Outer Banks' major death in the season four finale was always planned

(This contains major spoilers from part two of Outer Banks Season four.)

Netflixs Outer Banks Season 4 began and ended with JJ.

Rudy Pankow's unpredictable but lovable JJ Maybank, who according to the showrunners was the Pogue-richest of all the Pogues, resolved and ended season four's main conflict, in which the group of teenage treasure hunters from North Carolina inherited and lost over a million dollars, deep into the Deep dive into JJ's family history and travel across the Atlantic for an epic showdown in Morocco.

In the nearly 90-minute final episode, released Thursday alongside the second half of season four's 10-episode series, the group raced across the North African desert in an ultimate battle against the man who turned out to be JJ's real father. In the final moments of the season – now officially the show's penultimate, after the fifth and final renewal on Tuesday – JJ dies.

“It was in his DNA from the beginning,” says showrunner Jonas Pate The Hollywood Reporter. “He's really a lovable but tragic character…that's always been part of the cake.”

Fate or not, JJ's ending is sure to leave the Netflix drama's ardent online fanbase in shock. “What do you think the fans are going to do – do we need witness protection?” Pate joked on Wednesday ahead of the release of the second part of the season.

Below, Jonas Pate, along with fellow showrunners Josh Pate and Shannon Burke, reflect on why it always had to be JJ, why it ended up being Morocco, and how exactly that beloved P4L mentality will continue to guide their show going forward.

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What a season for JJ. Was this something you had planned from the start?

SHANNON BURKE We knew – we knew at the end of season three that season four would be JJ. We didn't know everything that was going to happen, but we had a lot of important plot points. We also kind of knew what JJ's final ending would be – we weren't sure if it would be played this year, but we pretty much knew.

JOSH PATE We spotlighted various characters and were excited to delve deeper into his backstory. And a big piece we developed this year was the idea of ​​the adoptive father, like the big villain. We had to repurpose the villains because after the first three seasons there was a reset this year.

Why did he have to die?

JONAS GODFATHER It was lurking in his DNA from the start. He's really a tragic figure, and the idea of ​​mortality and you only have a limited window of time – that's also a theme of the show. John B has been talking about this since season one. Believe it or not, that has always been part of the story, and we just wanted to tell the story as elegantly and interestingly as possible.

This final is a real beast – almost 90 minutes, all set in Morocco. From a technical standpoint, what's it like figuring out the pacing of an episode that's going to be so much longer than your audience is used to?

SHANNON BURKE It just happened organically. We didn't think we were going to do this really long episode. Little by little we realized that the script was getting longer and we just wanted to do the story justice. We originally had a shorter version, but it didn't reflect what was going to happen. We realized that we need to slow it down so that it happens more gradually.

JONAS GODFATHER You do post it too. We knew this was long, but when you get it in the mail it was a lot longer than expected and then you save it.

Was there any resistance from Netflix?

JONAS GODFATHER I think they knew we had a lot of planes to land, it would probably take a long time. Netflix is ​​an exceptional partner in making the story what needs to be told. I think they showed that with a lot of their shows Stranger Things.

Let's talk about the trip to Morocco. These Pogues were all over the world at this point. What brought you there this time?

JONAS GODFATHER There's a lot in there. Part of it is dictated by the story, part of it is dictated by what we think will be cinematic, part of it is dictated by some financial concerns. But the story is number one.

JOSH PATE It was almost like it was Pogue Hell. It's a desert! The Anti-Pogue Environment. Knowing what was going to happen to JJ, we thought, “Wow, this is perfect.” Because it's literally the last place they want to be. They are so beach and water based.

That's right, it's not Poguelandia. Did this play a role in your specific stage design or location search?

JOSH PATE We definitely knew that the end point would be out in the desert, in the Sahara, in a place that was very different from (what they know and love). (The town) where we filmed the finale (where the Pogues go on multiple chases through the dusty streets), we basically had to rewrite the entire script for this new location in Morocco because Jonas was so excited that we could in a clay town on the hill. So everything was rewired depending on the location.

Let's talk about the rest of the Pogues. This series feels different than other teen adventures because all of the main couples tend to stick together. Was that a conscious decision for you?

SHANNON BURKE I think we like these characters so much. We don't want them to be mean or petty. We don't like it when they do bad things and we like it when they are good to each other.

JONAS GODFATHER And we wanted to honor P4L. I mean, that's really what it's all about. We wanted to cause them external problems, but not so many external problems.

Sarah Cameron is pregnant!

JONAS GODFATHER We didn't want John B and Sarah to have the usual separation architecture of a teenage couple, but we also wanted them to face (conflict). And there's always that accusation when you have an interesting idea and you're almost afraid of it. When we first discussed this idea we thought, “Oh my God, we can’t do that!” But those are often the ideas that haunt you. It revs the engine.

Who decided to call it “Poguelet”?

JOSH PATE I think Carlacia (Grant, who plays Cleo) improvised it on set, it was so funny.

That's great. My final question for you – these characters have grown and developed so much, but they are still so young. Is there a balance between the adventure of the series and the age of your characters?

JOSH PATE I would just say that many of their boundaries are based on our memories of our teenage years from our time on the Carolina coast. The original concept of Kooks and Pogues was based on groups we knew, and I just think about those groups and what their boundaries would be and what kind of things happened.

JONAS GODFATHER We had friends in high school who got pregnant. We just felt like it was a real thing.

JOSH PATE It would be something that could so easily happen to them. But we want to honor the flavor it offers and stay true to the characters.

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Parts one and two of Outer Banks The fourth season is now streaming on Netflix.