Season 4 shocked fans with its gut-wrenching finale, but just how long will Netflix subscribers have to wait for Season 5 of Outer Banks?

Risks and surprising twists have always been part of the hit teen adventure’s formula, but Outer Banks Season 4 raised the stakes in killing off JJ Maybank and without resolution for the Pogues.

Between Part 1 and Part 2 of Outer Banks Season 4, Netflix renewed the popular series for a fifth and final season. Season 4 ended on a cliffhanger with the death of JJ and the Pogues still in Morocco, while Chandler Groff has possession of Blackbeard’s Blue Crown.

Outer Banks Season 5 Release Window Projections

In a letter to the fans (via Tudum), the Outer Banks showrunners expressed their hopes “to bring our beloved Pogues home in the way we imagined and planned years ago.”

Unfortunately, neither the letter nor Netflix confirmed when these hopes would be realized. However, according to Deadline, Season 5 of Outer Banks is being written now with a tentative Spring 2025 start date.

While that’s great news for fans, the bad news is Season 5 likely won’t drop on Netflix until 2026 if it follows the same schedule as previous seasons.

For reference to Outer Banks’ filming history, Season 2’s filming schedule ran from August 2020 until April 2021. New episodes were then released in late July 2021, nearly 11 months after filming began.

Season 3 took slightly longer, as it was filmed between February 2022 and September 2022. The new season then debuted on Netflix a full year after filming started (February 2023).

Most recently, Season 4 started filming in June 2023, but production was stopped due to the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes in Hollywood.

Filming for Season 4 then restarted in November 2023 and was confirmed to be finished in May 2024. The season’s first batch of episodes hit Netflix on October 10, which was 16 months after the start of filming (including the strikes).

Now that Season 5 has a tentative Spring 2025 filming start date, the expectation is that it will take approximately one year after that for the actual episodes to start streaming. This would mean fans should expect the new season to drop sometime in Spring 2026, although it could be pushed to Summer 2026 if there are any unforeseen delays.

What To Expect From Outer Banks Season 5

Revenge. Treasure. The Pogue life. That’s how Season 5 is expected to begin, but the real question is whether that’s how the series will end.

With John B. and Sarah expecting a baby, their priorities have changed and they’re already looking for security over a good time all the time. Meanwhile, despite Pope being on the run from the law, he’s likely going to try for a college degree and a life with Cleo if his charges are dropped.

The wildcard is Kiara since she’s alone now that JJ is dead (check out Outer Banks‘ confirmed Season 5 cast here); and if she survives her vengeance-fueled quest to take down Chandler Groff, it will be interesting to see what the Outer Banks showrunners have planned for her.

Still, audiences should rest assured about Outer Banks’ fifth and final season. Not only is the series ending on its showrunners’ terms; but according to them, the Netflix drama is ending the way they planned “years ago.”

Seasons 1-4 of Outer Banks are streaming now on Netflix.