The Disappearance of John B.’s Dad Took a Wild Turn on ‘Outer Banks’

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Netflix’s Outer Banks season 1. Netflix’s new show, Outer Banks, has romance (!), drama (!) and adventure(!). But it also has mystery, specifically around what happened to John B.’d dad. Netflix’s Outer Banks, which premiered on April 15, follows John Booker Routeledge (John B. for short) and his group of friends called the Pogues in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

In the first episode, it’s revealed that John B.’s father, John Senior, went missing at sea one year before the events of Outer Banks. Since then, John B. and his friends have been on a mission to find out what happened to John Senior. Their search of he truth led them on a treasure hunt for $400 million in gold. Their treasure hunt started after John B. and his friends found his father’s compass that contained a clue about where the treasure was. In the end, John B. and his friends found the treasure. Along the way, John B. also learned the unsettling truth about what happened to his father. (Again, spoilers ahead!)

Image: Netflix.

John B. learns that Ward Cameron, the father of his girlfriend Sarah Cameron, killed his dad when Ward asked him about the compass on a fishing trip. John B. hadn’t told anyone about the compass other than his friends, so he found it suspicious that Ward knew about it. When John B. confronted Ward about the information, he revealed that he had information about John Sr.’s disappearance, which led to a fight between Ward and John B. Eventually, John B. escapes from Ward by riding a jet ski to shore. Once on land, John B. heads to the home of Lana Grubbs, the widow of Ward’s former business partner, Scooter Grubbs, who died in a hurricane. It’s there that John B. learns the full truth about what happened to his father.

On the night of John Sr.’s death, Lana overheard a conversation between Ward and Scooter. Ward told Scooter that he and John Sr. were on a boat together when John Sr. told him that he found the $400 million treasure. At first, Ward was ecstatic until John Sr. told him that he would only receive 20 percent of the money because he had done most of the work to find the gold and all of the research his. Ward then argued that John Sr. used his boats and resources to find the treasure, so the gold should be split 50/50. When John Sr. refuses, Ward and John B.’s father get into a fight, which leads John Sr. to fall and hit his head open a metal spike on the boat. As blood gushes from John Sr.’s head, Ward rushes to radio for help until he realizes that the treasure is now 100 percent his. He puts the radio down and takes John Sr.’s map out of his pocket before dumping his body into the ocean. He also sunk John Sr.’s boat, so there would be no evidence of his death.

Image: Netflix.

However, little did Ward know that John Sr. was still alive when Ward threw his body overboard. John Sr. eventually washed up on faraway beach where he lived for several weeks before dying of hunger and thirst. But before he died, John Sr. etched the word Redfield into his compass as a clue for John B. to later find the $400 million of gold. Weeks later, Ward sent Scooter to look for the gold. On his search, he came across John Sr.’s dead body and compass. But before he could return to the Outer Banks, Hurricane Agatha struck and killed him.

Fast forward to the current events of Outer Banks and the finale ends with John B. promising to get revenge on Ward for killing his dad.