What an ending to part 1 of season 4 of Outer Banks! JJ might not know much about his real family, but now we have big clues on who he actually is and why he might not be a Pogue after all.
With new enemies emerging, Wes Genrette (David Jensen), who encouraged the Pogues to find Blackbeard’s treasure, wrote one last letter before his death that was addressed to “Master JJ Maybank.” When JJ finds the letter, Wes writes to JJ that he should ask his dad about “Albatross.”
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JJ’s dad Luke Maybank initially shakes off any type of mention of Albatross during the season openers. However, during the final moments of season 4 part 1, Luke Maybeck revealed to JJ that they weren’t blood-related at all when he brings up “Albatross”.
Who is Larissa Genrette?
Larissa Genrette is the daughter of Wes Genrette. She’s believed to have died due to the Genrette family curse, and newspaper clippings around the time of her death reported that she had taken her own life – alongside her infant son – after experiencing postpartum depression. She was on the boat Albatross and was believed to have drowned alongside her baby. For reasons unknown, her baby survived and was given to Luke Maybank and he raised him as his own child.
Wait, then who is JJ’s real father?
Larissa Grenette was married to Chandler Groff (J. Anthony Crane) before her death, meaning JJ’s real father is Chandler. Chandler was exonerated on all charges regarding Larissa’s death.
While the revelation is new to JJ, it might also come as a surprise that he’s a Kook now. Though he was raised by an abusive father, JJ always took pride in being a Pogue alongside John B. (Chase Stokes), Pope (Jonathan Daviss), Kiara (Madison Bailey), Sarah (Madelyn Cline), and Cleo (Carlacia Grant). But now that dynamic is going to be strange for future episodes. “That was the most extreme thing we could think of: That JJ’s actually a Kook,” Outer Banks co-creator Shannon Burke told Netflix’s Tudum. Co-creator Jonas Pate also concurs, “Well, you’re always trying to torture your characters, right? What would torture JJ the most? The revelation that he’s a Kook.”
Jonathan Daviss talked to StyleCaster about how the Cliffhanger might affect the Pogues in the future. “Now all of a sudden, they’re implicated so heavily that they have no choice,” he said. “It flips how JJ views the world. His dad’s not his dad. He didn’t have a great one to start with. Now, we don’t know who this guy is. We’re hoping we can all keep our crew together, and we don’t splinter off.”