🤐 SPOILER ALERT 🤐

Like most things on Outer Banks, the story of John B’s dad is both complicated and mysterious.  

When we first meet main Pogue John B (Chase Stokes) in Season 1, he’s dealing with the absence of his father, Big John (Charles Halford). You see, the elder John is missing at sea and presumed dead. But after many a twist and turn — including an attempted murder — it turns out that John B’s supposedly dead dad isn’t quite so dead after all. Though he’s still missing from his son’s life, he’s actually alive and in Barbados. 

Yes, it’s a lot to take in and if you need a refresher on all the paternal strife John B has endured over the first two seasons, we’re here for you. Read on for a rundown of everything that’s gone down so far with Big John in and around the Outer Banks. 

Charles Halford as Big John.

Who is Big John on Outer Banks?

Big John is John B’s dad who has been the sole caretaker of his son on Kildare Island ever since John B’s mom took off when he was just a kid. Nine months before the action of Season 1, Big John goes missing at sea. Three months after his disappearance, he’s officially presumed dead, but John B holds off on signing the paperwork because he refuses to give up hope that his father is alive. After a massive storm hits the island, John B and his best friends the Pogues explore a sunken boat and discover a package that contains an antique compass. It turns out that the instrument once belonged to John B’s father and it has the word Redfield carved on it.

Did Big John carve the message on the compass?

Yes. It all goes back to a legendary treasure that’s rumored to have been on the Royal Merchant, a ship that sank near the island in the 1800s. Before his disappearance, Big John is investigating the shipwreck and its missing treasure with wealthy island resident Ward Cameron (Charles Esten). When Big John figures out where the gold can be found, he demands a larger percentage of the treasure from Ward. In a fit of rage, Ward then shoves Big John, causing him to hit his head on the side of the boat. Assuming Big John is dead, Ward throws his body overboard. But what do you know? Big John? Not so dead! In fact, he manages to make it to an island where he stays conscious long enough to carve the Redfield message on the compass. When John B finds the compass, he remembers that his great-great-grandmother’s maiden name was also Redfield. The Pogues visit her grave, where they discover another package, this one addressed to John B from his dad. This sets them off on an epic treasure hunt. 

When does John B find out that Ward tried to kill his dad?

When Ward takes John B fishing, he accidentally lets slip that he knew about the Redfield message on the compass, thereby implicating himself in Big John’s disappearance. After John B  narrowly manages to get away from Ward, he visits an island resident named Miss Lana. Miss Lana’s husband Scooter worked for Ward Cameron, and after the Big John boat incident, he took over the hunt for the Royal Merchant and its gold. (Unfortunately, old Scooter dies in the massive storm that hits the island at the start of the series.) Before his death, though, Scooter told Miss Lana all about what happened to Big John and it’s Lana who finally tells John B the truth about Ward attacking his dad and leaving him for dead.

Big John (Halford) and Carla Limbrey (Elizabeth Mitchell) are unlikely allies.

How did John B’s dad survive?

Ah, well that’s the mystery! However, one person knows exactly where to find him in Season 2.  Apparently Ward and Big John had a third partner in the hunt for the Royal Merchant treasure: an ailing Charleston heiress named Carla Limbrey (Elizabeth Mitchell). Limbrey — who’s already pretty rich — is less interested in the gold that was on the ship and more interested in finding the Garment of the Savior, a holy relic that’s rumored to heal the sick. The magical garment was stored inside the Cross of Santo Domingo which — you guessed it — was also on board the Royal Merchant when it went down. Limbrey tries to use John B and his friends to find the garment but at the end of Season 2, they find the empty cross… empty. In the final scene of Season 2, we see Limbrey visit (a still very much alive) Big John who is now hiding out in Barbados. He tells her: “I know where it is. I can help you. But you have to help my son.” 

So that was definitely John B’s dad at the end of Season 2?

Yes. That was indeed Big John and he is very much alive. And he’s about to be a part of John B’s life — for better or for worse.

Big John tries to find his son.

So what happens next with Carla and Big John?

Carla promises Big John that she’ll reunite him safely with his son. After John B and his friends end up in Barbados via a plane crash, Carla takes Big John to the crash site. He tells her that he couldn’t let John B know that he was still alive because it would have put his son at risk. The police have promised Carla they’ll alert her when they find John B, but Big John takes matters into his own hands and decides to ring a local church bell to send a message to his son. (Ringing a church bell was how he used to call John B home back in Outer Banks.) John B follows the sound of the bell and is reunited with his dad, but the celebration is short-lived. They both have to quickly flee the scene when armed men connected to wealthy island resident Carlos Singh (Andy McQueen) show up. 

What does Carlos Singh have to do with Big John?

It was Singh who rescued Big John from the island he was stranded on after Ward left him for dead. Singh then brought Big John to Barbados to help him find the city of El Dorado, the mythical lost city of gold. (That’s right, the treasure hunt’s about to get even bigger.) It turns out that the treasure of the Royal Merchant was tied to the lost city and contains the key to finally discovering it. Big John escaped Singh’s clutches, however, and left half of an important stone artifact with a local antiques dealer for safekeeping. Once John B and Big John are reunited, they head to the Bridgetown antiques store to pick up the artifact. Not surprisingly, Singh’s men also pop up there, so they flee and head back to the Outer Banks. 

Big John (Halford) and John B (Chase Stokes) are reunited in Season 3.

So Big John and John B live happily ever after in the OBX?

Not quite. Big John convinces John B to keep the treasure hunt going while cutting his friends out of the loop. They travel to Charleston and find the other half of the stone object, aka the Signpost of Orinoco, in the archives of a local museum. They then pay a visit to Big John’s old friend Professor Sowell who tells them that it’s the key to finding El Dorado. Shortly after that the professor is murdered by — you guessed it — Singh’s men. Singh then takes the signpost, and kidnaps Big John to help him translate the Kalinago writing on it, before heading off to the Orinoco Basin.

Does John B save Big John?

He does but not for long. The Pogues manage to also travel to the Orinoco Basin — thanks to Ward’s private jet. John B and Sarah soon reunite with Big John and head deep into the jungle to the Solana site, with an injured Ward along for the ride. (Not surprisingly, the two dads’ reunion is less than cordial after the whole “attempted murder” thing.) Big John places the gnomon on the Solana site and the moonlight reveals clues that point them toward El Dorado. Unfortunately, dastardly Ward has alerted Singh’s men to their location and they show up with their guns again. Big John, John B and Sarah escape into the jungle, but not before Big John is shot. As Big John bleeds out, the two teens follow the clues into a cave and through an underwater chamber to finally discover the lost gold city of El Dorado! They pack up a few pieces and take them back to show Big John who is luckily able to finally see the treasure he’s been chasing for his entire life before dying from his gunshot wound. Later, we see that John B and his friends have created a carved wooden monument to Big John back in the OBX declaring him a “Pogue for life.”

Outer Banks Season 2 Recap and Ending ExplainedThe Pogues really hit the fan. Here's everything that happened in season 2.

Outer Banks Season 3 is streaming now.