1. JJ is a charismatic character with a good heart, but he’s not exactly trustworthy. He’s more like a classic rogue. He’s the kind of guy who tells his friends he didn’t bring a weapon but has a gun hidden in his backpack to protect them. He’s also the kind of guy who will repeatedly annoy a friend just to get their attention but then will turn around and lie to the police so that he gets arrested instead of someone he cares about. JJ is a young man of contradictions. That’s why this line, said with Rudy Pankow’s signature charm, works so well. Characters don’t want to trust JJ. They know his plans go badly and that his impulses get him in trouble. Despite that, they can’t help but trust him because they know his heart is in the right place. 2. JJ doesn't always make the most sense when trying to make a point to his friends, as is evident in this quote from him. It's said while he's trying to explain to Kiara, John B, Pope, and Sarah that the Pogues are his family, now, more than ever since his father has left him. While it's clear that they all appreciate what he's saying, none of them can resist teasing him about not knowing the difference between Spanish and French. It's also a great demonstration of how JJ brings levity to even the most dramatic moments in the show as his line confuses his friends during the middle of a dramatic speech. 3. While some argue Outer Banks' Kiara makes no sense in a relationship with Pope, JJ is the one with a front-row seat to most of their struggles during the second season. JJ appears supportive of Pope and Kiara, much as he appeared supportive of the potential of Kiara and John B ending up together in the first season. It's clear, however, that always being the third wheel to his friends is getting to him a little bit. John B and Sarah fall for one another very quickly. Pope is pretty well gone on Kiara for most of the episodes. JJ is left to watch the surrounding couples - for better or worse. He often finds himself on the outside of their discussions looking in, as is the case with this quote when Kiara, Pope, and JJ are trying to get evidence against Ward Cameron. 3. In the second season, JJ and Kiara end up paired for a lot of the adrenaline-fueled sequences. Part of that is a result of John B and Sarah being separated from the rest of the Pogues quite a bit. Part of that is also the result of Kiara's strained relationship with Pope. As much as JJ and Kiara are on the same side, however, they also bicker quite a bit. One of the chief arguments they have is over JJ's possession of a stolen gun. While JJ is not as quick to jump to violence as Rafe Cameron, that doesn't mean he won't use the gun, something Kiara doesn't approve of until the second season when the group is targeted yet again. As Kiara asks JJ where the gun is, he's both annoyed and surprised that she's willing to use it as soon as he's had to hide it to protect the group. 4. The family a character is born into compared to the family they've made in the Pogues is a running theme in every season. In the second season, JJ is finally able to cut ties with his abusive father because he helps his father run from the police on a boat, not unlike what he did for John B in the first season. As JJ watches his friends squabble in the marsh right after Kiara helps him see his dad off for good, JJ makes it clear that this group of people is the only family he really has. The relationships among the Pogues are Outer Banks' best. Sure, JJ has cousins he can ask for a hand once in a while, but the people he loves and trusts are the Pogues. That's true for all five of the characters as they make their way through Outer Banks. 5. JJ Maybank has always been the most impulsive Pogue, and many of his best lines in the series reflect that. He likes acting on instinct, as this line early in Season 3 after Kiara is taken by Singh proves. JJ believes the group needs to just run in, grab Kiara, and get out, but that’s not a feasible option. The truth is that JJ is more worried about what might happen to Kiara than he is about his own safety or even making it out of Barbados. JJ would do anything for Kiara. When someone he cares about is in trouble, that’s JJ’s entire focus, and that’s something that remains true throughout the show. While how he handles his feelings might change over the course of the show, that single-minded focus does not.
6. This is one of JJ's only lines that makes an appearance in the first two seasons of the show multiple times. It also happens to be a JJ Maybank quote that becomes part of the larger Pogue lexicon as the others use it as well. It's an acknowledgment that he and his friends make, in their own words, incredibly stupid decisions most of the time. It's also an acknowledgment that the choice to do that isn't always a bad one. This is one of JJ's only lines that makes an appearance in the first two seasons of the show multiple times. After all, their bad decisions lead them on multiple treasure hunts, allow Sarah and Kiara to become friends again, bring Cleo into the Pogues, and build new relationships with those they think they've lost. They also save one another's lives multiple times. Their bad decisions only strengthen their bond and solidify that these teens are truly a found family. Who should I do next?
