Outer Banks’ Rudy Pankow Broke Down JJ’s Feelings About His Biological Father, And How His Own Reaction To The Script Impacted His Performance

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Big spoilers for Season 4, Part 1 of Outer Banks are ahead! If you aren’t up to date on the first five episodes to drop on the 2024 TV schedule, you can stream them with a Netflix subscription.

There have been some seriously massive literal and emotional bombshells on Outer Banks, however, the revelation that JJ’s father wasn’t his biological dad might be the biggest explosion yet. The reveal came right at the end of Season 4’s first part. So, now, as we wait to see how this information impacts the Pogues, I’m thinking about what Rudy Pankow told me about his character’s mentality in that moment and how his personal feelings about the plot point impacted the scene.

During the fifth episode of Season 4, JJ has a few important conversations with his dad Luke, who is played by Gary Weeks, about his biological parents. After getting a letter from Wes Genrette, Rudy Pankow’s character found his father who eventually revealed that JJ was the son of Chandler Groff and Larissa Genrette. Talk about shocking!

So, when I interviewed the cast of Outer Banks about Season 4’s release on Netflix’s 2024 schedule, I asked Pankow about how JJ was feeling after learning all this new information. In response, the actor explained:

What was going through JJ’s mind? Denial. First thing is that it's like ‘There's no way this is some sort of ploy for him to make money.’ And I don't think in that moment he still 100% believes it, even at the end of the episode. I think there might be a little like ‘This is, I've never heard Luke this sincere about something like this before.’ And, yeah, I think that's all that's going through his brain.

As fans of OBX know, Luke is the worst, and JJ understandably has a hard time believing his dad when he receives this news. However, Weeks’ character is telling the truth, and he reassures his son that that’s the case a handful of times as they talk all this out on top of a lighthouse.

Clearly, both JJ and Luke were in shock over this revelation, and the actors playing them were too. Continuing to walk me through how that scene was created, Pankow noted that both his own reaction as well as his on-screen dad’s feelings about the scene played into how they acted during it:

When I was talking to Gary about it…We both were kind of shocked that that that is the route [they took] that we were like ‘Man…’ But at the same time, I think that actually served the scene. We both were like, ‘Oh, just FYI, you're not by blood my son,’ which I think it played in the scene.

It 100% played in the scene, and it was an epic note to end Part 1 on.

Let’s just say that while JJ’s relationship with Kiara was a big worry going into the season for me, it’s now been overshadowed by the fact that this Pogue has a whole family he never knew. Not only is it personally crazy to comprehend, but it also adds a whole new level of complexity to the treasure hunt the characters are on this season.

Thankfully, we won’t have to wait long to see the fallout of all this, because the final five episodes of Season 4 will drop on November 7. So, when OBX Season 4, Part 2 returns, I need to see how JJ decides to handle this news, and I desperately want to know how the Pogues will react to it.

Clearly, this revelation will change Rudy Pankow’s character’s life, and it’s sure to make the second half of this season even more explosive.