Outer Banks

After seeing several seasons of Outer Banks I cannot deny that I was amused and entertained: all episodes are chock-full of high paced adventures, treasure-hunting and pursuits by villains, all this on exotic locations and with as an extra some romantic entanglements between the young and attractive cast. So what's there not to like!?

Well, I do have some reservations too. The goings-on are all extremely farfetched and unrealistic: like how this group of teen-friends succeeds time and again in escaping right under de nose of the police or heavily armed criminals, frequently amidst a shower of bullets but always unharmed; or how they solve mind-boggling mysteries (like for ages hidden treasures or the location of the legendary El Dorado) within the flick of a wrist, or thanks to out-of-the-blue strokes of luck.

The young cast is evidently supposed to illustrate the importance of true friendship, but their juvenile behavior gradually gets on your nerves, with all the bro'ing and dude'ing and the unavoidable reversed baseball caps. And silly nick-names of course, like JJ and Pope and John B (what's the B for anyway?). They all look good, but the acting is just adequate, only Drew Starkey really stands out as the troubled Rafe, and Rudy Pankow was pretty convincing as the resourceful, ADHD-fuelled JJ.

In fact it's more a series for teens, hardly exceeding the realms of The Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew. Maybe, as a reasonably grown-up person, I shouldn't watch this at all, but hey, sometimes it's nice to go with an easy and enjoyable flow without too much thinking. If there's yet another season in the making, I bet I will not be able to resist it. Again.

I wasn't really sure what to expect from Outer Banks as I originally thought it was a show aimed just for teens but I couldn't of been more wrong. It's a show where people of all ages can enjoy it. It's about a teenager and his three best friends who hunt for a legendary hidden treasure after his father's disappearance. It takes a while to get going but once it does it doesn't slow down. There's something about this show that makes it feel authentic. It's a well enough written show where it will keep you following along and having a good time doing it. It has the perfect blend of comedy, drama, mystery, etc to keep you entertained. I really did enjoy it much more than I thought I would. If you're looking to turn off your mind and just enjoy a fun show...this is it!

This series has teenage kids, in a van, solving mysteries in a swampy, spooky landscape. The boys are handsome, the girls are cute. The only thing missing is a dog.

Like you, I've been holed up binge watching Nexflix and Prime. I've watched everything under the sun. This had just come out on Netflix and I started watching it. I never stopped. It is a fun and enjoyable show. The casting is extraordinary...every actor hits it out of the park. The story moves along at an engaging pace to the end, yet looking back, every episode could stand as a one off...on it's own. It's a remarkable accomplishment and kudos to the writers. It's hard to categorize the genre. It's rated m, but no nudity or gore. I see no reason why a 13 year old couldn't watch it. It's funny, has many mini adventures, many misadventures, romance, shipwrecks, storms, fires, gunshots, keggers, jail, boys save girls, girls save boys, parents are devil's, parents are angel's, treasure maps ...and the show has fun doing all of it. Perfect for a quarantine.

I like this show, but it can be very frustrating to watch at times. The acting is decent, but as many others have already pointed out, the casting is a bit ridiculous. The lead actor, who is playing a 16 year old, is nearly 30. He doesn't look even remotely like a 16 year old. All the actors playing teenagers are far too old for the roles they have been cast to play and it ruins the immersion for me somewhat. Is it really so hard to find decent actors that at least look the age of the part they are playing?

But that's hardly the main issue. The story at a high level is good, but the details is where this show falls apart. All of the drama and tension is created by characters doing stupid things. The stupidity ranges from mild, to unbelievably dense, but that's always what is driving the drama. It's hard to find characters likeable when they continuously do stupid things and never learn or grow.

And it's not just the teenagers that are stupid. None of the cops follow procedure, because if they did the story wouldn't happen. Whenever a character does something clever, it has to be ruined by someone doing something incredibly stupid, because again, then the story wouldn't happen. I wish the writers would spend a bit more time trying to come up with different ways to push the story forward, maybe by having the antagonists be clever, rather than the heroes being stupid.

I've finished season 2 now, and I don't regret watching it. It's good enough, but it could have been a lot better.