John B. Routledge (Chase Stokes) is the main character of External Banksand he has some of the best quotes on the show. John B is a working-class teenager from 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 External Banks because his character finds the balance between youthful recklessness and mature reflection. External BanksThe cast introduces John B as he is struggling to cope with the sudden disappearance of his father.
Just like JJ Maybank (Rudy Pankow), John B has had brushes with death and seen many of the darkest things life has to offer. At the same time, he is often the optimist of the group, encouraging each of the Pogues to know their worth and fight for their goals.
John B is also the character who works hardest to understand people, as evident in his relationship with Sarah Cameron (Madelyn Cline), once a wealthy member of the rival gang, the Kooks, who inhabit the extravagant Figure 8 Outer Banks. External Banks’ the final season will likely feature plenty of internal monologue from John B as he deals with JJ’s death.
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“The Outer Banks, Paradise on Earth. It’s the kind of place where you have two jobs or two houses. Two tribes, one island.”
Said in season 1, episode 1
In John B’s iconic opening monologue, he sets the stage for the show – the story of a a place where rich and poor constantly fight for power, whether in local politics, land ownership or even treasure hunting. All over External Banks, John B occasionally narrates his choices and pivotal moments for the group, adding context to scenes that would otherwise appear to simply show a group of teenagers having summer fun together.
John B’s father, Big John Routledge (Charles Halford) is a historian who went missing during the first season of External Banks. Although he is later revealed to be alive, Big John dies from a gunshot wound to External Banks season three, when the gang heads to South America and completes their life’s work of finding El Dorado. John B’s knowledge of John B’s history through his father and his relationship with Sarah Cameron gives him windows into other perspectives that several other characters lack, making his narration potentially part of a larger plan for the series’ final season.
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“In my opinion, the game is rigged. Maybe it always has been. And with no parents, no money and no one looking out for me, I have no chance. Unless I can do it myself.
Said in season 1, episode 1
This quote sets the tone and thematic focus for the following four seasons of External Banks. John B was abandoned by his mother and ended up losing his father. The show sails like John B and JJ, in particular, navigate the systemic issues facing rural communities across Americaand how the group of friends functions as a chosen family for both. JJ also struggles with 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 the money that will lift them out of poverty, they also seek to avenge their lost family members and get important historical artifacts into 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 because they are not rooted in greed. Your desires to hunt the many artifacts of External Banks, although not necessarily altruistic, they are certainly ethical compared to their competitors.
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“Do you want me to take your picture? Do 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 swamp, where they discover an envelope containing a motel room key. When JJ and John B venture into the motel, they discover there is money and a gun in the room’s safe. In one of his many moments of comic relief, JJ asks John B to take a picture of him with the gun to commemorate his adventure and make him cool. John B responds by saying “Do you want me to take your picture? Do you want to do our own incriminating evidence?
This humorous moment marks the first of many run-ins for the Pogues with the law.
The duo’s jokes are a key element to the show’s largely improvised dialogue. Although John B often finds himself in serious situations that require his full attention, there are many moments between him and JJ throughout the show that cut through the tension in some of the higher-stakes adventure schemes. This humorous moment marks the first of many run-ins for the Pogues with the law.
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“He wanted adventure and he wanted to find treasure. Do you know what I noticed? I am my father’s son.”
Said in Season 3, Episode 10
John B is finally reunited with his father, Big John, in External Banks season 3. Although John B admires his father’s historical knowledge and thirst for adventure, he is often disturbed by how far his father is willing to go in search of his treasures, including murder. John B has long dismissed his father’s treasure hunts as wishful thinking, but now that he finds himself on a similar path, John B realizes 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 frequently narrates in the past tense. The reunion with his father stirred up many complex feelings, as his father went into hiding rather than contacting him immediately. Regardless, Big John was the only family John B had left since his mother abandoned him when he was three. That’s why The Pogues’ place as chosen family is very important.
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“Looks like I got kicked out of the Barbershop Quartet.”
Said in season 1, episode 4
The first season of External Banks depicts the beginning of Sarah and John B.’s relationship. The unlikely pair come together for the first time while John B works for Sarah’s father, Ward Cameron (Charles Esten). Sarah quickly finds herself involved in John B and the Pogues’ first treasure hunt for the Royal Merchant. In this scene, Sarah takes John B shopping for formal wear as they prepare to dig through the historical archives at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
John B, who has been an orphan for a long time, hasn’t experienced many of the typical moments of adolescence, including parents buying their children their first formal outfit for prom, graduation or college interviews. This humorous moment allowed John B to explore his style and feel emotionally supported while also striving to get to know Sarah as she helped him on his mission. The episode marked the official beginning of their relationship.
