Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Outer Banks, season 4, part 1
External Banks The first part of Season 4 left viewers on a wild cliffhanger – that one of the beloved Pogues, JJ Maybank (Rudy Pankow) is not who he thought he was. JJ is revealed to be the son of a wealthy Kook couple, Chandler Groff and Larissa Genrette. In Netflix’s new preview of the upcoming part two of the current External Banks season, more information about JJ’s upbringing is revealed, including an explanation of why he was adopted by Luke Maybank (Gary Weeks).
JJ’s first and middle names have yet to be revealed during the show, but a newspaper clipping from this season finally revealed the truth. JJ stands for John Jackson, and Luke Maybank chose to nickname him to hide his identity. When Larissa drowns in a boating accident and her son is believed to have died with her, Chandler asks Luke, a maintenance worker at his property and friend of Larissa, to adopt JJ and raise him as his own.hoping to escape the family curse. This tradition will only be expanded in External Banks Season 4, part two.
Outer Banks season 4 confirms that JJ’s real name is John Jackson
His nickname was natural since John B is his best friend
When the gang is approached by rich Wes Genrette (David Jensen), they become involved in the race to find Blackbeard’s treasure. Wes offers the Pogues $50,000 to find Blackbeard’s treasure, which includes an amulet he believes will break a family curse after his ancestor killed the late pirate and his wife Elizabeth Teach. Elizabeth was never buried with her precious amulet, and Wes believes it is the root of a curse. Family members report being haunted by Elizabeth’s ghost before her untimely death, including Larissa.
In a brief scene, Chandler shows the group a newspaper clipping reporting his wife’s death years earlier. In the newspaper, your son is listed as John Jackson Groff. Luke Maybank adopted JJ after Larissa’s death, as Chandler was afraid people would suspect foul play if they found out he wasn’t on the boat. Luke nicknamed him JJ to protect his real identity, and the nickname came naturally because his best friend, John Booker Routledge (Chase Stokes), is also named John. Thus, they both have nicknames to differentiate themselves, but also to protect JJ’s true story.
Outer Banks creators agreed that one of the ‘J’s stands for Jackson
The show’s creators knew its name from the beginning
The creators of External Banks continue to base many of the show’s details on real historical figures and the local tradition of the Carolinas. Many of the series’ main characters have surnames that have appeared in North and South Carolina censuses for centuries (via NCPedia). When developing JJ’s character, the creators wanted one of the J’s to represent John, as a red herring that would explain his nickname but not initially explain why his real name was hidden for so long. Rudy Pankow once predicted: “That’s why it’s John B and JJ. For John Jackson.“
Series creators Josh Pate, Jonas Pate and Shannon Burke had already agreed on the characters’ middle names. Burke recounted: “We talked about it and I actually can’t remember what we said. Jackson was one of the Js (through Netflix)..” Although his first name is John, the first eight-minute preview of External Banks The second part of season 4 reveals that his parents intended to name him Jackson throughout his life. This makes the nickname Luke gave him even more relevant to hiding his identity.
Luke calling him JJ instead of Jackson helped hide his identity during his childhood
Although Luke had his own problems, he successfully protected JJ from the family melodrama
In the flashback, it is confirmed that Luke Maybank has always been a working-class resident of the Outer Banksmaking it decidedly Pogue. He is initially a humble but successful mechanic and maintenance worker at the Genrette estate, and friends with a lonely Larissa, who has had difficulty adjusting to marriage and motherhood. As viewers know, Luke later struggles with alcoholism and becomes physically and verbally abusive towards JJ.
Learning Luke’s character history, it becomes clear that Luke nicknamed JJ and kept him interested in the business of the working-class Pogue, in part to protect him from the Genrette family curse and, potentially, a dark secret with his biological father, Chandler. . Although viewers will have to tune in External Banks Season 4, Part Two for more answers, it’s likely that the Genrette family drama has had a profoundly negative effect on Luke’s life and could have resulted in his past abuse of JJ.