‘Outer Banks’ season 3: ending explained and how it prepares season 4

Spoilers for ‘Outer Banks’ season 3 below

The third season of ‘Outer Banks’ can only be described as wild, culminating in a drama-filled finale. The search for John B’s father, Big John, finally comes to an end, as does the Pogues’ search for El Dorado, the Venezuelan city of gold. Of course, nothing runs smoothly and not everyone makes it out alive.

There are double deaths, shootouts, and new beginnings to explore, so let’s jump right in and find out what happened at the end of ‘Outer Banks’ Season 3.

‘Outer Banks’ season 3: ending explained

It feels unfair to jump straight to the conclusion without a bit of context because there was so much going on in the last episode. We couldn’t get you to the bottom without a float. So here it goes.

John B (Chase Stokes) and company finally make it to the Orinoco Basin thanks to Ward (Charles Esten) and his private jet, but don’t think for a minute that means John B has started to trust him. John exposes his plan of action out of Ward’s earshot, including his intention to search for a man named José in Three Rocks before going to Solana, an archaeological site.

Despite his best efforts, the unreliable Ward is listening to everything John says, which doesn’t bode well. Meanwhile, Kie (Madison Bailey) and JJ (Rudy Pankow) also make it to South America with the help of drug lord Barracuda Mike. They too make their way to Three Rocks and finally catch up with the gang.

Sarah (Madelyn Cline) and John B have managed to help Big John escape from captivity, but this has put them directly in Carlos Singh’s line of fire. Carlos puts his men on them to search the town for Big John.

Once safe, Big John admits to them that he can’t translate the Gnomon, however he reveals Denmark Tanny’s letter with an additional translation key, which is quite literally a game changer.

With this new information in hand, they find the tour guide José in the river. Unfortunately, Ward also had the same idea of ​​looking for José, and with Singh’s men following close behind, they are forced to let him accompany them so as not to waste time.

At El Tesoro, Ward is too weak to join them on the trek, so he suggests waiting to warn them of Singh’s arrival. Deep in the jungle John B and company locate the Gnomon Idol and through the moonlight the idol snaps into place revealing the clues. Clues that lead to puzzles that you must now solve.

Teamwork, however, is not his strong suit as Big John doesn’t trust his daughter-in-law Sarah, who is also Ward’s daughter. Big John doesn’t share the answers, but helps them find El Dorado. However, Singh shows up just in time to ruin his plans when he receives his next clue. Ward is revealed to have been working with Singh and has sold out Sarah and John B by revealing their location.

Big John stands firm in his decision not to translate Gnomon’s secrets even when John B’s life is threatened, resulting in a shootout. Big John is shot, but they manage to escape.

Ward makes a heavy-handed attempt to persuade Sarah to join him on the dark side, but she makes her allegiance abundantly clear by firing a bullet in his direction. Big John finally shares what he learned from the Gnomon’s clues when they reach the cave. Too hurt to go on, John B and Sarah carry on without him. After a few false starts, they finally make it to El Dorado, except it’s not how they imagined.

The city of gold looks more like bits of gold studded everywhere. It will do though, as Sarah and John collect the gold and leave. Unsurprisingly, Singh has tracked them down by following Big John’s bloody trail. They hand him the gold (being held at gunpoint can be very persuasive) and he orders Big John to come out of hiding for him, which he does, but he’s not unarmed. With a stick of dynamite in hand, Big John threatens to blow it up unless Singh lets his son go.

Singh refuses and Big John makes good on his words by throwing the lit dynamite.

In the rampage, both Johns and Sarah escape with their gold. Singh tries and fails to put out the dynamite and an explosion ricochets through the jungle. However, there is no time to celebrate his huge victory when Ward shows up with a gun intent on taking the loot from him. His attack, however, is interrupted by JJ and the others, who are wielding machetes.

Ward is at the end of a losing battle when Sarah takes her father’s gun to prevent someone from getting shot. ‘Outer Banks’, being ‘Outer Banks’, takes another plot twist when Singh’s second-in-command, Ryan (Lou Ferrigno Jr), also shows up to grab the gold.

John B is about to give up, but it’s not enough for Ryan, who wants revenge on those he lost in the fight with the Pogues. He first tries to shoot Sarah, but Ward intervenes. He jumps in front of his daughter, he takes a barrage of bullets in his place before pushing Ryan off a cliff.

She’s not the only one to lose one of her parents on this quest, as Big John sadly bleeds out from his previous injuries. The two are buried next to each other in the rainforest.

How the ‘Outer Banks 3’ ending sets up season 4

The final moments of the episode are a flash-forward of eighteen months. Initially it seems that the life of the adolescents has calmed down.

Sarah and John B have bought their surf shop, Kie is busy saving turtles, Pope is studying, and JJ bought the rental boat. All is wonderfully quiet until a stranger arrives ready to change things in their lives.

The old man hands them the promise of a new quest in the form of a manuscript, the log of Blackbeard’s captain, the pirate. John B’s smile says it all. There are new adventures ahead and he is well prepared for it. Will he ever learn it?

The third season of ‘Outer Banks’ is available now on Netflix.