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“Are we in the presence of royalty?”
Said in Season 2, Episode 6
This witty joke 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 Pogues’ friendly relationship and also John B’s strong commitment to uplifting his friends. Although the cross is not as directly relevant to John B’s initial mission to avenge his father, the group immediately continues their interest in treasure hunting when it could mean a lot to Pope.
This is yet another example of how the Pogues serve as a chosen family, especially for John B, who ends up being an orphan. His narration throughout the show proves that he has grown even more since the events of the show, and this moment of youthful banter immerses viewers in the exploits of his teenage years.
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“JJ, what is this? Snack time?”
Said in season 3, episode 7
After John B’s father, Big John, is kidnapped, the group searches for him at the home of his former colleague, Professor Sowell (Jay Huguley).. John B, worried about his father’s whereabouts and the kidnappers’ violent motives, is urgently searching for clues when he discovers that JJ has snuck into the kitchen to devour some leftover chicken. This line illustrates the brotherly bickering between JJ and John B, which is a key part of the show’s rapid-fire, often improvised dialogue.
Although JJ is an emotionally complex character who deals with many issues, moments like these remind viewers that he is a simple teenager at heart, whose priorities are often simply finding food to eat, surfing, and having a place to sleep at night. Although 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.
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“Don’t let your past define who you are, let it be part of who you become.”
Said in season 3
John B had a difficult childhood and a dangerous young adulthood. His narration seems to come from a place of stability and he seems to have reflected that all the chaos has led him to where he should be. Although he is haunted by the disappearance and death of his father, the absence of his mother, and the poverty in which he was raised, his progressive outlook is what largely drives the plot of External Banks.
Even in the many moments where the Pogues lose their wealth, from Rafe stealing the Cross to JJ throwing away the gold in External Banks In Season 4, John B takes each lesson in stride and continues to expand his historical research skills alongside Sarah, Pope, Kiara, and JJ. It’s this perspective that sometimes gets John B in troubleas he has a history of trusting Pogues and turned on Kook, who ends up stabbing him in the back.
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“I think next time we go on a trip, maybe we should plan ahead.”
Said in Season 4, Episode 10
In this hilarious understatement, John B points out that the group is constantly in danger whenever they travel internationally. During their treasure hunts, the Pogues often sail or hitchhike on cargo ships to reach their destinations, all without passports. Whenever they get into international fights, the group is left to barely escape, inches from their lives (in this case, without JJ, who tragically dies due to a stab wound to the External Banks season 4 finale in Morocco.
The party’s lack of weaponry for much of the battle also leads to an unarmed attack. JJ’s death at the hands of his own father. Plus, now that Sarah is pregnant with her first child, John B is more nervous than ever. Although finishing the job of finding the Blue Crown is critical for the Pogues, John B now worries about his poor planning, especially when Sarah faints from hunger after several days without food at sea.
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“What we didn’t know at the time was that nothing stands still.”
Said in Season 4, Episode 1
In John B’s opening narration to External Banks In Season 4, Episode 1, he explains that the group was prepared to leave the treasure hunting era behind in favor of a simple life at home in North Carolina.. After finding El Dorado, the group manages to get home with their massive loot of gold, which they use to buy JJ’s childhood home and build their own surf shop and herb garden business. At the same time, Sarah and John B are mourning the loss of their parents and welcome the stability of their chosen family and ownership of a local business.
This line solidifies that the Pogues’ treasure hunt was never about greed, but about curiosity and the chance to change their lives for the better. After El Dorado, the Pogues were recognized for their major archaeological achievements. While John B is content to find stability and avenge his father by completing his life’s work, the show proves that “Nothing stands still“largely because of greed and personal grudges, as viewers see happening in External Banks season 4.
External Banks Season 5 will see the Pogues following Chandler Groff to Portugal seeking revenge after he killed JJ. However, John B’s narration remains a fundamental mystery, and theories point to the fact that the long-awaited series finale will reveal a much older and wiser version of the character ruminating on his past adventures.