“The Outer Banks:” does it deserve the hype?

Amid a worldwide pandemic and strict quarantines, streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu are a saving grace. The constant distraction of a new show or movie coming out did us all a favor, whether it provided a sense of normalcy or an escape from constantly being with our families. One such show that managed to captivate a large audience was “The Outer Banks.” The story, set in the Outer Banks, North Carolina, follows a group of teens as they get involved in a hunt for a treasure on the island. 

Actors Performance: 6/10

The main cast consists of many newcomers to the screen. The show follows five main characters John B (Chase Stokes), Sarah Cameron (Madelyn Cline), Kiara (Madison Bailey), JJ (Rudy Pankow), and Pope (Jonathan Daviss). 

All of them do a good job of embodying their characters and delivering the necessary emotion relevant to the plot. In particular, Rudy Pankow managed to do a fantastic job of portraying his tumultuous character who comes from a troubled home life. 

Unfortunately, the one downside to the acting seems to be in the relationships between the characters. The relationship between Sarah Cameron and John B is incredibly clichéd and bland. They have only known each other for less than a month but are somehow already inseparable. 

Towards later episodes, a relationship between Kiara and Pope is formed. Their chemistry is even worse than the previous couple; it is as though their names were picked out of a hat and forced together on screen. Moreover, each person’s acting was not bad, but it dramatically went downhill when brought together.

Plot: 5.5/10

The main story itself flows well. There is a lot of suspense that keeps the viewer coming back for each episode. The plot develops nicely; however, there are numerous predictable side stories. 

Many of these could have been easily eradicated without affecting the main plot. It almost seemed like the writers needed each episode to meet the 40-minute mark, so they chucked in these additional narratives. As a viewer, I found myself skipping through many of these side stories to get back to the main action. 

 Writer Creativity: 5/10

While the overarching story is relatively entertaining, some of the lines in the show are absolutely atrocious. The line “did you just yeet over that chain?” is a fabulous example of a pathetic attempt to attract the current generation that falls flat. It is not only incredibly cringe-worthy but makes you reevaluate why you may be watching the show in the first place. 

There were also some attempted jump-scares that would only startle someone who fears a movie like “Scream.”

Lastly, there was a strange endeavor to tackle more complex issues like social class disparity, racial injustice, drug usage, and even parental abuse. While I’m sure these were brought in as viewer sympathizer tactics, it clashed quite a bit with the immature characters and mediocre action scenes (cop chases and random gunshots). Apart from giving each character a shallow amount of tangible development, the story itself was not strong enough to support these heavier themes.

Understandably, the show has managed to garner quite the following with the combination of an attractive cast set in a beach town and a decently gripping plot. It’s a great mindless show that continually ends in cliffhangers, making you want to watch more. However, the idiotic tendencies of the show were too big of a turn off for me.

Overall Rating: 5.5/10

~Tanvi Iyer `22

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