the pouges were so out of sync this season like you’re telling me that they were like “oh well” to kie getting taken off to camp like no way i’m going to choose to pretend that s3 doesn’t exist

obx s3 thoughts (obviously contains spoilers!)

this is just my opinion, please don’t come for me if u disagree :)

i was a bit disappointed with this season ngl, definitely my least favorite season of the series so far

action sequences were really good but i felt like a few episodes were just straight meaningless action scenes and that definitely felt unnecessary to me

cleo pope jj owners of the season <3

drew starkey can certainly pull off a buzzcut but man do i miss his sexy haircut from season 2 😭😭

WAY TOO MANY BIG JOHN SCENES oh my god look i get it, it’s a miracle the guy turned up alive and shit but i am not john b i do not give two shits about this rather mean looking man and i felt like he was on my screen more than the main cast

shoutout to his actor tho. he did a great job portraying him

i thought i would be a jiara shipper but i don’t like them together at all… i lowkey hate that the writers now literally paired kie with every guy of the pogues when that seems so out of character for her

saw a post about kie being lesbian and you know what? y e s. even though i think a love interest wouldn’t be necessary for her to begin with

i’m a jjpope girlie sorry their chemistry is just chef’s kiss but it’s never gonna happen bc according to the writers there’s not a single gay on that silly lil island

(it’s completely fine if you do ship them bc they did have chemistry in the previous seasons)

not the sarah x topper drama getting reused from last season… i love sarah but girl what the hell

speaking of topper i thought it was fun how they included him in the train heist

but the way sarah manipulated him and used him… i’m no fan of his at all but i did feel for him bc he pulled so much for her and she went straight back to john b 😭

my boy really said i’m gonna light this place up like a damn bonfire lmfao

anyway back to it

the main villains (ward and rafe) of the past two seasons became pretty much irrelevant this season?? huh???

rafe did a near complete 180 out of nowhere… which was strange

like this man’s whole trauma was solely fixed on getting love and respect from his father and the whole donating the cross situation really sucked if you look at it from rafe’s perspective but i do not believe that THAT was all it took to suddenly become so hostile towards ward. even if he still ended up saving him.

this guy was so stuck in the cycle of violence from the pilot up to the final episode of season 2 and his character development was so interesting to see (that scene in s2 when he says he’s not okay and needs help and ward tells him to man up still stuck with me) and it feels like they threw it out of the window and pretty much sidelined his character for no reason at all.

new boring villain is introduced and gets killed in the same season

worst parent award goes to mike and anna

I WANT TO SEE MORE OF JJ AND SARAH WORKING TOGETHER OR JUST INTERACTING PLEASE

they’re such a fun dynamic like give me that please i’ve been asking for this before s2 even came out

the pogues had pretty much 2 scenes together and that’s it… i had hoped to see more of them and their dynamics and just more of them on that deserted island??? wasted potential oh my god

is it just me or was the filming style a lil different this season…

wasn’t rafe’s love interest supposed to be a bigger thing? because the few scenes he shared with her were completely irrelevant and so was her entire character tbh 😭

rafe and kie teaming up… was awesome i loved it

jj and kie running into pope and cleo when they were just about to get off the bus and immediately had to run from people with big ass guns is peak obx energy and i thought it was hilarious

i audibly gasped at the time jump!! such a weird way to end the season, it almost seemed like a series finale but knowing that season 4 is already confirmed i’m genuinely wondering what direction they’re gonna take this. the root of it all was that they were looking for the treasures because some of them were connected to it in their own ways (john b and the royal merchant bc of his dad, pope and the cross/denmark tanny bc family) and rafe and ward were perfect villains up until this season.

if there’s something i want to see in the next season, it’s just more pogue scenes, strengthening their own characters and developments and their dynamics with the other pogues. we really do not need the same romance drama every season. it’s boring and frankly annoying. honestly in this show there’s so much going on that i don’t feel like each one of the pogues needs to end up with someone. i would love to have jarah and jjpope as endgame and have kie and cleo end up solo or maybe have other love interests (but not really).

