousness after that. It was all jokes from there. It was also 2 a.m.
MC: Yeah. And there was a guest director. She was like, “Please, can I just finish this day?”
MB: We were like, “Yes. Hold on.”
MC: “Give me a second.”
MB: “We're finding it.”
MC: Yeah. We're unserious.
MB: Oh, yeah. Very Bonnie and Clyde.
MC: Still so young!
MC: Oh, I haven't thought of their names.
MB: I have. Okay, so Auntie Kiara's thinking hopefully they're twins, one boy, one girl. And we can have a Val and Vlad, but it's probably weird if you name your kids [that]. But for Kiara who it has no meaning for, those are cute.
MC: I feel like I see a boy first for John B. and Sarah. I almost see them with two boys. I don't know if I see them with a boy and a girl. I think I see two boys.
MB: John B., girl dad.
MC: Yeah. I don't see it...
MB: No, I get it.
MC: I don't see him as a girl dad. But I guess I see Sarah as a boy mom. No, I don't know. We could go with Val and Vlad. Val's a cool name for a boy.
MB: Yeah, absolutely.
MC: Val and Vlad, two boys. Twin boys. Locked in.
MB: Final answer.
MC: Secret scripts?
MB: I feel like people have been thinking that since season 1. And I think just statistically what we go through, it's on everyone's mind every season. It's always something or someone.
MC: Statistically, it should have been one [Pogue dead] a season.
MB: Yeah. I mean, we don't deserve the survival rate that we have.
MC: To be quite honest.
MB: We haven't earned it.
MC: When I saw that Sarah got shot in season 2, I thought about John B's opening monologue when he said, “and that was Sarah Cameron.”
MB: No chance.
MC: And I was like, why is my introduction in past tense?
MB: Oh my gosh.
MC: And what is happening?! And I asked Jonas [Pate, showrunner], [and] he was like, “Oh, I don't know. We're going through rewrites. We forgot. I don't know.” What we go through is so crazy. We shouldn't survive.
MB: Yes. I don't have that survival skill set.
MC: All day.
MB: Tell me about it. Today has been the day of Riara! There's something in the water today. Who sent you?
MB: In JD's [Jonathan Daviss's] words: “I don't see that world.” I think at most, Kiara is a softie. And I think there was a moment in season 3 when we were in the bedroom and he's explaining, “I know you think I'm crazy, but I've been through things.” And I think Kiara's like, “I do hear you.” I do think Kiara would understand that he hasn't been dealt the best cards. But at the end of the day, he's so scary. I don't know.
MC: I don't see that for either of them.
MB: No endgame. There's no time for Riara. So sorry.
MC: I love hearing how deeply [the show’s] affected them, their lives, their confidence, their relationships with themselves, how they've grown up with it. Such amazing, rewarding remarks. And it really puts into perspective, I think, what we do and how special it is. Even though we are aware of it, it's so amazing to hear that. And my favorite was [actually] today, someone said: “No matter how bad of a day I'm having, Sarah Cameron's probably having a worse one.” And I'm like, You know what? We can bring you comfort in any way. I’m happy to do it.
