Chase Stokes Fuels An Outer Banks Rumor That JJ May Come Back

Even death can’t keep a true Pogue down — or at least, that’s how Outer Banks fans are interpreting a very interesting photo that Chase Stokes recently posted. On June 3, Stokes shared a photo dump with his castmates from a Netflix Tudum event, in the midst of filming the fifth and final season. Though Rudy Pankow was understandably absent from the pics (both because his character JJ Maybank was killed in Season 4’s finale, and the rumored tension among the cast), Stokes did include a meme that seemed to have big implications for JJ.

The eighth slide in Stokes’ carousel was a photo of the fairy godmother from the Shrek movies, with the words “he is alive” written on her hand. Given the rest of the photos were all Outer Banks-related, fans took the meme to be a hint that JJ may return for Season 5, despite his brutal death at the end of Season 4. Since Outer Banks has veered into magical territory before, there is a theory that the fabled Blue Crown that was discovered in Season 4 could have actual mystical properties and resurrect JJ. Or, if the show wants to keep the realism more, Pankow may show up again in a flashback, or some sort of dream sequence.

Whatever the case, fans are interpreting Stokes’ meme as a big clue about a JJ twist.

In the last moments of Season 4, JJ sacrificed himself to save his girlfriend Kiara, dying in her arms after his biological father stabbed him.

“His death really does set up the future of OBX with the question, what is worth it? And when someone that close to you is gone, how do you navigate that?” Pankow said of the scene.

“This is by far the biggest thing I’ve ever done in [my] experience, and to have this as my start is a start of a lifetime. I’m going to miss it,” Pankow said. “To all the fans that show so much support and love for JJ, I just want to say thank you. It really did make an impact on me, playing him. It’s been an honor to bring him to life for you guys, and it’s been a joy to play him. And P4L!”

Filming for Outer Banks’ final season recently began, and is expected to continue throughout 2025.