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​5. Diver Down

Let’s be honest, one of the things fans were most excited to see now that JJ and Kiara are together is JJ’s protectiveness over Kiara. We’ve seen it plenty of times in the past, but things are a little different now that he’s her boyfriend, and it’s in full force when they’re attacked underwater and Kiara loses the scuba diving gear providing her oxygen.

From JJ stabbing the guy with a spear gun to him banging on the door of the ship, desperate to get back to Kiara and screaming her name, this sequence delivers. Then, of course, there’s the fact that he immediately gives her his air so she can breathe.

​4. An Undercover Date

When trying to track down the man who attacked them, JJ says their plan is to “detain, extract, investigate,” and sneak up on him as spies would. Kiara likes it, declaring they’re undercover before suggesting they act like they’re on a date – if he knows what that looks like. JJ questions her and she mentions they’ve never been on a date before, challenging him to name just one. He then tells her that they're on a date right now, grabbing her hand so they can do date things together on the pier. What does that include? Snow cones and a dare to jump into the water.

​3. “Us Against The Universe.”

Since they didn’t make their diving safety stop as Pope instructed them to, Kiara and JJ get the bends (bubbles in their blood and tissues), and the Pogues rush them to the hospital, where they have to spend 12 hours in a hyperbaric chamber. With 12 whole hours together, you can imagine where this going. But before that, since this is their first moment to reflect on what happened, JJ comments how she almost died, and says that he never should’ve let her go down there. Naturally, Kiara has a different way of looking at it, saying if she wasn’t there, the attacker would’ve gotten JJ instead.

Moral of the story? They save each other and it’s them against the universe. JJ also makes a cute call back to when he called her a Kook, and we love some good banter.

​2. The Turtle Hatch

Kiara’s pure joy at the sight of a turtle hatch on the beach is a beautiful moment for the character, who's talked about saving the turtles since season 1. However, Ruthie and Topper have other plans for this precious moment and decide to drive their truck directly at the Pogues, who are trying to safely get the turtles to the ocean. Kiara notices and goes in front of the truck, trying to tell them that there’s a hatch and to go around, but they ignore her, running over the area not once but twice.

Why this is so high on my list is because of the way JJ stands by her side as she confronts the Kooks for killing a baby turtle. He lets her take charge and say what she needs to, only getting involved when Topper puts his hand on her. JJ's taken the lead in these conversations in the past, and to see the roles reverse like this just proves why they work so well together. Plus, there’s the whole “You come near her, or any of us ever again, and I’ll come back and kill every single one of you.”

“He’s Happy.”

​We're Back On The Outer Banks!

FINALLY! After a couple of seasons in the Caribbean and South America, Outer Banks is back, well, on the Outer Banks. Honestly, this automatically makes the season better because it provides a ton of familiarity, nostalgia, and comfort for readers. And it also provides a realistic, grounded aspect to the adventure. Because let's be honest, a group of teens hopping on a tiny plane and taking part in a jungle treasure hunt requires a little too much suspension of disbelief for me. Plus, just like Gossip Girl wouldn't be the same without Blair and Serena hitting up Bergdorf's, a Pogue beach & surfing day just feels right.

​The Pogues Open Their Own Shop

The first episode of Outer Banks season 4 catches us up on that season 3 time jump. After learning how much money they actually have their hands on, the Pogues move into JJ's old house (renaming it "Poguelandia 2.0"), and open a bait, tackle, and charter shop. While I have a few questions about how six teens literally built a business without the help of a contractor, I love seeing this group lead regular lives. The shop plays into their strengths and allows them to cultivate their relationships in normal settings instead of life-or-death ones. Friendships are made in those boring moments, IMO.

​The Pogues And Kooks Are Fighting Again

Because so much of Outer Banks season 4 takes place on the OBX, it means John B., Sarah, JJ, Kie, Pope, and Cleo are once again clashing with Topper, Rafe, and the rest of the Kooks. Despite the fact this season features plenty of death-defying stunts, the scene that will stick with me the most is when the Pogues and Kooks wind up at the same beach access.

I audibly gasped when Ruthie, Topper's new girlfriend, plays chicken with the Pogues on the beach, almost hitting Kiara with her Jeep and running over a turtle hatch in the process. (IRL, protecting endangered sea turtles & their hatches are a big deal on the Outer Banks, so this definitely got a visceral reaction from me).

At the end of the day, the major (and arguably, the most painful) conflict of this teen drama is how the Kooks make the Pogues feel like they don't belong anywhere. And if you ask me, exploring this tension and these relationships is where the show truly shines.

​The Villains Are Actually Scary

That being said, I found the villains this season, Lightner and Dalia, to be way scarier than I expected — especially once Lightner killed Terrance and almost killed Cleo. Every time he showed up onscreen, my heart started pounding like he was chasing me! The thought of being stuck in my bait shop alone with a creepy guy, especially one brandishing a knife? Thank you, next.

​The Pogues Are Searching For More Than Blackbeard's Treasure

After Outer Banks season 3, the one thing I said I didn't want the show to do was go into supernatural, ghost territory. Turns out, that's exactly where we're going. Wes Genrette and his son-in-law Chandler Groff hire the Pogues to find Blackbeard's treasure, but it doesn't take long for them to realize they're once again in over their heads.

