Outer Banks – Picture: Netflix
Outer Banks season 3 has wrapped filming; the latest season will arrive on Netflix in 2023. Here’s our updated preview of everything we know about Outer Banks season 3, including the three new cast announcements, production timelines, what we can expect from the plot in the new season, and more.
Please note this is a live preview that’s being updated over time. It was last updated on September 24th, 2022.
First debuting in April 2020, the teen crime drama series returned for a highly anticipated second season in July 2020. The show has notably picked up several award nominations throughout its lifetime, including the notable best drama and best male TV star awards at the People’s Choice Awards following season 2.
Quick Notes on Season 3 of Outer Banks
Short on time? Here’s a quick guide to the next season:
- Season 3 is expected to consist of 10 episodes, as per previous seasons.
- Filming started in early 2022 and has now concluded.
- A release date has yet to be announced. Only a 2023 release date has been confirmed, although it’s been hinted by one of the show’s stars it will drop in February 2023.
- Andy MacQueen, Fiona Palomo, and Lou Ferrigno Jr have joined the cast.
- Outer Banks reportedly has an episode budget of around $5 million per episode, meaning the total budget for season 3 will be around $50 million.
- The showrunners for season 3 are Shannon Burke, Jonas Pate, and Josh Pate.
When was Outer Banks Renewed for Season 3?
Despite rumors, including one that went viral on Facebook saying that the series had been canceled, a renewal was officially announced in December 2021.
The renewal came on December 7th, alongside a message from the cast. The official Netflix Twitter account said:
“This just in from Poguelandia…
Outer Banks will be back for a third season!”
The announcement of season 3 also came with some artwork revealing the OBX (short for Outer Banks) 3 logo:
Outer Banks Season 3 Logo
Outer Banks Season 3 Cast: Who’s returning and who’s new?
Alongside the renewal, a press release seen by What’s on Netflix states that Jonas Pate, Josh Pate and Shanon Burke will return as showrunners and executive producers.
We also know that the key cast members returning for season 3 include:
- Chase Stokes
- Madison Bailey
- Jonathan Daviss
- Madelyn Cline
- Rudy Pankow
- Austin North
- Charles Esten
- Drew Starkey
- Carlacia Grant (upped to season regular for season 3 after debuting in season 2)
In June 2022, we got word of three new major castings for season 3 of Outer Banks via Deadline.
The new cast members to feature going forward includes:
- Andy MacQueen (Station Eleven) will play Carlos Singh described as a Caribbean Don who is intelligent, refined, and ruthless, and is out on a treasure hunt of his own.
- Fiona Palomo (Netflix’s Control Z) will play Sofia, someone who identifies as a Pogue but secretly yearns to be a part of the country club crowd. Likable and scrappy, she starts to form a close connection with Rafe.
- Lou Ferrigno Jr (Star Girl) will play Ryan in season 3. Described as Calm and collected but young and hungry, he is Singh’s top security officer and enforcer. He’s done enough jobs to keep a cool head but also knows what could happen if he fails.
Pictured: Andy McQueen, Fiona Palermo, and Lou Ferrigno
Local news station WCBD News 2 also reported on July 1st that the series was actively casting a young John-B look-a-like.
They state:
“Casting agents say the show’s director is looking for a juvenile actor to portray a younger version of the show’s lead character, John B, next week.
The candidate must be a Caucasian male between five and seven years old with light brown hair, and brown or hazel eyes. You are asked not to submit your child unless they fit that age range and resemble the character, which is played by actor Chase Stokes.”
Casting calls were also released for Kook Dads, mature Kooks and Pogues, bartenders, waitstaff, and some photo doubles.
IMDb also suggests a number of smaller castings have been made for the new season including:
- Rick Perez as Ted
- Art Newkirk as Officer Henderson
- Angela Lentz as Cruise Ship Patron
- Drew Broderick as a Security Guard
As you may have heard, one of the body doubles, Alexander Jennings, was involved in a hit-and-run incident during the filming of season 3, which sadly saw him lose his life. The casting director, Kimmie Stewart, told The Post and Courier, “We are all in complete shock right now,” adding that Jennings was “one of the kindest humans I’ve ever known.”
