For the last three years, Outer Banks has taken audiences on an adventure like no other, with even more romance and heart-pounding action teased for season three, debuting on Feb. 23. If the reactions to the recent character posters are anything to go by, fans can’t wait to get back to the ocean town with their favorite Pogues and find out what the sneaky Kooks are up to.
Another thing fans can’t wait for ⏤ the romance, of course! Madison Bailey, who plays Kiara on the show, is opening up about love on the horizon for her character in particular, and if the official trailer is anything to go by, it’s going to be real this time. In a recent chat with People, Bailey noted that the relationship between Kiara and JJ has always been something special, but that it’s grown to take on an even more profound meaning in season three.
“I’m really happy with the way that it played out. You see a little bit of their struggle with trying to find their common ground. There’s chemistry, but how do they make something more out of chemistry? I thought it was cool to play with the back-and-forth of this season. Kiara is very much fighting for him to see that she cares. She wants to be seen and for him to know that she has his back.”
Kiara doesn’t just want to find someone to love, as evidenced in seasons one and two ⏤ she wants to fall in love with the right guy, one who sees her for who she is. Bailey said that there’s something special in the way Kiara looks at JJ ⏤ with a sense of something she hasn’t experienced before, a sense of abandon that has never been tangible before.
“Kiara sees in him the life that she wants to live and is pulled back by her parents for the life that they want for her. She sees a certain freedom in him.”
As Kie is likely to find in season three, there’s something special about finding freedom in another person, allowing them to inhabit the places one usually keep hidden in one’s mind. While we’ve seen Kiara be not-so-lucky in love in the past, it seems like her bond with JJ and the organic way that it has grown over time is precisely what she’s needed all along.
As for what Bailey hopes viewers take away from the series’ next chapter, there are a few things. First, she hopes that audiences find an escape while watching it, and she also hopes that they discover the truly important things in life.
“I hope you can turn [the show] on, escape your problems, get into our characters’ problem, but relax and get the overall message. The meaning of life is such a theme in our show. A good takeaway would be [that] friendship and loving people is better than any type of currency.”
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. Value in life comes from our friends and family and those we can truly rely on.
Outer Banks hits Netflix for an exciting third season on Feb. 23, and seasons one and two are both available to stream now.