Students favor popular ship ‘Jiara’ in iconic teen show ‘Outer Banks’

RCMS students share their mixed opinions on their favorite couples, with a special focus on “Jiara”, and the personalities portrayed in the trending teen show “Outer banks” after the newest season was recently released.

“JJ and Kiara are my favorite couple because they are just cute together,” eighth-grader Shrutika Suresh on the Voyagers team says. “Kiara always looks out for JJ even though he has a lot of flaws and doesn’t come from the best background. JJ always helps Kiara. Kiara doesn’t always have the best time with her parents but he helps her get through things.”

Premiered on April 15, 2020, “Outer Banks” is an adventure filled teen TV show. It has recently gained a lot of popularity amongst middle schoolers due to the newest season being released on Feb. 23, 2023. The show stars Rudy Pankow, Madison Bailey, Madelyn Cline, and many more cast members. Four RCMS students talk about their opinions on their favorite duos. 

“I think my favorite couple is JJ and Kiara because I feel like they’ve kind of always flirted and given hints that they feel something towards each other since the beginning and it’s satisfying when they officially become a couple and everyone gets what they’re waiting for,” said RCMS eighth-grader, Sabeen Bhuiyan, on the Voyagers team.

“Jiara,” a popular ship between JJ and Kiara, has been awaited by many fans since the first season. With their flirty comments and the trust that’s grown between them, fans have been urging that their chemistry brings them together as an official couple. 

“I like their progression through the show because Pope, JJ, and John B have all had a thing for Kiara but then John B found Sarah and Pope found Cleo and they were just left to be destined together,” said Shrutika. 

Even though many fans adore Jiara, not all prefer them together. Although eighth-grader, Nandita Cherukuri, on the Dolphins team loves Jiara, she thought they were forced and prefers Rafe and Kiara, as she thinks they have more chemistry.

“I feel like Jiara’s chemistry was forced and the entire time was ‘I love you but I don’t,’” Nandita said.  

Other than fans shipping Kiara with JJ, they also like her character individually. With her brave, loyal and protective personality, many fans were drawn in. 

“My favorite character is Kiara because it’s interesting to me that she considers herself a pogue even though her background is rich and kookie,” said Shrutika. 

Even though the other main characters have their own unique personality traits, they are still interesting in their own way. 

“If I could be any character, I’d be Pope because he’s smart which is good so he can help out in treasure hunts but he’s also really funny and kind so he can cheer you up, ” RCMS eghth-grader, Saisha Pal, on the Explorers team says. 

Saisha summarizes this show as a balance of mystery and romance. It also has some humor but it’s really suspenseful and always makes you want to come back to it. All the actors are really good and all the characters have a distinct personality. 

Nandita said she definitely liked the first or second season better as it was more about friendship but in the third season, they all got into fights and many characters, especially Sarah, changed a lot.

“In the end, when it fast-forwarded 18 months, if you think about it, the next season isn’t going to be the same. You don’t know what’s gonna happen next,” Nandita said. 

No matter how much the plot twists later on, the important lesson that friendship is key will remain and have viewers coming back for more of this heartwarming series. 

“You can learn a lot from the Pogues because they always stick up for each other,” Shrutika says.

With every aspect of the show like the tension between characters to the heightining plot, this show will keep enticing fans. 

“You know when you start a book you can’t put it down? It’s like that but a show,” Shrutika says. “Once you get into the main plot in season one you can’t stop until you finish season three.”