Outer Banks

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.

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 show is ridiculously unrealistic, but tbh I don't even care. It's obvious that it's not supposed to be the most serious show ever, so I'm totally fine with it being completely over the top.

The main actors are very easy on they eyes, and are doing a pretty decent job with their acting (nothing outstanding of course).

The actors are way too old for the roles they are playing, until Sarah said she was only 16, I wasn't really sure what age they were supposed to be. But whatever, that's nothing new. Casting of age approproate actors is super hard, so I can't deduct any points for that really.

I am not completely finished yet, but so far it's fun, fast paces, enjoyable.

Edit: After finishing the show I CAN'T WAIT for season 2. It got SO much better with each episode, and honestly, at the end this felt like a really high quality production, and it's a really good setup for a potential second season. What impressed me the most is how well the dialogie was written, it was really believable. If you can ignore the fact that they don't look like 16 at all, they definitely act like a bunch of stupid 16 year olds. Netflix, you've done it again!

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.