John B. Routledge (Chase Stokes) is the main character of Outer Banks, and he has some of the best quotes on the show. John B is a working-class teenager from the Cut in the titular Outer Banks of North Carolina, and between drinking beer and surfing, serves as the story’s narrator. John B has some of the most memorable quotes in Outer Banks because his character finds the balance between youthful recklessness and mature reflection. Outer Banks’ cast introduces John B when he is struggling to cope with his father’s sudden disappearance.
Like JJ Maybank (Rudy Pankow), John B has had brushes with death and has seen many of the darker things life has to offer. At the same time, he is often the group’s optimist, encouraging each of the Pogues to know their worth and strive towards their goals.
John B is also the character that works to understand people the most, as such is evident from his relationship with Sarah Cameron (Madelyn Cline), once a wealthy member of the rival gang the Kooks, who inhabit the Outer Banks’ extravagant Figure 8. Outer Banks’ final season will likely feature plenty of John B’s inner monologue as he copes with JJ’s death.
“The Outer Banks, Paradise On Earth. It’s The Sort Of Place Where You Either Have Two Jobs Or Two Houses. Two Tribes, One Island.”
Said In Season 1, Episode 1
In John B’s iconic opening monologue, he lays the scene for the show – a tale of a place in which the rich and the poor constantly grapple for power, be it within local politics, land ownership, or even treasure hunting. Throughout Outer Banks, John B occasionally narrates his choices and pivotal moments for the group, adding context to scenes that otherwise would appear to simply showcase a group of teenagers having fun together in the summer.
John B’s father, Big John Routledge (Charles Halford) is a historian who is missing during the first season of Outer Banks. While he is later revealed to be alive, Big John dies from a gunshot wound in Outer Banks season 3 when the gang heads to South America and completes his life’s work of finding El Dorado. John B’s knowledge of history through his father, and his relationship with Sarah Cameron, both give him windows into other perspectives that several of the other characters lack, making his narration potentially part of a bigger plan for the show’s final season.
“The Way I See It, The Game’s Rigged. Maybe It Always Has Been. And With No Parents, No Money, And No One Looking Out For Me, I Got No Chance. Unless I Make It On My Own.”
Said In Season 1, Episode 1
This quote sets the tone and thematic focus of the ensuing four seasons of Outer Banks. John B was abandoned by his mother and eventually lost his father. The show navigates how John B and JJ, in particular, navigate their way through the systemic issues that face rural communities across America, and how the group of friends functions as a chosen family to both of them. JJ additionally battles an abusive alcoholic father, while Pope Heyward (Jonathan Daviss) has a stable home life but seeks a college education to break his generational trauma.
While the Pogues’ motivation for treasure hunting is often for the money that will uplift them out of poverty, they also seek to avenge their lost family members and place important historical artifacts in the right hands. With John B’s late father being a historian and Pope’s academic aspirations, the group’s treasure-hunting motives are unique in that they are not rooted in greed. Their desires to hunt down the many artifacts of Outer Banks, while not necessarily selfless, are certainly ethical compared to their competitors.
“You Want Me To Take A Picture Of You? You Want To Make Our Own Incriminating Evidence?”
Said In Season One, Episode One
The Pogues’ treasure hunt begins when they stumble upon a shipwreck in the local marsh, where they discover an envelope containing a key to a motel room. When JJ and John B venture to the motel, they discover there is money and a gun left in the room’s safe. In one of his many moments of comic relief, JJ asks John B to take a photo of him with the gun to commemorate their adventure and make him look cool. John B responds by saying “You want me to take a picture of you? You want to make our own incriminating evidence?”
*** This humorous moment marks the first of many of the Pogues’ run-ins with the law.
The duo’s banter is a key element to the show’s largely improvised dialogue. While John B often finds himself in serious situations that require all of his attention, there are many moments between him and JJ throughout the show that cut the tension in some of the most high-stakes adventure schemes. This humorous moment marks the first of many of the Pogues’ run-ins with the law.
“He Wanted Adventure, And He Wanted To Find Treasure. You Know What I Realized? I Am My Father’s Son.”
Said In Season 3, Episode 10
John B is finally reunited with his father, Big John, in Outer Banks season 3. While John B admires his father’s historical knowledge and thirst for adventure, he is often disturbed by the lengths his father is willing to go to in pursuit of his treasures, including murder. John B has long dismissed his father’s treasure hunts as delusions, but now that he finds himself on a similar path, John B realizes that he can follow in his father’s footsteps in his own way.
This quote solidifies the reflective quality of John B’s narration, and hints at a potential season 5 time jump, as he often narrates in the past tense. The reunion with his father raised a lot of complex feelings, as his father went into hiding instead of immediately contacting him. Regardless, Big John was the only family John B had left since his mother abandoned him when he was three years old. This is why the Pogues’ place as his chosen family is so important.
“I Look Like I Got Kicked Out Of The Barbershop Quartet.”