just give me the pogues doing what they do best — bickering while they’re off chasing some mystery and putting their lives at risk and miraculously getting out of it alive and well.

because season 3 was just weird. really weird. idk this is all for now but i might add more later!

can you rank top-5 best obx duos for your?

oh, i assume we're talking dynamics, not couples, right? cause if couples, it's very predictable for me to say jiara, cleope, jarah, heywards and rafe/barry? okay, as for dynamics i think my rating looks like this: 1. kiarah 2. jj & john b 3. cambank siblings 4. jj & pope 4. john b & kie so, first one is kie and sarah cause i love some girl power dynamic duo. also, i want to see more of female friendship representation in modern teen dramas. because as a girl who was raised on shows like gossip girl and vampire diaries, i had shitty examples of how girls should interact. so i love kiara's and sarah's dynamic after they became friends again! and maybe it's cause most of their interactions in my mind are headcanons, but they have so much potential to be a healthy female friendship representation, so i hope to see more of them in next season when they are navigating through troubles as young adults. second place is jj and john b, because once again i love best friends. they are a definition of brothers because no matter how pissed they are at each other they will always help one another without even thinking about it. also, i want to add that male friendship in obx doesn't have toxic masculinity involved, so it's a big plus for me as well. okay, do i have to explain about cambank? cause i can write an essay about them. i don't know why there wasn't any scenes with sarah and jj talking about their families. because they are different sides of the same coin. they have shitty fathers and even though these said fathers screwed them up million times, they still love them. jj and sarah can understand each other like no one else. and we had some crumbs of them being there for each other, but i think it's lazy writing because the opportunity is right there, writers just need to add a little effort and explore their friendship more. jjpope dynamic was something i didn't think i'd like from the beginning. however, i felt in love with them after pope's fight with rafe. the way jj was so concerned about his best friend made me actually like them a little, but when jj took a blame for pope i was a goner. they are really a great example of friends that should have nothing in common, but they have genuine friendship. john b and kie is my big brother/little sister duo that we were robbed of for two seasons already, but i hope that they will come back to us in fourth season. they had a great potential since season one, but they were really sidelined, unfortunately. yeah, sorry, so many words here, but i love talking about all the obx-related stuff, soooo

how did you feel about season? i know most people liked it better than season 1 but i’m not sure how i feel yet🤔 might need to rewatch it

okay this ended up soooo long so i'm giving a tl;dr review here and if anyone cares to read my insanely long thought dump you can feel free. this part is spoiler free also!!

cons: i think they should have further developed the s1 storyline rather than conjuring up an entirely new treasure and conflict; i don't think they did the characters justice a lot of the time, particularly kie and jj; too much yelling and running not enough hanging out; the finale cliff hanger was a stupid writing choice

pros: cleo!!; pope-centric plotline!!!; amazing jjpope moments in the improv sequences; never a boring moment; rafebarry oh my god????; neck kiss shirtless wrestling holding hands standing unnecessarily close jjpope rot; just a straight up nine hour long adrenaline rush and i love that shit.

overall: i definitely did not like it more than s1, but i still REALLY loved it. i think it's worth the watch, just don't go into it expecting good writing or realistic injuries or a comprehensive plot LMFAO. what saves the season is the pogues' chemistry and their improv sequences, for real. and cleo. you WILL get angry about the shitty script and characterization if you’re really invested in that part of things, but as far as vibes and dopamine high it was awesome. it was a fun watch and i'll definitely rewatch at least once to soak it in properly

please this is going to be soooo long i apologize in advance. but i have a lot of thoughts. also ⚠️⚠️spoilers ahead!!⚠️⚠️

most of this review is going to be criticisms tbh so sorry for that but this show kinda sucks (affectionately<3)

i thought season 2 was an absolute TRAINWRECK as far as writing goes. jonas pate was basically like. this season we're going to have an even BIGGER and BETTER treasure!!! but the exact same thing is going to happen. like. we already had gold. and that's what they were going to the bahamas for at the end of season 1 for anyway????? it would have been so easy to just develop the original storyline further, i just cannot figure out why they would completely abandon it for another mediocre storyline. (i LOVED that this other mediocre storyline was pope-centric and the main character energy he was given this season. but. they. could have done that?? with the first storyline?????)

