Over the course of four seasons, Madelyn Cline and Madison Bailey have been through it all on Outer Banks. They’ve been enemies, friends, and now teammates back on the hunt for more gold. Outer Banks season 4 part 1 premieres today, October 10, and the fandom can finally rest. (Well, for a little. Part 1 ends on a cliffhanger that is likely to keep us awake at night until the second part’s debut on November 7.)

After the Pogues successfully obtained the El Dorado gold at the end of season 3, the fourth season of the Netflix adventure series begins with our favorite group of rowdy teens figuring out what a “normal” life looks like, especially when that normalcy includes an exorbitant amount of money and a new murderous group of adults chasing after them.

Mundane life out on The Cut doesn’t last long, and Cline says to expect a lot of heat in the second half of the season. It’s no wonder the stakes in season 4 feel higher than ever before… they literally are. Perhaps this sheer amount of action in season 4 is why Netflix decided to split up the season — for the first time ever — with part 2 arriving later this fall.

If you’re reading this after burning through those first five episodes before the sun even rose, Teen Vogue caught up with Madelyn Cline and Madison Bailey to talk about the new season, unpack those Riara fan theories, discuss their favorite memories from filming, and ponder the names of Sarah and John B’s future kids.

Teen Vogue: In the first episode of season 4, we see the Pogues decide to keep the money from the El Dorado gold as a group. What would y’all have actually done with the money if your characters got to split it individually?

Madison Bailey: I think Kiara probably wouldn’t have put a lot of thought into it. She does make some quick decisions. She probably would’ve donated it for the turtles, [and] now Kiara’s back to square one, back in mom and dad’s house saying, “Can I borrow five?”

Madelyn Cline: I think Sarah, being a Cameron, invested some of it into something. I feel like Ward would’ve taught her something or another.

MB: You would’ve been property hunting.

MC: [Sarah would have been] very, very adamant about the split.
TV: I’d love to know, are there any scenes or moments from Part 1 that you think people might miss or skip over, but were super important or something you randomly hyperfixated on while filming?
MB: That’s so real. I think probably the bike race stuff, there was probably a little more moment there to be happening.

MC: Yeah, that was definitely a hyperfixation.

MB: I do want to know why JJ is the only one who saw that [jump opportunity].

MC: Or knew about it. I watched it the other day during ADR, and I thought about that too, because Rafe would’ve— nevermind. I have a lot of questions.

MB: There’s certain outfits I’m hyperfixated on. They were in the montage. It was so cute. Don’t miss it.

MC: I hyperfixate on specific outfits that I wish had more time. And then sometimes the ones that have the most time, I’m like…

MB: No, it keeps me up at night. The [outfits] that get worn for multiple episodes stretch [in size]. I’m always like, but what about that one from that montage piece…?

MC: They’re not fitting me anymore.
TV: I love seeing your dynamic grow, because, obviously in season 1, your characters were not friends. So to now see this camaraderie in season 4 is lovely — do you have any favorite moments, whether in a scene or behind the scenes, where y’all got to work together?
MC: I think that montage in the first episode.

MB: Yeah. We have good bits [in part 1]. We have great bits in part 2 that are really exciting.

MC: Yeah, I am excited for part 2. Part 1 is a lot of build-up… part 2 is the show. But I really, really enjoyed episode one, the montage bits at Poguelandia. We’ve talked a lot about this, but it just felt very reminiscent of season one: very Pogue-y, very improv-y, allowing us to just coexist in the space together without any sort of plot driving anything into any different direction.

MB: Just fun interactions — and a lot of those were just one-fourth of a page, or one-eighth of a page. And it’s [written] like “Pogues put up the wall,” and we had a lot of freedom [in the scene]. We’re just having a lot of fun with those pieces.
TV: Are there any specific scenes you remember that were just impossible to film because y’all had to keep stopping due to laughing, or because someone kept messing up?
MC: I have one in part 2. [Bailey and Cline whisper to each other, laughing.]

MB: Oh my gosh. Bro. It’s still funny.

MC: It’s still funny!

MB: It’s so funny. There was definitely a scene [in] part 1 that… someone tooted in the scene and it was really hard for anybody to gather any seriousness after that. It was all jokes from there. It was also 2 a.m.

MC: Yeah. And there was a guest director. She was like, “Please, can I just finish this day?”

