For some Outer Banks fans, the Season 4 finale is something they’d rather forget.

The first five episodes, released on October 10 on Netflix, culminated in a explosive cliffhanger. When the second half of the season premiered on Nov. 7, it seems nothing could have prepared fans for the finale — and the shocking death of fan favorite JJ Maybank (Rudy Pankow). In the closing moments of the nearly 90-minute season finale, Maybank is stabbed and killed by his biological father.

The unexpected conclusion does not sit well with some viewers.

From the beginning, Outer Banks has it was a streaming hit. The teen drama, which premiered in April 2020, is set on a fictional island in North Carolina’s Outer Banks and follows John B (Chase Stokes) and his crew of best friends, known as the Pogues, while hunting for lost treasures. Season 4, part 1 has accumulated 1.19 billion minutes viewers in the first three days of its premiere and reached No. 2 in Nielsen’s Streaming Top 10.

Now Outer Banks fandom is trying to understand why the showrunners would kill off one of its most beloved characters. Some speculate whether Pankow wanted to leave the show.

“When a story conflicts with fans’ wishes or expectations, especially regarding a beloved character, they can feel not only disappointed, but also personally affected—often leading to vocal expressions of pain and anger,” Paul Booth , professor of media and pop culture at DePaul University, told Yahoo Entertainment. “In many fandoms, these reactions are almost ritualistic — they’re part of fan identity and culture.”

As the most impulsive yet loyal Pogue, Maybank immediately attracted fans, which makes his death difficult to process.

“For fan cultures, characters are more than mere narrative devices; they often represent complex relationships, mirror real-life analogs, or can be sources of comfort,” Booth explained. “When a central character dies, especially unexpectedly, it can disrupt fan expectations and feel like a betrayal, especially when fans have devoted time and energy to engaging with the story.”

“Given the skepticism surrounding the decision to kill off JJ, it also speaks to fans who feel unconscious,” Effie Sapuridis, PhD student in media studies at Western University in Ontario, Canada, and committee member Fan Studies Network North AmericaYahoo said. “There’s a safety net that fans often rely on when it comes to their favorite characters, especially when they’re part of the main cast — that they’ll never be killed or seriously injured.”

Some fans believe the plot device may have something to do with an alleged feud between Pankow and his co-star Madison Bailey, who plays his girlfriend Kiara Carrera. Pankow and Bailey are rumored to be keeping their distance because their real-life partners aren’t comfortable with fans “shipping” them off-screen.

Although neither Pankow nor Bailey addressed the speculation, Bailey said Entertainment tonight in June 2020, fans should “keep the ships on the show” because “Madison and Kiara and Rudy and JJ are two different people.” Pankow, on the other hand, took to social media in 2021 to address hatred his girlfriend Elaine Siemek had received it from the fans of the show.

Rumors of Pankow and Bailey’s alleged breakup reached a fever pitch when the second half of Season 4 dropped, and viewers began to suspect that body doubles were used to film romantic scenes between their characters.

As speculation continued to mount, a source told People on Nov. 12 that the pair are not fighting.

Netflix did not immediately respond to Yahoo Entertainment’s request for comment.

Fans are also looking to the show’s writers to pin the blame for Maybank’s fate. Some have taken to X to argue that the decision seems distasteful and unjustified for a character who has endured “constant trauma” and it was the most deserving of a happy ending.

But Maybank’s tragic end was always part of the plan, according to the show’s creators. Showrunner Jonas Pate told The Hollywood Reporter that Maybank’s fate had been “it lurked in his DNA from the beginning.”

Co-creator and brother of Jonas, said Josh Pate Tudum from Netflix that they had planned for Maybank to die during the series.

“It was a really hard decision because he’s a great piece of the ensemble,” Josh said. “It sets the stage for an epic fifth and final season. We’re planning a story of redemption and a season that embodies the friendship that JJ has come to represent. JJ’s death was a difficult but necessary piece of the story’s architecture, and we intend to honor that as much as we can, because we love the character as much as the fans do.”

Outer Banks isn’t the first show to face the wrath of die-hard fans when a plot doesn’t meet their expectations. Devoted fandoms have a history of wanting to influence their favorite television shows both on and off screen.

Amazon Prime The summer I became pretty is a recent example.

While most “Bonrad” shippers — fans who want Belly Conklin (Lola Tung) and Conrad Fisher (Chris Briney) to end up together — respect that Briney is in a serious relationship with girlfriend Isabel Machado, there some who hope he and Tung consider dating in real life. In 2023, Briney received adverse reactions from fans for not posting a photo of him and Tung on Instagram while promoting Season 2. Members TSITP fandom fears Briney and Tung can be separated due to fan harassment, as Pankow and Bailey are suspected to have done.

In some cases, fan disapproval can be so strong that it both rates and influences the direction of a story.

by JJ Abrams Lostwhich took place from 2004-2010, demonstrates how negative reception from fans can lead to character writing. Diamond criminals Nikki (Kiele Sanchez) and Paulo (Rodrigo Santoro), for example, were introduced in the show’s third season and killed off after 14 episodes due to a unfavorable response from the viewers. Similarly, gossip girl fans made their way in Season 2 when Aaron Rose (John Patrick Amedori), the boyfriend of artist Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively), boarded a plane to Argentina and never returned. Although Rose played a bigger role in the books, creator Josh Schwartz ultimately chose to do so get rid of him because it failed to resonate with the audience. Amedori appeared in only six episodes.

For Pankow, Maybank is a character he will always cherish.

“Thank you to this amazing cast and the fans for loving him,” Pankow said Netflix in a November 12 video. “Thanks to JJ. I will always carry a piece of you for the rest of my life. Always remember: Stupid things always work out well. JJ Maybank, you changed my life forever. I love you forever.”

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