‘Outer Banks’ Season 5: Filming Underway & Everything We Know About The Final Season

Picture courtesy of Netflix

The Pogues are coming back for one last time on Netflix. Season 5 of Outer Banks has just entered production as of June 2025, after initially being planned to begin this Spring. Here’s our updated everything you need to know about the fifth and final season of the show, including the latest production updates, casting, teasers, and more. 

In case you missed it, Netflix renewed the series for its final season on November 4th, a few days after Poguelandia and ahead of the release of season 4, part 2. The renewal came alongside a note that confirmed the team behind the show had always dreamed of reaching five seasons to tell the full story of the Pogues and that they’d been granted that wish. 

Co-showrunners Shannon Burke, Josh Pate, and Jonas Pate wrote, “With a little sadness, but also excitement, we’re putting season 4 behind us, and are turning to season 5, in which we hope to bring our beloved Pogues home in the way we imagined and planned years ago. Season 5 will be our last season, and we think it will be our best yet. We hope you’ll join us for one more paddle out to the surf break.”

Picture: OBX and Netflix on Instagram

Since season 4 was chopped up into two halves, comparing its performance to prior seasons and other shows is a little harder. What we do know is that the show spent 10 weeks in the weekly global top 10s in total, picking up 292.80 million hours watched, which equates to around 49.60 million views. By our estimates, however, season 4 lost 15% of its viewership season over season.

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Season 4 featured in the weekly top 10s of 75 countries, slightly down from the 77 that featured season 3. 

What to Expect from Outer Banks Season 5

As a quick recap of season 4’s big feature-length finale (read an extensive recap here), and how it sets up season 5, the episode takes the Pogues to Essaouira, Morocco, where they navigate a bustling, unfamiliar terrain in pursuit of the fabled Blue Crown. Of course, things didn’t go entirely to plan. 

Kie, devastated by JJ’s brutal murder, has vowed revenge against Groff. Rafe’s betrayal, Groff’s ruthless nature, and a desperate treasure hunt intertwine, leading to JJ’s courageous yet tragic demise. As he retrieves the Blue Crown amidst a raging sandstorm, he sacrifices himself to save Kie, only to be ruthlessly stabbed by Groff. His final words, affirming his love for Kie, seal a heartbreaking moment, leaving the Pogues shattered and forcing them to face a future without him.

In season 5, the Pogues will be hunting down Groff, who has fled to Lisbon with the Blue Crown. Of course, amidst the chaos, Sarah and John B’s revelation of their pregnancy adds emotional weight to the ending and will introduce an extra dynamic for Season 5. 

The co-showrunners have known precisely how the series will end for a long time. They told Netflix, “We’ve always known from the beginning what the last scene would be, if we would be lucky enough to get it that far.” 

We can’t mention what to expect from season 5 without mentioning the fact that JJ Maybank was controversially killed off in the final episode. That led to an outcry (more on the fan’s campaigns in a moment), with hopes of getting the character reinstated in some form in season 5. 

The whole cast will be revealed at a later date. Still, we can expect all the prominent members to return, including Chase Stokes as John B, Madelyn Cline as Sarah Cameron, Madison Bailey as Kiara, Jonathan Daviss as Pope, Carlacia Grant as Cleo, Austin North as Topper, Drew Starkey as Rafe Cameron, and Fiona Palomo as Sofia.

We should also note that the Outer Banks cast including Chase Stokes, Madison Bailey, Jonathan Davis, Carlacia Grant, and Drew Starkey, took the stage at TUDUM 2025 to answer playful fan questions (including one jokingly from Jonathan’s mom), teased each other about who’s the favorite, gave a hilariously vague answer to “What’s Rafe’s deal?”, and joined other Netflix stars for a massive group photo while celebrating their fans with lots of laughs and energy. No details about season 5 were announced, though. 

The Pogues at Netflix TUDUM 2025 – Picture: Netflix

The Ongoing Campaign to Bring Back JJ 

Given the fan backlash, it is worth noting that fans have mobilized to campaign for JJ’s return for the final season. As with all campaigns, their effectiveness could ultimately be negligible for the final product. 

What have fans been up to in getting their voices heard? Well, we spoke to one of the leaders of a group of fans that organized a big petition, which, as of February 2025, has over 11,000 signatures. They’ve also hired numerous billboards, including several in New York’s famous Times Square and in Los Angeles, with further plans in place. 

When and where will Outer Banks Season 5 be filmed?

We’re still waiting for an exact filming schedule, but we know that filming is set to take place in early Spring and run through the Fall of 2025. That’s thanks to an interview with Jonas Pate, who spoke to the outlet while gearing up for another production he helmed earlier in the year, in the form of a new movie called Driver’s Ed.

Filming was eventually pushed back to much later in the year, however. As we learned in April 2025, filming was pushed for a June 16th start, and we can confirm that production is currently scheduled to run through December 3rd, 2025. 

As with all prior seasons, filming will occur in Charleston, South Carolina, in the United States. Whether Season 5 will have an international filming stint is yet to be seen. Last year, the team filmed part of the season in Morocco. Given that Groff has fled to Lisbon, could we consider Portugal as a potential filming location? We’ll find out soon. 

When will Outer Banks season 5 be released on Netflix?

Given the current production schedule, it is now impossible for the show to return in 2025. Indeed, the series was missing entirely from the Next on Netflix 2025 slate reveal for the year. 

Instead, we’d expect the show to be on our screens sometime in mid-to-late 2026, that is, sometime between Spring and Fall 2026. That said, we can probably expect to get some news at the annual Poguelandia, assuming that happens again this November. 

What happened to the other Outer Banks story on Netflix Games?

When we initially posted this article, we brought some good news for Outer Banks fans craving for some new content this year. Netflix has confirmed some of the games it has lined up for 2025, and as part of that slate reveal, it’s been confirmed that another season of Outer Banks is coming to the Netflix Stories app. Bad news, though – that additional game has now been scrapped as part of Netflix Stories being discontinued.

Picture: Netflix Games

Are you excited for the final season of Outer Banks? Do you hope JJ comes back? What are your expectations for what’s coming up? Let us know in the comments below.