What is the production status of Outer Banks season 3?
Filming schedules for season 3 reported that filming would be in Charleston, South Carolina, and begin rolling on February 16th, 2022, and run through to August 19th, 2022.
On February 14th, 2022, Valerie Weiss posted on Instagram confirming that filming did get underway on February 15th with a post captioned:
“Big love to my @obx family as they begin shooting Season 3 tomorrow!!!! See ya’ll soon!”
Valerie Weiss will be directing multiple episodes of Outer Banks season 3, including one that was shot overnight in early August 2022.
Filming begins on Outer Banks season 3 – Picture: Instagram
Netflix officially revealed on February 28th that production was ongoing with new cast pictures. At that point, the series had been in production for over a week.
Filming continued on Outer Banks season 3 throughout the summer of 2022.
A post on Chase Stokes’s Instagram stories appeared as early as August 10th, suggesting that the bulk of filming had wrapped.
One cast member posted on August 31st that filming had concluded in Barbados.
Posting on Instagram, Charles Esten said:
“Last Night in Barbados! 3 weeks shooting Season 3 of @obx in this extraordinary paradise, but now it’s time to go home. More to shoot in Charleston, but in this moment, I could not be more grateful for this amazing job that keeps bringing me here, or the wildly talented and deeply kind cast and crew I get to work with every day. VERY thankful, too, for all the incredible Bajans that have made us feel so welcome here! Put Barbados on your bucket list. You won’t be sorry!”
How well did Outer Banks season 2 perform on Netflix?
Between July 26th and September 5th, 2021, the series featured in Netflix’s new top 10 metrics picking up 322.59 million viewing hours globally on Netflix.
It was number 1 for the first four weeks of its release on Netflix.
You can see how its viewing hours were distributed below.
| Time Period | Viewing Hours (Million) |
|---|---|
| July 26th to August 1st | 100.16 |
| August 2nd to August 8th | 105.33 |
| August 9th to August 15th | 51.6 |
| August 16th to August 22nd | 31.8 |
| August 23rd to August 29th | 20.79 |
| August 30th to September 5th | 12.91 |
On the IMDBPro MovieMeter, the series reached the number 8 most popular show on the platform.
Why the hold up on a renewal? Well, we don’t officially know why the renewal took so long, but we can look towards previous renewals, which took some time for the reason why.
With large ensemble casts such as Outer Banks, salary negotiations are almost certainly coming down. After season 2 of various shows, we saw major salary negotiations for shows like 13 Reasons Why, Never Have I Ever, and On My Block.
Picture: Netflix
In early December, Chase Stokes expressed he was hopeful but unaware of any renewal saying in an interview:
“We’ve got such a talented team of writers and so we always leave it up to them to sort of figure out the story. And every time we get a script it’s just kind of blowing our seats off so I’m just excited to get my hands on it when and hopefully Netflix gives us the green light,” he said in December 2021. We’re still patiently waiting, just sitting back trying to figure out when it’s going to happen or if they’re going to give us the call, if we’re not going to get the call, so you know. … We’re kind of in limbo right now. Obviously, the fans want it, we want to do it, so if the timing’s right, we’ll see, but fingers crossed.”
What to expect from Season 3 of Outer Banks on Netflix
Let’s quickly recap season 2 of Outer Banks and where that’ll lead us into season 3.
The war between the Camerons and the Pogues will likely continue, with Pope wanting to retrieve the now-stolen golden cross.
While fleeing the large vessel, Pope says, “it’s not over,” as they seek refuge on a remote abandoned island. They decide to stay on said island but the likelihood is they won’t be long especially given their family has reported them missing.
Pope will also likely continue discovering his family’s connection to the Cross of Santo Domingo.
