Spoilers for the fifth and final season of Outer Banks are ahead! You can stream the final installment with a Netflix subscription.
Outer Banks has officially gone on its last adventure, and the Pogues (and Rafe) have gotten their happy endings. So, when I spoke to Chase Stokes, Jonathan Daviss and Drew Starkey about how the show came to a close on Netflix’s 2026 schedule, they got real about why it was “what [they] needed.” I also got the inside scoop on where a particular character ended up since they left the OBX seemingly for good. So, with that said, let’s break this ending down.
Chase Stokes And Jonathan Daviss Share Their Thoughts On The Pogues' Conclusion
For the most part, the family ended up together at the end of Outer Banks. After their final treasure hunt, the crew got their gold, Sarah and John B.’s baby was born and they got married. Ultimately, the show ended with their wedding and big party. It felt like the perfect way to wrap things up for everyone, and Jonathan Daviss, who played Pope, said it was a great conclusion too:
I thought it was beautiful. I thought it was timely. I think it was what we needed. I think the writers thought really long about the right way to conclude this chapter, and it was kind of like an amalgam of trying to get everybody's situations just right, because you know what we want when we start is not what we get when it ends, but it's kind of like what we need. So yeah, I think everything was really emotional, even shooting it was emotional.
Considering how many times John B. and co. have almost died, an incredibly happy and peaceful ending like this was what I was hoping for. It turns out that was always the plan too.
According to Chase Stokes, who played John B., OBX’s co-creator Jonas Pate always envisioned the show concluding with Sarah and John B.’s wedding. So, everything came full circle the way it was intended from the jump, as the actor explained:
Jonas told us at the beginning of this show that he wanted to end it with John B. and Sarah getting married. And obviously, you know, the baby and the naming of the baby is such kind of like a beautiful paying homage to a character that is now gone. So it's really cool to be a part of something that gets to tell the full story, and to know that the idea that this dude had in his little shack office on the side of his house when he wrote this thing came to fruition, and seven years later we did exactly what he wanted to.
Adding to this special moment, John B. and Sarah’s baby is named JJ, after their friend who died in Season 4. So, it really felt like everyone got to be there to celebrate one last time. Well, almost everyone - Rafe showed up on FaceTime, and thankfully, I got to ask Drew Starkey where exactly his character went after he fled the Outer Banks.
Where Did Rafe And Sofia Go?
As I mentioned, Rafe was the one character not present at Sarah and John B’s wedding, but that’s because he can’t really return home. After breaking Sofia out of jail, Rafe got a boat and sped off with her after the storm had passed and before everyone came back. He got closure with Sarah before he left. However, we never got to find out where exactly he and Sofia went.
Luckily, I had the chance to ask the man who plays him about all this, and here’s where Drew Starkey thinks his character wound up:
I like to think that they've ended up in Barbados. That's where I that's where I ended up.
He went on to say that it could also be “somewhere in the Caribbean,” but didn’t elaborate past that point. So, hopefully they’re living happily on a beach somewhere while their friends and family rebuild their lives in the Outer Banks.
Overall, I thought this finale on the 2026 TV schedule was incredibly satisfying and gave every character the closure they deserved. And I’m so happy that the cast and crew got to play this conclusion out in the way they had always wanted to.
