Summer is for romance and treasure hunting in Netflix’s YA series Outer Banks

Outer Banks is Netflix’s upcoming YA mystery drama from Shannon Burke and Jonas and Josh Pate (Blood & Oil) that follows a tight-knit group of young friends who stumble into a dangerous treasure hunt.

The official plot synopsis is as follows:

Outer Banks is a coming of age story that follows a tight-knit group of local teens (the “Pogues”) in the beach vacation destination of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. When a hurricane kills the power for the summer season, it sets off a chain of illicit events that force the friends to make life-altering decisions. The search for their ringleader’s missing father, forbidden romances, a high-stakes treasure hunt, and the escalating conflict between the Pogues and their rivals turn their summer into one filled with mystery and adventure they’ll never forget.

For those interested in a brief geography lesson, the Outer Banks are a series of barrier islands on the east coast of the US, separating the mainland state of North Carolina (and part of Virginia) from the Atlantic Ocean. Today it’s a popular tourist destination thanks to its expansive beaches, but the treacherous seas around the islands that lead to numerous shipwrecks also earned it the name “Graveyard of the Atlantic” – which is of particular relevance to this series it seems. One of the islands in the series is also Roanoke Island, home of the infamous missing Roanoke Colony, the members of which disappeared without a trace in the late 1500s.

Let’s take a look:

On the one hand I’m fairly curious about the mystery being unraveled and its subsequent treasure hunt, on the other hand I’m not at all curious about the personal and romantic drama of a bunch of way-too-pretty young people who’ll take any excuse to get their shirts off. The balance between the two is what’ll make or break this show, depending on your preferences. There’s obviously plenty of gorgeous scenery to go with all the gorgeous bodies, but keep your expectations low when it comes to anything else.

I’m hoping for a fun adventure, but I’m anticipating teen angst. What do you think?

Outer Banks will premiere its ten-episode-long first season on Netflix on 15 April. It stars Chase Stokes, Rudy Pankow, Jonathan Daviss, Madison Bailey, Madelyn Cline, Rob Mars, Charles Esten, Austin North, Drew Starkey, and Caroline Arapoglou.

Last Updated: April 1, 2020