Spy Games
Although they find the wreckage, Episode 4 of Outer Banks sees John B and the others realize the treasure is not there. Back home, John B’s home life catches up to him as Deputy Thomas and Cheryl both show up to take him away. He races off but in doing so, dives headfirst into the path of Sarah, who agrees to help patch him up. She takes him back to her house and mentions a familiar name, Denmark Tanny. This man happened to have been on the Royal Merchant all those years ago. Sensing he may be on to a clue, he presses Sarah on giving up the details and going to the archives. However, there’s a catch – she’s going with him. Begrudgingly he agrees and they sneak on-board a ship to get there. After playing a game of Truth to pass the time, we learn more about John B and Sarah as they start to grow closer together. They assume secret identities and head to the archives together, where John B admits the truth to her that he’s on a treasure hunt. Denmark originally bought slaves to free them but was subsequently hanged afterwards. Among the papers, they also find the names of his sons and a picture of the British Gold on-board the Merchant. On the day Denmark died, he wrote a letter to his son in code. Before they leave, John B snaps a photo of the letter in a bid to try and decipher it. After their adventure, Sarah and John B say their goodbyes which ends with a forbidden kiss and plenty of drama to come between them going forward. Sheriff Peterkin starts to dig a little deeper into the deaths of the two men, realizing that someone may have killed them before they hit the water. Even more alarming, the piercings on their shoulder may have been caused by a gaff hook. While Pope gets jittery over the boat situation with Rafe, things are made worse when Kie finds herself caught in the centre of this bubbling conflict. Unfortunately things do kick off and the four boys fight at the open-air cinema that night until Kie arrives to stop them by starting a fire. Back home, Rafe speaks to his Mother and police about the boat and they manage to find a nearby camera feed that shows the boat – which traces it back to Pope. While Rafe is reluctant, Topper’s Mum demands they press charges and see him get criminal charges for property damage. As the police arrive, Pope is taken away and arrested. Before they bundle him in the car however, JJ takes the blame in an incredibly selfless act that ends the episode. While only a minor point, the main title to Outer Banks is now blue rather than orange, as we fast approach the midway point of the show. Is this a metaphor for the tide turning and diving deeper into the mystery? While things start to become more serious, and fights break out between the groups on the island, it’s ultimately John B and Sarah’s day that makes this episode shine so brightly. The two have some genuinely funny moments this episode when they’re getting dressed and both of them have natural charisma and chemistry together. You can really feel the energy these two have right the way through the episode and going forward I’d imagine we’ll be seeing a lot more of Sarah as she realizes how unhappy she is and decides to join John B in his adventures. Still, there’s plenty of scope for this one to progress going forward and quite what happens next remains to be seen.
