With the third season of the hit Netflix series Outer Banks (if you’re unfamiliar, think Indiana Jones meets The Goonies via Ozark and add in your favourite teen drama) launching globally on Thursday, February 23rd, 2023, The Queer Review‘s editor James Kleinmann spoke with members of the lead cast including Madison Bailey, Madelyn Cline, Carlacia Grant, Chase Stokes, Jonathan Daviss (J.D.), Drew Starkey, and Austin North.
The new season opens with the Pogues—John B (Chase Stokes), Sarah (Madelyn Cline), Kiara (Madison Bailey), Pope (Jonathan Daviss), JJ (Rudy Pankow), and Cleo (Carlacia Grant)—washed ashore on a desert island. For a brief moment, it seems like an idyllic home. Naming it “Poguelandia,” the island’s newest residents spend their days fishing, swimming, and reveling in the carefree lifestyle of their temporary dwelling.
Watch the below video to find out how the OBX cast think they would survive on a desert island themselves in real life:
Things quickly go south for the group as they find themselves caught up in a race for the much-coveted treasure and running for their lives. Ward (Charles Esten) and Rafe (Drew Starkey) are hungry for revenge, and there’s a ruthless Caribbean Don who will stop at nothing to find the bounty. Was the treasure ever within their reach? Or was it all a trap to stop them once and for all? As ever, it’s the Pogues against the world, and the only way out is together.
The Queer Review asked the cast what they particularly enjoyed about exploring with their characters this time around.
Madison: “I’m not just saying this because you’re here, but I really enjoyed Sarah and Kiara’s connection this season.”
Madelyn: “I did love that!”
Madison: “I love that they’re like roomies for a few episodes”
Madelyn: “Yeah, we haven’t had something like that at all in the past 20 episodes, so it’s nice.”
Madison: “We’ve talked about our friendship that existed before season one.”
Madelyn: “But we’ve never seen it. Yeah, I really enjoyed that.”
Madiosn: “It was fun!”
Madelyn: “It was cute.”
Madison: “Good vibes.”
Madelyn: “And it wasn’t just boy-based, you know what I’m saying?!”
Madison: “Yes, we had moments!”
Carlacia: “I loved exploring Cleo’s vulnerable side because I think it’s so easy to just be this strong, powerful woman who’s afraid of nothing and who has no inhibitions. But I think, particularly this season, we see all of her inhibitions—everything she’s afraid of—which is being in love, or possibly confessing feelings for someone, or no longer being on an island and now being in the States. We explore a lot of different moments for Cleo.”
Jonathan Daviss (J.D.): “I think all the Pogues do, but definitely with Pope, he goes through a lot of intense revelations and intense loss. He really cannot catch a break. Going into that darker mode with Pope this year, he tries to stay a nice guy through most of this series—he’s got good family, has good morals—but it was cool to be able to see him get pushed a little bit and have to go to a really dark, intense place and literally be lifted out of that by another character. I always love opportunities to stretch myself as an actor and try different things and see what works, see what doesn’t, and show that off. So I definitely felt like this season was an opportunity for me.”
Chase: “I feel like collectively all the characters have a new emotional journey and are figuring out something new about themselves. That’s the beauty of the show, we are constantly setting new narratives, while you’re still feeling the love and that core value of what the character is. This year, with John B in particular, he’s a rock in a hard place. He’s being pulled in so many different directions and ultimately, I think his intention is to just do the right thing. Sometimes when your sights are set on that one thing, it’s very easy to get caught off track and it’s a testament to being a teenager and not really knowing left from right or right from wrong. So it’s been a lot of fun, this season in particular was a really cool character study and we really got to dive deep into our characters and see what happens after all of the chaos that has ensued over the past 20 episodes.”
Drew: “I think all of us got different opportunities to play these characters in different situations this season. Rafe is exploring a life of independence in a way you haven’t seen. He’s been so dependent on everybody in his life. All these characters are thrown into social situations that they’re not used to or not comfortable with. This season, in terms of the writing, was a test for that. We got to explore different caverns and avenues of our characters, which was a lot of fun. I feel like we know them a lot more.”
Austin: “For Topper, he’s not used to the adventure and breaking the law and the thrill of it, and he gets on this adventure with the Pogues which I think is really fun and different for him and out of his comfort zone. I’m excited for everyone to see that part of it.”
Outer Banks season three launches globally on Netflix on February 23rd, 2023. Catch up on the first two seasons now.
Watch The Queer Review’s full OBX3 cast interviews below:
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