i hate that they brought big john back so so much. SO much. literally it was the stupidest most idiotic lazy cheesy plot choice in the world. it doesn't make sense, we like saw his literal bones at one point like his lifeless corpse, and WHY would they bring back a key character from the PREVIOUS ARC when they created an ENTIRELY NEW CONFLICT AND PLOTLINE FOR THIS SEASON???? jonas pate stuck it in for shock value and cliff hanger in hopes of securing a season 3, and i hate him for it. he's such a terrible writer white men have it so easy

someone in the neck kiss truthers discord earlier pointed out that jb's dead father returning after like a year and a half of thinking he was dead would probably be more traumatic that healing at this point, and i agree so much. also, you know that they're not going to use it for good either way. they're going to use his dad coming back as a way to further traumatize him somehow because obx writers are jombeephobic. and i wouldn't put it past them to bring him back just to kill him off again. jonas pate wants to write john b torture porn and i am TIRED of it

my least favorite thing about season 2 was the characterization. they really did just disregard the characters they created in season 1. kie was completely ooc for like three episodes, and it wasn't because she was mourning. it was just shitty writing. she had no character outside of her relationships this season, which has been my fear from the very beginning and why i have never wanted kie with any of the pogues. season 2 diminished her character to the female love interest, and that just sucked so bad for her.

whether you're a jjpope or not, season 2 completely changed their friendship dynamic. the only time we got glimpses of the season 1 jjpope dynamic was in the improv sequences when rudy and jd took it upon themselves. also during their hugs LMFAO. which is also an acting choice. the writing completely disregarded their friendship and dynamic. it was weird as fuck it was all weird. i also hated that kie and sarah's scripted interactions were just them talking about boys. another case of friendships again being completely disregarded for the cishet relationships. 

i just really feel like all of the characters were handled poorly this season, which is crazy because literally ALL we asked for was backstory and character development and pogue screentime. but jonas pate instead decided to write ten episodes of nonstop running and yelling and fuckinf adrenaline, with an ooc script. for funsies

i feel like the magic of season 1 was lost. the vibe of season 1 that makes it so comforting and rewatchable and lovely is sort of just lost in all the silly plot. we see snatches of it here and there, but they feel crammed between unnecessary action scenes and stunts and shouting when we would have been happy with ten episodes of the pogues hanging out in each other's bedrooms.

NOW IM GOING TO TALK THINGS I LIKED OKAY OKAY

i seriously DID love watching it. we pulled an all nighter in the neck truthers discord and binged the entire season and the adrenaline of that kept me going for the rest of the week. it was literally fucking insane absolutely batshit and i LOVED it. the writing was horrible but like. it's obx we know it isn't good LMFAOO. it's part of the charm

i definitely don't like it more than s1, but i did still like it a lot. i LOVED how pope centric it was, like he fr had such main character energy this season and it was wonderful. even though the storyline was weird and didn't make sense jd did so well lolol he did so wonderfully. i loved seeing pope get the attention he deserves this season.

JJPOPE MOMENTS. i was definitely sad they didn't have an arc to themselves like they did season 1, but oh my god jd and rudy FED US with jjpope improv moments this season. the NECK KISS? the WRESTLING? every single one of their hugs?????? they're insane. it sucked that they really didn't have any scenes alone but we take what we can get.