MB: We were like, “Yes. Hold on.”

MC: “Give me a second.”

MB: “We’re finding it.”

MC: Yeah. We’re unserious.

TV: When it comes to Kiara and JJ, their dynamic is so interesting. Kie as a character, she’s ride or die when it comes to his shenanigans. Are there any fictional characters you think are the most comparable to their dynamic?
MB: Oh, yeah. Very Bonnie and Clyde.
TV: Madelyn, John B. and Sarah have been through so much, so it was nice to see these softer, random moments where you’re talking about marriage and thinking about the future. This was the first season that felt like there wasn’t too much going on, at first. A small moment I really enjoyed was that scene with John B: “We’re going to get married, buy a house, have some kids.” I thought it was hilarious the way Sarah is like, “Hold up. I’m 19.”
MC: Still so young!
TV: But down the line, if Sarah and John B. did have kids, how many do you think they would have? What would you pick as their names?
MC: Oh, I haven’t thought of their names.

MB: I have. Okay, so Auntie Kiara’s thinking hopefully they’re twins, one boy, one girl. And we can have a Val and Vlad, but it’s probably weird if you name your kids [that]. But for Kiara who it has no meaning for, those are cute.

MC: I feel like I see a boy first for John B. and Sarah. I almost see them with two boys. I don’t know if I see them with a boy and a girl. I think I see two boys.

MB: John B., girl dad.

MC: Yeah. I don’t see it…

MB: No, I get it.

MC: I don’t see him as a girl dad. But I guess I see Sarah as a boy mom. No, I don’t know. We could go with Val and Vlad. Val’s a cool name for a boy.

MB: Yeah, absolutely.

MC: Val and Vlad, two boys. Twin boys. Locked in.

MB: Final answer.

TV: Have you both seen any of the fan theories about the secret scripts and the deaths, that someone isn’t going to survive season 4?
MC: Secret scripts?

MB: I feel like people have been thinking that since season 1. And I think just statistically what we go through, it’s on everyone’s mind every season. It’s always something or someone.

MC: Statistically, it should have been one [Pogue dead] a season.

MB: Yeah. I mean, we don’t deserve the survival rate that we have.

MC: To be quite honest.

MB: We haven’t earned it.

MC: When I saw that Sarah got shot in season 2, I thought about John B’s opening monologue when he said, “and that was Sarah Cameron.”

MB: No chance.

MC: And I was like, why is my introduction in past tense?

MB: Oh my gosh.

MC: And what is happening?! And I asked Jonas [Pate, showrunner], [and] he was like, “Oh, I don’t know. We’re going through rewrites. We forgot. I don’t know.” What we go through is so crazy. We shouldn’t survive.

MB: Yes. I don’t have that survival skill set.

TV: Madelyn, last time we talked for season 3, you mentioned that you would’ve loved to do more scenes with Drew Starkey and have this true brother-sister camaraderie. Madison, the fans are obsessed. There’s a small niche that’s obsessed with the idea that Rafe and Kiara could be a thing.
MC: All day.

MB: Tell me about it. Today has been the day of Riara! There’s something in the water today. Who sent you?

TV: Everyone’s obsessed with it. I would love to hear from both of you guys: Do you see a world where you would want Rafe to redeem himself?

MB: In JD’s [Jonathan Daviss’s] words: “I don’t see that world.” I think at most, Kiara is a softie. And I think there was a moment in season 3 when we were in the bedroom and he’s explaining, “I know you think I’m crazy, but I’ve been through things.” And I think Kiara’s like, “I do hear you.” I do think Kiara would understand that he hasn’t been dealt the best cards. But at the end of the day, he’s so scary. I don’t know.

MC: I don’t see that for either of them.

MB: No endgame. There’s no time for Riara. So sorry.

TV: Lastly, I would love to know if you have a favorite thing that a fan has ever said to you about what this show means to them.

MC: I love hearing how deeply [the show’s] affected them, their lives, their confidence, their relationships with themselves, how they’ve grown up with it. Such amazing, rewarding remarks. And it really puts into perspective, I think, what we do and how special it is. Even though we are aware of it, it’s so amazing to hear that. And my favorite was [actually] today, someone said: “No matter how bad of a day I’m having, Sarah Cameron’s probably having a worse one.” And I’m like, You know what? We can bring you comfort in any way. I’m happy to do it.