If you’ve been on Netflix recently, you’ve probably noticed their top 10 list with the Netflix original series, “Outer Banks” being in the top 3 for quite a while now. Released on April 15th, the ten-episode series became a hit with teenage viewers and continues to cause a storm all over TikTok and Instagram today.

The whole season is focused on a group of teenagers who call themselves the pogues (the lower class) who, in theory, go on an adventurous, yet dangerous treasure hunt in search of gold. The main character, John B, who is played by Chase Stokes, is trying to finish what his late father started. John B’s father died at sea in search of the gold, which he thought was left in the Royal Merchant shipwreck in the marsh. As the pogues get closer to finding their 400 million dollar treasure (all in gold), they’re each faced with personal challenges that put their friendships, and finding the gold, at risk.

One pressing issue faced in today’s society is the struggles of the social class divide. In my opinion, this show highlighted those struggles perfectly by making the main aspect of the show pogues verse kooks, which is basically the story of the have and have nots. As I mentioned before, the pogues are part of the lower class who live on the south side called the cut, and the kooks are the upper class who live on the north side, or figure eight, which is where all the luxury is. The show truly highlights the working and living conditions of the two and shows their differences greatly. One of John B’s infamous quotes said in the first episode, “The Outer Banks, paradise on Earth. It’s the sort of place where you either have two jobs or two houses. Two tribes, one island,” perfectly foreshadows the competition and struggles you’ll be seeing between those “two tribes” throughout the show.

Through many of the characters like Pope, played by Jonathan Daviss, Kiara, who is played by Madison Bailey, and JJ, who is played by Rudy Pankow, you get to see how they actually enjoy and make the most out of their pogue life instead of wallowing in their sorrows. Although Kiara is technically a kook, she is disgusted by that lifestyle and would much rather hang out with the pogues and tag along on their adventures, which I don’t blame her for, the pogue adventures look epic, and I want my summer to look like theirs.

Another benefit of watching the show is its attractive actors. Not only is the cast attractive, but the actors also play their characters so well I couldn’t imagine Stokes and Pankow switching their roles or Bailey and Madelyn Cline, who plays the kook Sarah, switching roles either. The chemistry between Sarah and John B in the show is phenomenal and has even convinced some viewers that they are dating outside of the show.

Throughout the show, you can see character development and the potential for character development, which I like. I think it is important to acknowledge that people can change for the greater good and to not always hold on to the past or people’s past mistakes. Towards the end, the show focuses on the past and potential friendship of Kiara and Sarah, which I love. I think that with a big teenage audience, this show will help viewers understand that people can change and grow, so that in real life, they can reconnect with past people or friends.

The only issue I have with the show is that it puts a false image of summer into viewers’ heads. The show is filmed in the summer on an island and the amount of craziness and wild adventures the pogues experience is something that everyone wants to as well. Unfortunately for people like us, we live in the midwest, with Lake Michigan being the closest thing to an ocean or beach to us. We also can’t go on a treasure hunt, considering there is probably nothing valuable near us to go after and search for. I cannot entirely blame the show for that; once people like myself get attached to a show, we tend to hope for our lives to model after that.

This show is the perfect show to binge during quarantine, and since it’s only ten episodes long, it’s very manageable to finish this in at least one or two days. Every episode kept me on edge, and the ending was insane to watch. This show isn’t in Netflix’s top ten for nothing, so I definitely would recommend for everyone to watch this. I would give it a ten out of ten.