SPEAKING OF GAYS LET'S TALK ABOUT RAFEBARRY. because?? oh my god??? first season it was like a crack ship and then season 2 came out and... what are we supposed to do ignore it? they are literally??? gay????? it's jarring they're insane. i am so so invested in them it's kind of unreal how deep i got into this ship in such a short amount of time (follow @rafebarry babies <33)

cleo. i love cleo. the best new thing to come out of this season for sure. clarah is coming strong i can feel it and i am SO ready. i know that they're most likely going to move toward a cleopope romance next season, which i don't hate? i'm bothered only because a) it's obvious it's mostly being done to get pope out of the way for jiara, and b) i think people often push two dark-skinned characters into a ship just because they're both dark-skinned, and that yucks me out. but i will say i really liked their moments together in s2 and i think they could be really good together if they're canon s3 (which they probably will be.)

overall like. it was a fun watch. i retained like 2% of the plot i was just there for the vibes and dopamine high and that was totally fine. i want to take the pogues out of jonas pate’s greedy little white man fingers and give them the character and relationship development they deserve, but we can’t have it all i guess. the cinematography this season i think i liked better than season 1, wasn’t a huge fan of that weird yellow filter tho. also the lighting. obx lighting guys get demoted challenge. umm yeah season 1 supremacy but season 2 had amazing vibes

i am sooo conflicted about season 2 of obx. like it was better but also not?

like the action sequences were sooo good i was on the edge of my seat the whole time. and they were also shot better than season 1. but i think the show is suffering from what i call “the stranger things syndrome” by which i mean when stakes get higher the show starts losing its core. everybody had at least one near death experience which was not adressed later. and like the last ep was so fun to watch but also they are only 16???

and i think we had a more evolved found family trope like everyone’s reaction when they reunited, jj and john b scenes was so good but also where is kie and sarah. and like pope jj and kie thought sarah and john b were dead so i wanted more scenes of them all just talking. dont know how you feel about jjpope but they really reduced their connection this seaosn and with jiara if they are going for slowburn they should have added more scenes because i still dont think either is interested in the other

sorry for this long message i just have so many thoughts and no one to talk to

i’m so glad you came to talk to me man, forreal, I got so excited when I saw I had an ask about the boat show!!!

I’ll be really straight with you rn, I am also kinda conflicted on how I feel about the season. on the one hand I am LIVING for all the john b inclusive best friends scenes, the action was impeccable, that ending!!!!, and POPE MAIN CHARACTER SUPREMACY TBFH. but i 100% agree with you that the writing dropped the ball on so many things, like there was SO MUCH trauma that was never addressed, things that were retconned for no reason (the best friends since the third grade line in s1 vs. we’ve been friends since kindergarten in s2 that literally doesn’t even MAKE SENSE), and i have REAL beef with a couple points of individual character “development” that I am honestly just not gonna rant about here because we do our best to keep it positive in this house AND it’s literally not worth the shit storm that I know will rain down on me if i do.

BUT YEAH…

I miss my kie and sarah scenes tbh, like the ones they did have were good but it seemed like there was an odd unbalance between the way kie was basically OBSESSED with sarah in s1 and how they didn’t really have much interaction at all in s2. and yes, i am officially jjpope trash (among other things 👀) and…..I guess I just don’t get why they chose to do the things they did (I am looking at you hot tub scene) if they’ve known all along they’re headed towards j*ara. like…..for why? what was the point? and i’ve said this probably 50 times but i don’t ship j*ara in any capacity and I literally do not think that will ever change but i know people i’m friends with and who follow me do so again, not gonna create a negative space. that’s not me.

maybe it was the lack of pogue feel good vibey scenes? I’m not sure. i think maybe they were just trying to do too damn much in a short season and stuff didn’t quite connect sometimes?like I love this show with my whole heart, the found family aspect of the show is literally instant serotonin to me, and I’m really not trying to be negative here, there was a lot of solid wins, and so many great and hilarious scenes this season. I’m with these damn pogues til the absolute end, but for me yeah, I feel you on the being conflicted.

I’m just focusing on the good parts, tbh. I try to remind myself that one) at the end of the day the story isn’t over yet and two) they made a bad ass season that has major high points in the middle of a global pandemic so they deserve some slack.