Get ready, Pogues: ‘Outer Banks’ is back and bigger than before

Calling all Pogues: Netflix’s “Outer Banks” is back Friday for another season, and The Daily Break has an exclusive preview that will make all of the Kooks jealous.

The fictional show’s first season, which premiered in April 2020 at the start of the pandemic, almost immediately captured viewers’ attention with a storyline that was a blend of “Riverdale” and “National Treasure.”

Set in what the show’s creators call an “amalgam” of places along the North Carolina coast, the show follows cliques of teenagers — Pogues and Kooks — as they navigate friendship, family and a quest for treasure. The working-class Pogues share a tense rivalry with the wealthy “Kooks,” which lends itself to conflict and love triangles.

Despite making a few geographical gaffes along the way, “Outer Banks” had a successful first season that was dubbed “the binge-worthy show of 2020” at the People’s Choice Awards. Show creators Jonas Pate, Josh Pate and Shannon Burke dove into a second season, working 16-hour days for about 15 months to write, produce and film the show. The Pates, who are twin brothers, partially based the show off their memories growing up in North Carolina and visiting the state’s coast.

“Outer Banks” was one of the first Netflix shows to go back to production during the pandemic, Jonas Pate said, with lots of safety protocols that prolonged the shoot. Along with frequent COVID testing, the cast and crew were quarantined. Actors wore masks until they were on set.

The result is a 10-episode second season with bigger and more action-filled storylines than before.

“The season is kind of like OBX 1 times 10, is the vibe,” Josh Pate said. “So we’re fired up.”

Here’s what to expect in season two:

Picking up where season 1 left off

After steering their boat into a severe hurricane at the end of season one, John B and Sarah resurface hundreds of miles away in Nassau, Bahamas (filmed in Barbados). But they don’t have a moment to collect themselves before trouble finds them again.

The feel-good reggae boat scenes of season one are largely a thing of the past, replaced with chases and fights at every turn.

John B and Sarah unexpectedly run into the rest of their Pogue friends in Charleston, South Carolina, where most of the season was actually filmed. The race for the late freedman Denmark Tanny’s treasure resumes and intensifies, taking the gang back to the Outer Banks. Not everyone is happy to see John B, who is still wanted for last season’s murder of Sheriff Peterkin.

The show gives a nod to the real-life coastal South (Cheerwine logos and Garden & Gun magazine are sprinkled through the sets) while fictionalizing some of the geography. The show creators said they made that choice because it allowed them more freedom with the plot.

“We have like this kind of fantasy geography of what it really looks like,” Josh Pate said, “but it’s all coming from memories of the Carolina coast and the kind of ‘two tribes, one island’ mentality that was down there.”

New and returning faces

A few new characters — some Pogues, some Kooks — joined the cast for the second season, while some characters from the first season got more screen time this go-round.

Rose Cameron, played by actress Caroline Arapoglou, takes on a more prominent role in the Cameron family this season, toeing the line between selfish greed and family obligation more than a few times. Rose is the young second wife of resident OBX villain Ward Cameron, who won’t be winning Dad of the Year anytime soon.

Cleo, played by actress Carlacia Grant, is a deckhand aboard the ship that John B and Sarah Cameron used to escape the deadly hurricane at the end of season one. She quickly goes from enemy to friend as she helps the star-crossed lovers navigate the Bahamas in their attempt to reclaim their gold. Her catchphrase, “cheese on bread,” is sure to give viewers a smile amid occasionally violent scenes.

Carla Limbrey, played by actress Elizabeth Mitchell, is a “super Kook” whose family has deep and dark roots in Charleston. Her path crosses with the Pogues’ throughout the second half of the season, when she is positioned as the group’s newest enemy. Viewers might recognize Mitchell from her role as Carol Newman — later Mrs. Claus — in the second and third installments of “The Santa Clause” movies, starring Tim Allen.

Most actors from season one return, including now-real-life-couple Chase Stokes and Madelyn Cline, who play John B and Sarah Cameron. The other Pogues, including North Carolina native Madison Bailey as Kiara, Jonathan Daviss as Pope, and Rudy Pankow as JJ, are along for the ride, too.

The creators said coming back to shoot season two felt like coming back to camp for the actors, who are now like a family.

Good vibes all around

If nothing else, the visual and sonic aesthetics of season two will reel in viewers.

Kiara’s back-to-school fashion is the stuff of boho high school fantasy while Sarah Cameron sports some Pogue-chic and sentimental necklaces. The guys elevate their style when they step out, notably Pope who teaches us a lesson about layers.

Viewers can Pogue-ify their own wardrobes this season, thanks to the show’s official clothing line from Volcom.

Season two’s soundtrack gives some off-the-beaten-path ear candy, featuring tracks like “Heybb!” by binki and a reggae version of “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” It’s only fitting that the Pogues swap “West Virginia” for the Caribbean-ized lyrics of “West Jamaica” in Toots and the Maytals’s 1973 song “Country Roads.”

Luckily for viewers, the adventures likely aren’t over yet. Jonas Pate said in an April 2020 interview with Entertainment Weekly that he envisions four or five seasons of “Outer Banks.”

For now, viewers can enjoy the guilty pleasure that is “Outer Banks” season two.

“It was like a love letter to North Carolina and the Carolina coast,” Josh Pate said.

Korie Dean, 757-446-2962, korie.dean@virginiamedia.com

Elizabeth Moore, 757-247-4517, elizabeth.moore@virginiamedia.com