Outer Banks – Season 4 Episode 7 Recap & Review

Mothers and Fathers

Episode 7 of Outer Banks season 4 starts with JJ confronting Groff about Wes’ letter. Groff throws shade on Luke’s parenting and points out that his own son drowned and they never found the body. 

However, they’re interrupted when Lightner and Dalia show up on the island. He hands over a gun to JJ and the pair are forced to flee from Lightner’s goons as they begin sniffing around the mansion.

The pair sneak down to the dock, where JJ finds the Albatross. The same boat that Larissa allegedly drowned on, and it happens to be a little skiff. Lightner is not far behind them though. Just like that, Groff admits to being his father but it comes at the wrong time, as Lightner catches up and apprehends them both.

As they’re bundled on a boat and brought to Dalia, Groff points out that Lightner and the others are mercenaries from North Africa. They think Groff stole from them but all of this is allegedly a misunderstanding, and the whole coup involving the ghosts and hauntings was an elaborate ploy and not real. Guess we’re not going the Uncharted route after all, guys!

Groff left JJ because after Larissa’s death, he wasn’t in a good place. He apologizes for not thinking things through and apparently he came back to help JJ here. The crown is their family’s legacy and Groff wants JJ’s help in retrieving it back.

Meanwhile, the rest of the gang frantically look for JJ. Pope is on the verge of a court trial and could face jail time, and for now he needs to stay home, away from his friends and wearing an ankle monitor. There is a deal to be made here, which includes dropping all charges… in exchange for joining the Marines. It’s either that or jail time. Pope decides to hell with this and hangs out with Cleo instead.

As for Sarah, she grabs a pregnancy test and yep, she’s pregnant. She tells Kiara, who reassures her, but she’s obviously pretty rattled. Outside, John B is similarly rattled by Topper, who antagonizes him over the land and how the Kooks are just dirty looters.

The gang arrive at Goat Island though, where they find Lightner’s goons still lurking about but on their boat this time. They hang back and seize the right opportunity to pounce, while Dalia speaks to Groff. She sheds more light on what’s going on here. Apparently Groff was actually in jail in Tangier and she helped get him out. After welcoming him in with open arms, Groff betrayed them, stealing the captain’s log and killing the man they sent after him.

Groff left this man to rot in the dunes, explaining who the body was out in the sand that Shoupe found several episodes back.

Ever the opportunist, Groff backstabs JJ and claims he was the one who killed the man in the dunes. Just before the pair are killed, John B tries to throw a Molotov but instead ends up hitting their own boat. The second time, they manage to slingshot it over to the boat, while all the guards on top just watch them without firing their guns. Anyway, through all of this, Dalia and Lightner slip away, while the gang are reunited and get away in a boat. And only now do the guards decide to fire on them.

However, more importantly, the gang do manage to get the scroll leading to the blue crown. Groff also survives and he heads out the water, unhappy and determined to get revenge.

The Episode Review

This episode sheds some light on past mysteries, including the dead body in the dunes, why Lightner and the others hate Groff and how JJ factors into all of this. It’s obviously going to come out soon that JJ is Groff’s son and the rightful heir to all of this.

There are still some plot contrivances here, like why the guards didn’t fire on John B and the others when they started hitting Molotov cocktails, only waiting until after the skirmish on the boat to fire. This could have been remedied by having this little boat as a decoy, swimming onto the boat from the side, while the goons fire into the reeds but alas, we get a neat slingshot scene so I guess there is that!

More importantly, the gang are now in possession of the scroll, and with the hunt for the blue crown heating up, it’s anyone’s guess how this one is going to turn out.