Fans were finally able to discover the end of season 4 of the series “Outer Banks” on Netflix but these new episodes leave them with a bitter taste. The reason? A falling out between 2 actors which surely impacted the filming and the plot of the series.
Warning, spoilers. It is recommended to have seen season 4 of the series “Outer Banks” before continuing with the series.
Highly anticipated by fans, the second part of season 4 of the Outer Banks series is finally available on Netflix. This new burst of episodes made a big return to the platform with very good audiences and a place in the top 10 of 74 countries in several countries.
The fiction by Josh Pate, Jonas Pate and Shannon Burke, rated 4 out of 5 on AlloCiné, is one of the most popular series on Netflix. She has managed to bring together a very large community of fans since her debut, and fans who are very invested and devoted to Outer Banks.
But the fourth season left a bitter taste for Outer Banks audiences. The cause? Possible behind-the-scenes drama between two actors in the series, which would have caused strange filming conditions and perhaps impacted the plot of the show.
And no, it's not Madelyn Cline and Chase Stokes, who play the couple Sarah and John B, and who were lovers in real life. Now ex, the two actors have a very cordial relationship and have always made it known that they would honor the characters who made them famous.
A couple awaited by fans
From the first season of Outer Banks, fans expressed their desire to see two main characters of the series be a couple. They are JJ (Rudy Pankow) and Kiara (Madison Bailey). This ship [abréviation de relationship, il s’agit d’une relation amoureuse imaginée par les fans d’une fiction, ndlr] was approved by the actors in question, who were very friends at the time.
“This theory from an Outer Banks fan suggests Kiara will end up with JJ, not Pope.”
“If JJ and Kiara don't get together in season 2 of Outer Banks, I'm going to be pissed. JJ and Kiara have way more chemistry than Pope and Kiara.”
The two actors were often shown together on social networks the year the first season was released and even shared a lot of photos and videos from set, in which they were very close.
And after years of theories and envy, Outer Banks fans had to wait until the third season to see the romance between Kie and JJ finally come to fruition. Obviously, the establishment of the love story won over the audience of the series.
From a great friendship to tensions with those around you?
Unfortunately, at the same time, fans began to notice distances between actors Rudy Pankow and Madison Bailey. And according to Internet users, the cause of a possible quarrel would come from personal problems with their respective partners, as recorded in this very detailed and detailed thread.
The first is in a relationship with Elaine Siemek, who was an assistant and photographer on Outer Banks. The second is in a relationship with Mariah Linney, a former basketball player turned content creator.
Some fans believe that the respective girlfriends of Rudy Pankow and Madison Bailey are the cause of the end of their friendship and have identified numerous elements pointing in this direction, including targeted attacks, jealousy, deletion of photos or unfollows on social networks, even from the creators of the series.
Although we obviously have to use the conditional because none of the people concerned have confirmed anything, fans are convinced that there is a big story behind this alleged end of friendship. And unfortunately, this sometimes results in insulting messages or harassment, which led Rudy Pankow to defend his friend Elaine on Instagram in 2021:
“I denounce the disrespect and harassment that someone I love dearly experiences on a daily basis. It has gotten to the point where lies are being spread and accusations are being made that go beyond the usual 'hate.' […] Accusing someone you don't know of being abusive and manipulative is not acceptable, especially when you don't know the relationship personally.”
For her part, Madison Bailey also defended her lover and made videos in which she explained that she had no problems with Rudy and Elaine, while pointing the finger at fans who ship the actors in real life.
Difficult filming and promotion conditions?
For the promos of the second, third and fourth seasons, fans scrutinized all the events, the interviews but also the group photos that the cast was able to take and noticed that Rudy Pankow and Madison Bailey were often very far from each other. the other or that they neither spoke nor looked at each other, unlike the promotion of the first season where they were very close and friends.
While Season 3 of Outer Banks marked the debut of JJ and Kiara's long-awaited romance, fans didn't get many behind-the-scenes photos or juicy, interesting interviews, with both actors trying to avoid the subject. Rudy Pankow even dodged several interviews during the promo.
Fans were hoping that season 4 would feature more footage of JJ and Kiara, but they were very disappointed to find that the other couples on the show (Pope and Cleo and John B and Sarah) had a lot more romantic scenes. Even more so with part 2 which has just been posted online, which contains very few intimate and romantic scenes between JJ and Kiara.
“These sweet moments between couples and then there’s Jiara???? you can’t make this up”
And some of them think that the actors asked to film together as little as possible and not to play affectionate scenes, to the point that the team would have called on doubles to replace them in certain scenes.
“DON’T TELL ME THEY HAD A LINING FOR JJ WHEN KIE WAS LYING ON HIM??????”
“I hope JJ's stunt double gets paid well for the God work he did and Rudy was supposed to do”
“EVERY angle possible of Kie lying on top of JJ but NONE with both of their faces in the frame, I'm going to collapse”
The public does not understand this behavior, if true, of Rudy and Madison, and thinks that it has ruined the characters of JJ and Kiara and their long-awaited relationship in the series. The fans are very invested in Outer Banks and they have the impression of not being respected and especially of seeing a huge impact on the development of the characters because the performances are not the same in the last seasons as in the first.
“We went from hugs and 'Do you want me to come? because I will' to 'Oh shit, he's back? sorry JJ' The Jiara couple from season 1, you'll ALWAYS be famous”
Was JJ's death really planned?
If you saw the end of season 4 of Outer Banks, you know that it ends with a tragic but daring event: the death of JJ, who was still one of the main characters of the series and above all fan favorite character. The latter is killed by his own father in front of the eyes of his friend Kiara.
And we can say that the fans are angry and do not understand this ending for the character of JJ, who was entitled to a strange psychological development for part 2 of season 4. This tragic and sudden death even seems incoherent for the public, who believe that this plot was not initially planned and that it is a dismissal or a disguised departure of Rudy Pankow.
“So JJ dies after being stabbed and almost died immediately while Sarah got shot and didn't get medical attention for ages! Seriously! If this was season 2, JJ would have survived”
However, the creators had a precise plan over 5 seasons for Outer Banks, from the beginning. Obviously, rewrites and reshoots were carried out during the seasons of the Netflix series, but it is not impossible that JJ's death was planned from the start. In any case, this is what the creators, including Josh Pate, explained to Netflix Tudum :
“It was a really tough decision because he's a great part of the ensemble. He sets the stage for an epic fifth and final season. We're planning a redemption story and a season that embodies the friendship that JJ has in came to represent.
JJ's death was a difficult but necessary part of the story architecture, and we plan to honor it as much as possible because we love the character as much as the fans do. And Rudy is one of our great friends.”
“They literally made this up ???????????????????? Yeah, you planned for JJ to die all along… that's why your whole family unfollowed him and his girlfriend, right- isn't it?”
The Outer Banks series has been renewed for a fifth and final season, but fans have already made it known that they no longer necessarily want to follow the series, now marked by the absence of JJ.
For the moment, it is impossible to know what really happened between Rudy Pankow and Madison Bailey, but it is clear that behind-the-scenes drama took place because the death of an emblematic character of a series hides very often a delicate situation. It remains to be seen how the series will end without this flagship character and if fans will be satisfied with the ending.
The first four seasons of the series “Outer Banks” are available on Netflix.
