When it comes to Outer Banks, there are some things you can always count on: high-speed chases, swoon-worthy romance, and epic action. 

Thanks to some truly jaw-dropping surprises and the team’s biggest treasure hunt yet, Season 3 takes all of that to the next level. And by next level, we’re talking Barbados, South America, and even (gasp) a party full of Kooks.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. If you need a quick reminder on where things left off at the end of Season 2, our perpetual treasure-hunting friends the Pogues, led by John B (Chase Stokes), were set adrift in the ocean on a small boat after failing to steal the Cross of Santo Domingo back from evil Rafe (Drew Starkey) and Ward (Charles Esten). Meanwhile, in Barbados, Carla Limbrey (Elizabeth Mitchell) met with John B’s not-actually-dead dad, Big John (Charles Halford), and promised to help him find his son. 

Got that? Good. Now let’s put a few more miles on the Twinkie as we journey back through everything that goes down in the most exciting season of Outer Banks yet.

Where are the Pogues at the start of Season 3?

Why, Poguelandia, of course! At the start of the season, we discover that John B, Sarah (Madelyn Cline), JJ (Rudy Pankow), Kiara (Madison Bailey), Pope (Jonathan Daviss), and Cleo (Carlacia Grant) have all safely landed on a deserted island that they quickly christened “Poguelandia.” Their tropical paradise is short-lived, however, after a pilot named Jimmy (Kraig Dane) spots the island and rescues the teens. Fantastic news, right? Not quite. It turns out that Jimmy is trying to kidnap them. (These teens can’t catch a break.) After forcing a crash landing on Barbados, most of the Pogues are able to escape but, unfortunately, Kiara is captured. She’s then taken to the home of Carlos Singh (Andy McQueen), the shady man employing Jimmy. Once there, she runs into none other than Rafe. 

Wait, back up — why is Rafe in Barbados?

With Ward still recovering from his injuries on Guadalupe, Rafe and Rose (Caroline Arapoglou) decide to sell the Cross of Santo Domingo to the highest bidder. They have the cross inspected by an antiques dealer, who says he has a client who may be interested in purchasing the artifact. The catch? Rafe would have to travel to Barbados and meet with him in person. Rafe takes the bait and it turns out the client is Carlos Singh. 

Why is Carlos Singh interested in Rafe and the Pogues?

Buckle up! It turns out Singh has been on a lifelong quest to find the mythical lost city of El Dorado. He tells Kiara and Rafe that 450 years ago, a Spanish soldier came out of the Orinoco Basin in South America describing a gold city called El Dorado. Now, Singh needs Denmark Tanny’s diary in order to find the fabled city. (You’ll recall Denmark Tanny was the only survivor of the ship Royal Merchant and collected all the treasure on board.) What does this have to do with our particular gold-chasing teens? Well, it turns out that the sailors aboard the Royal Merchant stole the cross from another ship named the San Jose, which had previously found El Dorado. Which means Denmark Tanny may have also discovered the secret for finding the legendary luxe locale and written it down.

What are the rest of the Pogues up to during all of this?

Trying to figure out how to rescue Kiara, that’s what. They track down Jimmy, the pilot that kidnapped them, and use his phone to bait Singh into meeting them. Unfortunately, JJ forgets to turn off the phone’s location and Singh sends his men to catch them instead. While they manage to get away from the henchmen, Kiara and Rafe are able to escape on their own. The two of them make their way to Rafe’s boat, which Kiara then quickly commandeers to rescue the other Pogues. (Good work, Kie!) She sends everyone a pin to her location, and they manage to make it on the boat to head back to the Outer Banks. John B, however, isn’t able to bring himself to board the vessel, because of some pesky bells he keeps hearing.

What do bells have to do with anything? 

Glad you asked. When John B was growing up, his dad, Big John, would always call him home by ringing a bell in a specific pattern. You may remember that Carla and Big John are also in Barbados looking for John B. Carla promises Big John that the police will bring them his son, but Big John decides to take matters into his own hands and goes to the local church bell tower to ring the bells in that same pattern. John B hears the bells ringing and is drawn to the church. He and his father are reunited. Unfortunately, the emotional reunion doesn’t last long after Singh’s men show up to chase them. Classic OBX.

What does Big John have to do with Singh?

Carlos Singh rescued Big John from the island he was thought to have died on. He then brought him to Barbados to help him find the lost city of El Dorado. Eventually, Big John escaped and left half of a very important artifact tied to El Dorado (that he stole from Singh) at a local antiques dealer. The artifact is one-half of the Signpost of Orinoco, which is said to point the way to El Dorado. After they flee the bell tower, John B and Big John visit the antiques dealer, get the artifact, and are able to evade Singh’s men once again to return to the Outer Banks.