Said In Season 1, Episode 4
The first season of Outer Banks depicts the beginning of Sarah and John B’s relationship. The unlikely pair first unite while John B is working for Sarah’s father, Ward Cameron (Charles Esten). Sarah quickly finds herself embroiled in John B and the Pogues’ first treasure hunt for the Royal Merchant. In this scene, Sarah takes John B shopping for formal clothes as they prepare to sift through the historical archives at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
John B, who has now lived as an orphan for an extended period, has not experienced many of the typical moments of adolescence, including parents buying their children their first formal wear for prom, graduation, or college interviews. This humorous moment allowed John B to explore his style and feel emotionally supported, all while he equally makes an effort to get to know Sarah as she helps him on his mission. The episode marked the official beginning of their relationship.
“Are We In The Presence Of A Royal?”
Said In Season 2, Episode 6
This witty quip from John B is about the Pogues’ discovery that Pope is a direct descendant of Denmark Tanny (based on the real-life Denmark Vesey). This sets up the group’s treasure hunt throughout season 2 for the Cross of Santo Domingo. This moment is an example of the friendly rapport of the Pogues, and also John B’s strong commitment to uplifting his friends. While the Cross is not as directly relevant to John B’s initial mission of avenging his father, the group immediately continues their interest in treasure hunting when it could mean a lot to Pope.
Note: The group becomes particularly invested in the hunt for the cross due to Pope’s personal connection to it.
This is yet another example of the Pogues serving as a chosen family, especially to John B, who is eventually orphaned. His narration throughout the show proves that he has grown up even more since the events of the show, and this moment of youthful banter immerses viewers in the exploits of his adolescence.
“JJ, What Is It? Snack Time?”
Said In Season 3, Episode 7
After John B’s father, Big John, is kidnapped, the group searches for him at his former colleague, Professor Sowell’s (Jay Huguley) house. John B, anxious about his father’s whereabouts and the kidnappers’ violent motives, is urgently searching for clues when he finds that JJ has snuck into the kitchen to scarf down some leftover chicken. This line illustrates the brotherly bickering between JJ and John B that is a key part of the show’s quick and often improvised dialogue.
While JJ is an emotionally complex character coping with many issues, moments like these remind viewers that he is a simple teenage boy at heart, whose priorities are often simply finding food to eat, surfing, and having a place to sleep at night. While the pair are in several difficult situations throughout Outer Banks season 3, moments like these remind viewers that the characters are ordinary people in extraordinary situations.
“Don’t Let Your Past Define Who You Are, Let It Be A Part Of Who You Become.”
Said In Season 3
John B had a rough childhood and a dangerous young adulthood. His narration seems to come from a place of stability, and one that appears to have reflected that all the chaos led him to where he is meant to be. While he is haunted by his father’s disappearance and death, his mother’s absence, and the poverty in which he was raised, his forward-thinking viewpoint is what largely drives the plot of Outer Banks.
Even in the many moments in which the Pogues lose their wealth, from Rafe stealing the Cross to JJ gambling away the gold in Outer Banks season 4, John B takes each lesson in stride and continues to expand his historical research skills alongside Sarah, Pope, Kiara, and JJ. It is this perspective that sometimes lands John B in trouble, as he has a history of trusting Pogues gone Kook who ends up stabbing him in the back.
“I Think Next Time We Take A Trip, We Should Maybe Plan Ahead.”
Said In Season 4, Episode 10
In this hilarious understatement, John B points out that the group is constantly in peril whenever they travel internationally. Throughout their treasure hunts, the Pogues often sail or catch rides on cargo ships to reach their destinations, all without passports. Whenever they land in international scuffles, the group is left to narrowly escape within inches of their lives (in this case, sans JJ, who tragically dies from a stab wound in the Outer Banks season 4 finale in Morocco.
The group’s lack of weaponry for much of the battle additionally leads to an unarmed JJ’s death at the hands of his own father. Additionally, now that Sarah is pregnant with her first child, John B is more on edge than ever. While finishing the job of finding the Blue Crown is imperative to the Pogues, John B now finds himself worrying about their poor planning, especially when Sarah becomes faint with hunger after not eating for several days on the sea.
“What We Didn’t Know At The Time Was That Nothing Ever Stands Still.”
Said In Season 4, Episode 1
In John B’s opening narration for Outer Banks season 4, episode 1, he explains that the group was prepared to leave their treasure-hunting era behind in favor of a simple life at home in North Carolina. After finding El Dorado, the group successfully makes it home with their massive loot of gold, which they use to purchase JJ’s childhood home and build their own surf shop business and herb garden. At the same time, both Sarah and John B are mourning the loss of their fathers, and welcome the stability of their chosen family and owning a local business.
This line solidifies that the Pogues’ treasure hunting was never about greed, but about curiosity, and the chance to change their lives for the better. Following El Dorado, the Pogues were recognized for their major archaeological achievement. While John B is content to find stability and avenge his father by concluding his life’s work, the show proves that “nothing ever stands still” largely because of greed and personal grudges, as viewers see playing out in Outer Banks season 4.
Outer Banks season 5 will see the Pogues following Chandler Groff to Portugal for revenge after he killed JJ. However, John B’s narration remains a key mystery, and theories point to the fact that the show’s much-anticipated finale will reveal a much older and wiser version of the character ruminating on his past escapades.