Ward Cameron notably faked his death in season 2 and is now trying to live off the radar. After a few run-ins towards the end of a second season, including John B sparing his life, it’s likely Ward will continue to play a key role in the conflict in the future but will he be caught?
Outer Banks – Picture: Netflix
The biggest question going into season 3 is how and why Big John is back. He seems to allude that he knows where Denmark’s Cross is but was diagnosed as “half-dead.” What impact will he have going forward? We’ll have to wait and see.
What have the cast and crew teased for a third season? Here’s a roundup:
Regarding Big John, Josh Pate told EW:
“John B’s relationship with his dad is a huge theme and having his dad back around and eventually they’re going to meet back up and John B has to reconcile his idealized version of his dead dad with the reality of his alive dad. It gives us a lot of thematic father-son stuff to work with.”
Jonas Pate, Josh Pate, and Shannon Burke have also said that while the Pogues are down, they’re certainly not out, suggesting they will be straight back on the hunt for gold.
In terms of the romance situation in season 3, Madelyn Cline told ET that we’ll hopefully get to learn about their marriage more, saying:
“It’d be really fun in season 3, if we get one, to see them actually start to truly get to know each other in a very real sense. They’re married, but they actually kind of don’t know a whole lot about each other. I feel like that would be really fun. They’ve obviously been through a lot together.”
Outer Banks – Picture: Netflix
Chase Stokes teased to EliteDaily that the new season would have a “vibe shift” in season 3, saying, “The writers really like to keep us on our toes, and I think that creates performances that catch you in the moment … I’ve no idea what’s going on past what we’ve shot in Barbados,” adding ” “I think a lot of loose ends are going to get tied up. A lot of questions will be answered. And per usual, these kids are going to get put through the wringer.”
Speaking in September 2022 to WGTC, Travis Garret Long (who works as a body double on the show) teased that this season will feature “full of action” and “a lot of resolve for some of the wants and needs of viewers”.
How many seasons of Outer Banks will there be?
Outer Banks is one of Netflix’s most popular shows, but that doesn’t mean the show is guaranteed to continue forever.
According to one of the producers of the series, we could be coming close to the end. Pate told Entertainment Weekly:
“Ever since we started, we always viewed it as something that was probably like a four-season, maybe five-season show, but definitely four seasons. We’ve sort of long-arced it out pretty far. I’m just hoping that we get a chance to actually tell those stories.”
Speaking to Decider shortly after the season 2 premiere, Jonas Pate said regarding the show’s future: “My answer is, as long as we can keep making it good and we’re still excited. That’s the number. Definitely more than three.”
When will season 3 of Outer Banks be on Netflix?
At Netflix Tudum, it was confirmed that the Pogues would be back in 2023, although no specific date was mentioned.
In a viral clip of Madelyn Cline attending the Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery premiere at the London Film Festival, the actress let slip that the show is currently scheduled to return to Netflix on February 23rd, 2023.
The full clip by ITN can be seen here, and Cline was hastily poked, and no doubt stared down to indicate she wasn’t allowed to reveal the date.
Of course, Netflix hasn’t confirmed the date itself and as always, Netflix release dates are subject to change.
Other Outer Banks News Since Season 2
Outside of the show, you may have heard that Madelyn Cline and Chase Stokes were dating, but that relationship looks to have turned sour.
Chase Stokes, in August 2022, landed his next big role outside of Outer Banks in the form of a thriller called Valiant One for Monarch Media.
Fans of the show who want more will also want to check out the newly released Outer Banks book Lights Out by author Alyssa Sheinmel. The book takes place just before season 1 of the main show.
Here’s what you can expect from the book:
“It’s spring break in the Outer Banks, and the islands are swarming with rich tourists. The last thing JJ and John B want to do is spend their week watching Kooks in action, so they plan a fishing getaway to the notoriously dangerous Frying Pan Shoals—nicknamed “Graveyard of the Atlantic” for good reason.”
Outer Banks Book
Are you looking forward to watching Outer Banks season 3? Let us know in the comments down below.
