Outer Banks season 5: everything we know so far about the Netflix teen drama’s return

Outer Banks season 5 is one of the most highly-anticipated Netflix teen dramas.

The show is based around two rival groups, the Kooks and the Pogues – no, not affiliated to the bands of the same names – who live on the fictional island of Kildare in North Carolina.

The previous series of the show, which premiered in April 2020, has mainly followed the Pogues through all types of high drama, but the fourth series rolled to an end in November 2024. Alongside the show’s first feature-film length episode, the creators announced that a fifth – but final – season had been confirmed.

Writing an open letter to OBX fans on social media, creators Josh Pate, Jonas Pate, and Shannon Burke said: “From this beginning, we imagined a mystery that would lead to a five-season journey of adventure, treasure hunting, and friendship. At the time, seven years ago, it seemed impossible that we would really get to tell the whole five-season story, but here we are at the end of our fourth season, still chopping away.”

“Now, 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.”

With production planned in for 2025, it’s going to be a while before it hits our screens, but in the meantime, here’s everything we know so far, including OBX 5’s release date, confirmed cast, trailer news and potential plots:

Outer Banks 5: does it have a release date?

As the fifth season hasn’t gone into production yet – it’s been pencilled in from early 2025 to the end of the year – there’s no release date on the horizon.

We might expect to see it on screens in late 2026, but it could even end up being more like 2027 before we join the gangs again.

Outer Banks 5: is there a trailer yet?

No, not yet, but a warning, be wary when Googling for it, as there’s quite a few fan-generated trailers claiming to be genuine, however they are not the official trailer. We’ll let you know when that drops.

Outer Banks 5: has there been a cast confirmed?

The shock death of JJ Maybank – stabbed by Chandler Groff (J. Anthony Crane), who he had just discovered was his biological father – obviously means there will be no Rudy Pankow in season 5, unless he appears as flashbacks.

As a result, speaking with Deadline, the creators confirmed some key characters who the fifth season would focus on. “Kiara [Madison Bailey] is going to be a big focus, but we definitely want to give more time to Cleo [Carlacia Grant] too,” Josh Pate said. “It’s a question of bandwidth in the show that we have with all these stories, so it’s hard to say, but we definitely want to develop Cleo and honor her character as well.”

Pace also confirmed a return from Rafe (Drew Starkey) and his ex-fiancée, Sofia (Fiona Palomo): “We have plans for both of them. We love Drew and we think he can do anything, so he’s heavily involved in our seconds for next year.”

We’ll keep you posted as to when other cast members are confirmed as making a comeback.

Outer Banks 5: what do we know about the plot?

Well, the feature-length ep of season 4, The Blue Crown, definitely gave us lots to chew on, and a lot of storylines that could be picked up in the final season. Namely, the murder of JJ by Chandler in Morocco. The rotter even stole the Blue Crown from his Pogue son, and planned to sell it in Portugal. So it’s likely that season 5 will see us all travel to the Mediterranean country, as his gang mates were forced to bury JJ in the desert, but vowed to get revenge on Groff.

Speaking with Tudum, Josh Pate said: “We’re planning a story of redemption, and a season that embodies the friendship that JJ had come to represent. JJ’s death was a hard but necessary piece of the architecture for the story, and we plan on honoring that as much as we can because we love the character as much as the fans do.”

Meanwhile, John B (Chase Stokes) and Sarah (Madelyn Cline) announced that Sarah is pregnant with their baby, so a new Poguelet arrival is likely on the cards for the follow-up season. The storyline might also follow Pope (Jonathan Daviss) having his imminent Marine enlistment, as well as dealing with PTSD from killing Lightner.

Whatever the plot for the season will be, the creators have promised: “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.”

Outer Banks: what’s the future?

While Outer Banks is coming to an end with this next season, there are plans already in place for a prequel, called Kildare.

According to Port City Daily: “It will have a whole new set of younger actors, as it will take place at the founding of each group and explore the class divide present on the show’s fictitious Figure 8 (named after Wilmington’s own private island of wealthy residents) in Kildare County.” It will be reportedly shot in Wilmington.

For more Netflix TV series coverage, read our guides on Bridgerton season 4, One Piece season 2 and Emily in Paris season 5.