Wes is a direct descendent of Francis Genrette, the man responsible for killing Blackbeard and his wife Elizabeth. Now, Elizabeth haunts every generation of the Genrette family, and once she appears, you don't have long to live. Wes reveals his daughter Larissa (Chandler's late wife) saw Elizabeth a week before she died, and Wes himself has seen her, which means his days are numbered.

Now the Pogues have to find Elizabeth's amulet to break the curse. Their race against Lightner and Dalia brings Pope, Cleo, Sarah, and John B. to Charleston — and leavesPope and Sarah trapped in a crypt as it slowly floods.

​Powers At Be Want To Bulldoze The Cut

If this show has proven anything, it's that the OBX is far from paradise. This season, some big names are trying to turn The Cut — including Poguelandia 2.0 — into an extension of the wealthier Figure Eight. Things get even more complicated when Hollis, who worked with Ward before he died, wants Rafe to be her financial partner...and then gets his girlfriend Sofia to convince him to sign her contract.

​Rafe Could Actually Be Getting A Redemption Arc

Drew Starkey admitted after season 1 that he didn't care whether Rafe got a redemption arc, and I agreed at the time. I found the idea of Rafe, who was so driven to please his father he'd literally murder for him, incredibly compelling. Plus, he's been the ringleader of the War on Pogues this whole time, so suddenly making him sympathetic towards them felt like backtracking on his character.

But now that I've seen him with Sofia, the romantic in me is kicking her feet and giggling.

Rafe still has his moments (like saying he'd never date a Pogue after finding out Sofia was from The Cut), but for better or worse, Sofia brings out the best in him. And in the aftermath of Ward's death, and his ultimate wish that Sarah and Rafe would make up, feeling sympathy for the Pogues might be Rafe's way of staying loyal to his dad.

I just want to know how Rafe is going to respond when he finds out Sofia overheard his comments about never dating a Pogue...and then tricked him into signing Hollis' contract. Messy, messy.

​Luke Is Back

After JJ & Kiara said goodbye to JJ's dad Luke in Outer Banks season 2, he's been totally off the grid. Except, apparently, he hasn't? JJ learns Luke is back when he visits Barracuda Mike, but the father-son bonding quickly takes a turn for the crazy when Luke drops a piece of news that changes everything: he isn't JJ's biological father. Chandler Groff is.

JJ Has Actually Been A Kook This Whole Time

JJ's entire character is based around the fact he's proud to be a Pogue. He hates the Kooks and everything they stand for, which is why when Luke reveals he isn't JJ's biological father, and that JJ is related to the Groff/Genrette clan, it totally sends JJ into orbit.

This Kook identity is something he's been running from the entire series — even before Kie had to reassure him that finding the gold didn't make them Kooks — and he's going to have to do some serious soul searching to figure out who he actually is now.

I was wholly sold on the theory Outer Banks 4 would reveal JJ and Sarah were siblings, but this is a pretty good alternative. And who knows? Maybe they're cousins. Fingers crossed JJ doesn't get a deadly visit from Elizabeth's ghost in part 2...

What happens in We Live in Time?

In We Live in Time, Almut, a chef and former figure skater, and Tobias, a Weetabix cereal employee, unexpectedly cross paths when Almut literally hits him with her car. All it takes is a single trip to the ER and a diner, followed by a visit to Almut's restaurant, for the couple to fall for each other. They embrace their newfound romance with reckless abandon, but their vision of the future comes to a screeching halt when Almut's ovarian cancer returns.

Instead of using a typical storytelling arc, the movie actually opens with the diagnosis, taking viewers by surprise almost as much as Tobias and Almut. The story jumps back and forth between their early relationship, starting a family, and life post-diagnosis, highlighting the beauty of both the boring and special moments of a life lived together — and it's way more hopeful than heartbreaking. (It's also pretty easy to keep up with thanks to the length of Florence Pugh's hair in any given scene).

The couple's relationship is marked by reveling in quiet moments, like Almut showing Tobias the perfect way to crack an egg or eating an entire sleeve of Jaffa Cakes in the bathtub while nine months pregnant. But those simpler moments are interspersed with parties and passion, and Almut, who'd rather live six incredible months than agree to chemo and wait for a remission that will never come, is determined to keep up the momentum.

She begins leading a sort of double life, hiding her involvement in a new cooking competition from Tobias, and hiding her cancer from her fellow chefs. (One moment of levity comes when Almut's second finds her throwing up in the bathroom and asks if she's on drugs).

But while many viewers can understand dedicating yourself to a goal, Almut's driving force goes much deeper than that: she's terrified of being forgotten. When competition training means she forgets to pick up their daughter Ella, and winds up fighting with Tobias, Almut reveals how scared she is of only being "the mom with cancer." She wants to give Ella another identity to remember her by. So, they move forward together and finally make it to the cooking competition — but despite all the work it took to get there, it's not the beautiful dishes or the applause or the overall success that make the greatest impact.

How does We Live in Time end?

Almut ditches the competition before it's over, taking her family to a nearby ice skating rink instead. After leaving Tobias and Ella at one end of the rink, she waves and takes off, and it's the final image we see of her — like an angel on ice skates.

When the film flashes forward to the period after Almut's implied death, we see Tobias teaching their daughter how to crack eggs the way Almut showed him at the beginning of their relationship. And that is the part that left me weeping. Instead of romanticizing death, We Live in Time truly romanticizes life in every sense of the word. It's a reminder that the simple ways we honor our loved ones, the inescapable moments that are totally interwoven in our lives, end up being the most powerful. And the fact that no matter what comes, memories mean we can live forever.

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