A new update on Outer Banks Season 4 indicated that the new season's release is likely to be delayed after initial projections.
Set in North Carolina, Netflix's Outer Banks centers on a coastal town with a major social divide between the wealthy and working class, following a group of teens who wind up on a search for a fortune in buried treasure.
Initially renewed for Season 4 during the Poguelandia Fan Event in Huntington Beach, California, Outer Banks holds steady in popularity with a 72% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes as fans look forward to the next addition to the story.
Star Madison Bailey shared with People that Season 4 was originally meant to shoot through Summer 2023, but those plans changed due to the writers' and actors' strikes, leaving Outer Banks' return in flux.
Outer Banks Season 4's Release Delayed
North Carolina news outlet WECT reported that Outer Banks Season 4 officially restarted its production schedule following delays incited by the writers' and actors' strikes.
The cast got back to work at Wrightsville Beach, with WECT noting the Outer Banks team will film there on Monday, November 27 and Tuesday, November 28. Footage being shot will include "two people jumping off of the pier" along with a missing body being found:
"Filming for season four of the Netflix hit show 'Outer Banks' is underway at Wrightsville Beach. Filming permits show that they will be filming at the Oceanic pier on Monday and Tuesday, weather permitting. The scenes filmed there will include two people jumping off of the pier and a body found on the beach."
Additionally, star Chase Stokes confirmed on his Instagram page that filming is underway along with the following caption referencing his Outer Banks character, John B:
"alright wake up john b let’s go ole pal."
This included a couple of pictures of himself from the set, soaking in the North Carolina sun:
When filming was first scheduled to start in July 2023 and continue through the summer and fall, many were projecting that Outer Banks Season 4 would be back on Netflix in Spring or Summer 2024.
Production did, in fact, kick off on June 12, but all work came to a halt on July 14 when the actors' strike began, which pushed those delay projections out by a few months.
Following the strike's conclusion on November 9, the big question is how long Season 4 will take to film and when it will be ready to release on Netflix following a four-month delay.
When Will Outer Banks Season 4 Be Released?
Although start and finish dates for Outer Banks' first three seasons were all over the map due to the pandemic and other factors after first debuting in April 2020, the show has been consistent in terms of production timeframes.
Season 2 had cameras rolling for production on August 31, 2020 and ran until April 2, 2021, with new episodes coming to Netflix on July 30, 2021, about 11 months after shooting began.
Season 3 clocked in at just over a year for its production schedule, as the cast filmed their material from February to September 2022 before Netflix pulled back the curtain for new episodes on February 23, 2023.
Given that both of those seasons took between seven and eight months to complete and taking into account the month of filming completed earlier in the summer, production on Season 4 should finish by May or June 2024.
Add in three to four months of post-production, and this would put the hit Netflix series in line for its return sometime in Fall 2024 with a slight chance that it could be pushed into late Summer 2024.
What happens in the story itself for Outer Banks Season 4 is also a mystery after Season 3's epilogue jumped 18 months ahead in the timeline, with the Pogues separated and being approached with intel about treasure from legendary pirate Blackbeard.
According to showrunners Josh Pate, Jonas Pate, and Shannon Burke (via Entertainment Weekly), the new episodes will feature flashbacks to help catch fans up on the action, filling in those gaps before the new treasure hunt begins.
The first three seasons of Outer Banks are streaming on Netflix, and Season 4 is currently filming.
