Every Major Death That Rocks the Pogues’ Final Ride in ‘Outer Banks’ Season 5

The Pogues promised revenge for JJ in the final season of ‘Outer Banks,’ and the show’s last ten episodes deliver plenty of bloodshed along the way. Between double crosses among the Corsairs and Groff’s escalating war with everyone in his orbit, the series finale run does not hold back on collateral damage.

Fans heading into the last chapter already knew the stakes were personal. The Pogues are all gunning for JJ’s dad, Groff, who killed his own son, and the group’s revenge mission fuels most of the season’s violence.

JJ’s Death Sets Off the Final Season

Before diving into who dies in the new episodes, it helps to remember the loss that colors everything else. JJ gave the Blue Crown to Groff to save Kiara, and Groff plunged a knife into JJ’s side, telling him it was a shame it had come to this between them.

JJ spent his final moments with Kiara, and after the Pogues found out about his death, they buried him in Morocco. That loss hangs over the entire fifth season and gives Kiara’s arc its emotional weight.

JJ’s death has stuck with fans for years, and his loss feels so unnecessary and wrong given everything the character had already survived. The Pogues are still very much a unit heading into the finale run, but they are missing their heart, and that absence shapes nearly every decision they make.

New Villains Rack Up a Body Count in ‘Outer Banks’ Season 5

The first death of the season lands in the premiere when Zac turns his back on his fellow smuggler Driss to save his own life, after Finch places the pair in a deadly ultimatum and only one of them can survive.

Things escalate fast from there. Zac ends up grabbing the gun during their struggle and shoots Driss in the chest, killing him instantly, which sets the tone for how ruthless Finch’s operation is going to be all season.

Episode two raises the stakes even higher. Dr. Craig, an expert brought in to authenticate the Blue Crown, turns out to be secretly working for Finch in exchange for payment, but when she demands that payment, Finch has one of his men execute her with a shot to the head.

Later in the season, another pair of hired guns meet a violent end. Julio’s men Tevi and Roberto chase John B and Sarah to the docks and nearly finish them off at gunpoint, only for Dalia to take out both men with headshots before they can pull the trigger.

Groff’s Reign of Terror Reaches Its Breaking Point

Groff’s relationship with Rose Cameron becomes one of the more explosive threads of the season. When Rose tries to skip town with the stolen Royal Merchant gold, Groff catches her, pins her down, and strangles her until Wheezie walks in and finds him standing over what looks like Rose’s lifeless body.

Wheezie manages to grab a gun and shoots Groff in the arm before fleeing, and when Groff comes back downstairs, Rose’s body is gone, meaning he never actually finished the job. It is one of the season’s most brutal near misses, and it sets up Groff’s final descent.

After killing his own son and then trying to kill Kiara, Rafe, Rose and Wheezie, Sheriff Shoupe finally arrests Groff for the murders of JJ and Hollis. That arrest, though, is not the last word on Groff’s story.

Kiara gets the ending fans have been craving since JJ’s death. During the season’s climactic hurricane, Kiara sneaks aboard the ship Groff is using to escape with the stolen gold and stabs him in the side, kicking off a final showdown between the two.

As the pair fight, Kiara tangles Groff in the ship’s rigging, hoists him into the air when the mast snaps, and then cuts the rope holding the broken mast, pulling Groff down into the churning waters for good. It is a fittingly chaotic end for the man who tore the Pogues apart.

Which Core Pogues Survive the Series Finale?

Despite everything the group goes through, the main cast makes it out alive. None of the show’s core characters die across the final season, which comes as a major relief after JJ’s death in the previous season raised fears that another beloved Pogue might not survive.

Kiara in particular is put through the wringer. She looks death in the face on multiple occasions, and there is a moment at the end of episode seven that will leave viewers convinced she might not make it, though her friends always arrive just in time.

Sarah’s storyline is just as tense. A bounty gets placed on her life at one point, and there is even a nightmare sequence where John B dreams he finds her dead, along with a later health scare cliffhanger that the show quickly resolves.

Pope, John B, Rafe, and Cleo all land in precarious situations too, though none of them face the same sustained life or death tension that defines Kiara and Sarah’s arcs this season. By the finale, the surviving Pogues finally get to breathe.

With Groff gone and JJ avenged, the Pogues’ last ride comes to a close on their own terms, so which of Season 5’s deaths hit you the hardest, and did Groff’s watery final scene give JJ the justice you were hoping for?