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Outer Banks season 5 is on Netflix now, after an incredibly emotional season 4 ending, where JJ (Rudy Pankow) died at the hand of his biological father Chandler Groff. And the new episodes leave the Pogues to pick up the pieces.
"Obviously for Pope and John B., they lost their best friend, their third amigo, and so I think they're really mourning the loss of him," Chase Stokes tells Brit + Co exclusively. "But also they're starting to recognize that this sort of blissful treasure hunt has gotten so far out of their hands and so much so that they've now lost not just JJ, but Sarah's dad is gone, John B's dad is gone, their home is gone. It's just a huge realization that nothing is the same anymore and how do you find a sense of peace and normalcy?"
Keep scrolling for Brit + Co's exclusive interview with the Outer Banks season 5 cast.
The Pogues are "going through big changes" in 'Outer Banks' season 5.
In addition to losses that affect the whole group, Pope (Jonathan Daviss) is also dealing with the after effects of killing Lightener last season — and how that's changed him.
"Pope is in just such a down place," Jonathan Daviss says. "He's not the person that started the show with the same wants, and he's dealing with PTSD and so when we come into the season, it's gonna be a lot of trying to cope with some of the new normalcy that all of our characters start with, and then it's just that ride all the way to the end."
But in the midst of loss, there's also some brand new beginnings. Namely, the fact that Sarah (Madelyn Cline) is having a baby. "Going through big changes," Madelyn says earnestly, before joking, "I bet my boobs are probably — can you imagine all the running we did, no bra?!"
But behind-the-scenes, they have a lot more fun!
Netflix
That balance of sincerity and chaos is basically the perfect way to sum up the Outer Banks cast. "We share a brain cell, I'm not gonna lie," Jonathan says. "And then we go out with other people and they're wondering what's wrong with us."
"There are five of us that are [dead] and then there's one working body out there," Chase jokes.
For the record, I'm told that Madison Bailey is the one with the brain cell on the day we're speaking. "She's the one who keeps it normally, she's the bearer of the brain cell."
The Outer Banks cast quickly went viral in 2020 for their dynamics, and how close they are behind the scenes, so naturally, I have to ask my favorite question. What's the group chat name?! "It's always been 'Pooks'," Madelyn Cline says. "It has been quiet on the creek. But the group chat on a day of filming? It's electric."
I would love to see what the group chat looked like the day that Carlacia Grant got to do a crazy stunt: blowing up John B.'s Twinkie. RIP!
"We only had one shot to get that done," she shares. "So they were like, 'Here's the spot. Don't accidentally even get close to it because it's gonna go off.' It's gonna go boom. So it was exciting and a tiny bit scary, but it was exciting. I could feel all the fire on my back."
And the cast recalls filming on that final day.
Netflix
Outer Banks began filming in 2019, and creator Jonas Pate has actually retained the same crew throughout the whole series. "He has done such a phenomenal job of allowing people to grow within the industry," Chase says.
And, naturally, that shared history made the final day on set more emotional than ever. "Our showrunners and director made it a point to keep a lot of the same people year after year if we could," Jonathan adds. "For it to have lasted as long as it has and to have the the cultural impact that it has, and I think just even take all that out, just seeing somebody for seven years straight, working with them every day, and then all of a sudden you're like, 'We're not gonna be doing this anymore.' It was a melancholy day, it was sad it was happy it was everything. A lot of tears."
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This post has been edited for length and clarity.