OK, so what happens now that everyone is back in the Outer Banks?

Big John convinces John B to work with him to track down Denmark Tanny’s diary while keeping his friends out of the loop. (Maybe not the best parenting.) They stop by the Pogues’ high school teacher Mr. Sunn's (Chris Gerard) house (remember they gave him a copy of the diary in Season 2?) to see if they can get his copy of the diary, but Singh’s men are already there and take it first. John B and Big John track down Singh’s men and get the diary back, but — to John B’s horror — Big John shoots the men in order to get it. 

Meanwhile, Ward sends Rafe back to the Outer Banks to deal with the Cameron family’s businesses and donate the cross to charity. Sarah overhears Rafe talking about giving the cross away on the phone, and the Pogues decide to try to steal it back. Unfortunately for them, it was all a decoy and Rafe melts the real cross down into gold bars. Classic Rafe.

What exactly was in Denmark Tanny’s diary?

The diary says there was a priest who survived San Jose’s wreckage and that he was buried in Charleston with an “idol.” Surmising that this idol may be the other half of the Signpost of Orinoco, John B and Big John travel to a Charleston cemetery to dig up the grave. Once there, they discover that all of the artifacts on the site were donated to the Charleston museum, so in a quick pivot, they break into the museum’s archives and find the other half of the signpost.

Now that they have the entire artifact, how do they know where to put it?

After they leave Charleston, Big John and John B bring the stone object to an old colleague of John B’s, Professor Sowell (Jay Huguley). Sowell tells them that all of the expedition members who found the ruins are being murdered — just before Singh’s men show up and (proving his theory) murder him. Before Sowell dies, he tells John B that if they put the artifact (which he informs them is the Gnomon of Solana) in the right place at the right time, it will point the way to El Dorado. He also whispers the name “Neville” before he dies. John B is able to make it out in time, but Singh kidnaps Big John and takes the artifact. Later, JJ and John B track down this Neville, who draws them a map to the location of the South American ruins.

How are things going for the rest of the Pogues on Kildare Island?

Sarah has definitely been better! With no place to live and John B acting increasingly distant since he returned, she ends up getting back together with her old Kook flame, Topper (Austin North). At the same time, her devious dad, Wade, returns to the Outer Banks to rein in the out-of-control Rafe. Wade tricks Sarah into meeting with him to make amends, and she eventually convinces him to let the Pogues use his private plane to fly to South America. As a slight complication to that plan, John B sees Sarah and Topper together and beats him up. This leads Topper to not only file some (slightly delayed) charges, but also to burn the chateau to the ground after Sarah gets back with John B. While all this is happening, Pope and Cleo find an illustrated key in Pope’s family’s storage that they can use to decipher the signpost’s signals.

So do they all make it to South America?

Yes! But not without a little difficulty. Before she can leave, Kiara’s parents send her to a camp for wayward teens called Kitty Hawk that JJ then breaks her out of. They kiss and then the two of them then fly to the Orinoco Basin on a drug dealer’s plane — JJ has promised him a cut of the treasure. The rest of the Pogues fly down on the Camerons’ private jet, along with Ward who was seriously injured in a hit-man attack that Rafe ordered. (In a last-minute change of heart, Rafe also saved him from the aforementioned attack.) Once they arrive in Tres Rocas, they rescue Big John, and all reunite (including Wade) and make their way up the river to the ruins.

How does Outer Banks Season 3 end?

Ward, Big John, and the Pogues travel up the river to El Tesoro. At night, Ward sneaks away and shares his location with Singh while Big John, John B, and Sarah find the place in the jungle where the gnomon can point the way to El Dorado. They install the artifact and moonlight shines on characters that they’re then able to use Denmark Tanny’s notes to decipher. As soon as they decipher it, Singh and his men show up and there’s a shoot-out. Big John is fatally wounded, but he still manages to guide Sarah and John B to the cave that holds El Dorado. Using the clue: “The true and patient seeker needs not light to see,” John B and Sarah manage to use darkness to find the location of the mythical lost city. They fill a bag with gold and make it out only to find Singh waiting for them with Big John. Singh then dies in an explosion that closes off the entrance to El Dorado, and, thinking they’re in the clear, the group leaves only to be attacked by one of Singh’s henchmen. Sacrificing his own life for Sarah, Ward tackles Singh off a cliff, and Big John dies shortly after while holding a piece of El Dorado’s gold. 

At the end of the season, a mysterious man approaches the Pogues back in the Outer Banks and presents them with a captain’s log that once belonged to Blackbeard. It seems safe to say that the Pogues aren’t out of the G game quite yet.

Outer Banks Season 4, Part 1 premieres Oct. 10.

Watch the Outer Banks Season 4, Part 1 Trailer