Jackson Lee Davis / Netflix

Treasure is not the only thing you can find under the North Carolina sun.

Netflix’s Outer Banks has spent three seasons with its eye on the prize, but that hasn’t kept the action-adventure series from unearthing just as much romantic tension as it has long-lost gold. From friends to lovers to slow-burn pairings, the series has indulged in just about every romantic trope there is. But a few couples have stolen our hearts more than others.

The Pogues will be back to their treasure-hunting antics again before you know it (look out, Blackbeard!) But until then, here’s how we rank the couples heating up Outer Banks.

Outer Banks, Season 4, Fall 2024, Netflix

Netflix

7. Kiara & John B

Longtime friends are always bound to confuse the feelings behind some occasional flirting here and a life-threatening situation there. But the less said about this early romantic possibility the better, because the second John B (Chase Stokes) kissed Kiara (Madison Bailey) in Season 1, it felt all kinds of wrong. Not because they are that crazy of an idea. Rather, their brief moment after escaping a dangerous lighthouse keeper can easily be chalked up to an adrenaline rush and, as she put it, the likely delusions of a slight concussion. She also said it broke the “no Pogue-on-Pogue macking” rule, though, let’s be real, that one went out the window pretty quickly. Thankfully, John B and Kiara lasted about as long as the ferry ride from the Outer Banks to Chapel Hill.

Jackson Lee Davis / Netflix

6. Ward & Rose

They might not the be the couple that Netflix puts on the posters for Outer Banks, but the gruesome twosome of Ward (Charles Esten) and Rose (Caroline Arapoglou) have something their younger counterparts don’t—they have stuck together through hell, high water, and multiple murders. Sure, Ward was the undeniable villain in the Pogues’ mission to find the treasure of the Royal Merchant. But let’s not forget that Rose went to the School of Tammy Wynette and learned to stand by her man, going as far as to help her fugitive husband escape to a ship in international waters so they could continue fighting for the gold. If that isn’t love, we don’t know what is.

Jackson Lee Davis / Netflix

5. Sarah & Topper

While a season of Outer Banks isn’t complete without Sarah (Madelyn Cline) going back to Topper (Austin North) at least once, they feel like they exist in a totally different show now. Their history is a nostalgic remnant of the war between the Pogues and the Kooks that defined the early days of the show. If anything, they exist now as a comfortable place for Sarah to retreat when things get rocky with John B. That’s not the steadiest ground on which to build a lasting relationship, nor does it help good ole Topper, who seemingly lives his summers just waiting for his chance to show up and defend Sarah’s honor. Unfortunately, that dependability can also be called jealousy and, in Season 3, it led to him setting The Château ablaze after John B and Sarah reunited. Wrong kind of burning love, Topper!

Jackson Lee Davis / Netflix

4. Pope & Kiara

In another world, Kiara and Pope (Jonathan Daviss) might have been the best romance on Outer Banks. They are different in all the right ways, they have an easy chemistry, and they bridge the blue-collar and working classes on Kildare Island. With his staunch Pogue roots and her reformed Kook past, they could have brokered a new kind of OBX peace. But there was always someone better out there for each of them. They had their passionate night together in Season 2, something that clearly hooked him more than it did her. But ultimately, they are stronger friends for having given it a go and recognizing it wasn’t meant to be.

Jackson Lee Davis / Netflix

3. John B & Sarah

No one can say the power couple at the heart of Outer Banks hasn’t had an epic romance. First, they tempted fate by blurring the lines drawn between the Pogues and Kooks. Then, they sailed into a hurricane, ran for their lives in the Caribbean, got shot (in her case), were charged with murder (in his case), descended into a dangerous cave, broke up a few times, and even got fake married on a ship. But Vlad and Val have seen better days. In Season 3, the reemergence of John B’s dad drove them apart so much that Sarah ran back to Topper (again). At this point, it’s hard to know whether their limited screen time together in Season 3 has anything to do with Cline and Stokes’ real-life breakup. What isn’t up for debate is that John B and Sarah will always be the sun around which this show orbits. But lately, that sun is a black hole.

Jackson Lee Davis / Netflix

2. Pope & Cleo

In the Season 3 finale, Pope and Cleo (Carlacia Grant) finally violated the first rule of their “No Love Club”—they fell in love! From the second they met in Season 2 under less-than-chill circumstances, these two have been dependable ports in a storm for each other. After Pope and Kiara’s kind of breakup, Cleo suggests they shield themselves from further heartbreak by founding the “No Love Club,” pretty much sealing the deal they would eventually have to abolish said club. Unlike his dalliance with Kiara, which felt like two friends testing the boundaries of their relationship, Pope’s genuine connection with Cleo feels like a true partnership that can survive the inevitable turbulent weather ahead. We couldn’t be happier for these two crazy kids.

Jackson Lee Davis / Netflix

1. JJ & Kiara

The long road from friends to lovers for JJ (Rudy Pankow) and Kiara has been the kind of pulse-quickening journey worthy of a good old-fashioned, swashbuckling treasure hunt. When they weren’t playfully butting heads, these two have been watching each other’s backs since day one. Emotionally traumatized by their tumultuous home lives, they are the epitome of two people leaning on the love of a found family. But when Kiara is shipped off to a camp for troubled youth at Kitty Hawk, JJ’s protective nature goes into overdrive to save the person he realizes he loves. His prison break, of sorts, frees her just in time for them to head down to South America to help their friends—but not before they share the most anticipated kiss in the show’s history. If Outer Banks’ message is that there are things in life worth more than gold, then X marks that spot for JJ and Kiara.