Outer Banks: 10 Best JJ Quotes

All of the characters in Netflix’s Outer Banks are fun to watch. They get into some of the most unbelievable situations – and find even more unbelievable ways out of them. With all the treasure hunting and running for their lives, however, come some great lines.

Amongst the Pogues, a lot of the great lines are courtesy of JJ Maybank. Whether he’s dropping a funny one-liner, giving an emotional speech, or simply throwing his friends for a loop, JJ certainly has the kind of lines that stick with the audience.

10 “He’s Straight Up Like The Spanish. Just, Bon Voyage.”

JJ doesn’t always make the most sense when trying to make a point to his friends, as is evident in this Outer Banks Season 2 quote from him. It’s said while he’s trying to explain to Kiara, John B, Pope, and Sarah that the Pogues are his family. While it’s clear that they all appreciate what he’s saying, none of them can resist teasing him about not knowing the difference between Spanish and French.

The entire exchange is a great snapshot of the group in the show. They can tease each other for their mistakes, even be genuinely angry with one another, but they’d do anything for each other.

9 “The Pentagon… We Have Security Clearance. I Have A Card.”

After Hurricane Agatha lands in the early episodes of the first season of Outer Banks, JJ and John B stop by Pope’s family’s business to take him out on the water. Unlike the other two boys, Pope’s parents actively engage with him and are trying to get him to help with the damages to the property.

JJ tries to tell Pope’s father that the day after a hurricane is a free day… according to the government, i.e. the Pentagon. Pope’s father, of course, isn’t amused by JJ’s antics, though he fully commits to the bit. It’s the first of many times that it’s clear the Pogues aren’t really great with one another’s parents.

8 “I Love Third-Wheeling. It’s My Favorite Thing.”

While some will argue that a relationship between Pope and Kiara makes no sense, JJ is the one with a front row seat to most of their struggles during the second season. JJ appears supportive of Pope and Kiara, much as he appeared supportive of the potential of Kiara and John B ending up together in the first season. It’s clear, however, that always being the third-wheel to his friends is getting to him a little bit.

John B and Sarah fall for one another very quickly. Pope is pretty well gone on Kiara for most of the episodes. JJ is left to watch the couples around them – for better or worse. He often finds himself on the outside of their discussions looking in, as is the case with this quote when Kiara, Pope, and JJ are trying to get evidence against Ward Cameron.

7 “If I’m The One Mediating, We’ve Hit Rock Bottom.”

JJ might make some incredibly reckless decisions, but he knows that about himself. No one can deny that JJ doesn’t understand exactly who he is. He knows that he’s argumentative and that he often can’t stop himself once he starts down that road.

So, when Kiara and Pope argue about John B’s safety in the first season of the series, JJ acting as mediator between them is a little surprising. He always takes a side amongst his friends. JJ, however, also understands that both of his friends aren’t truly angry at one another, but the situation they find themselves in, and his crack about mediating is enough to diffuse the situation.

6 “I Can’t Let You Take The Blame For Something I Did. You Have Too Much To Lose.”

If there’s one thing that’s reiterated in the first season of the series, it’s that JJ is the best liar. He knows exactly how to get himself out of trouble – or in the case of this particular line, into it.

One of the best things JJ does in the entire show, and one of the most selfless, is to take the fall for Pope after Pope sinks Topper’s boat. JJ has no illusions about his place in OBX, but he’s well aware that Pope is on track for a prestigious scholarship – and getting out. When Pope is going to be arrested for doing something JJ encouraged him to do to get back at Topper and Rafe, JJ doesn’t let that happen, giving this line to Pope to encourage Pope to say that JJ committed the crime instead. It’s a huge thing for a friend to do, but JJ is one of the most loyal friends there is.

5 “Ain’t All That Bad… That’s Just One Man’s Opinion Though.”

Out of context, this particular line doesn’t exactly have the same punch of some of JJ’s other quotes. It does comment on the central conflict of the Pogues versus the Kooks, though, as well as his never-ending support of the people he cares about.

Kiara is, technically, a Kook. She’s adopted the Pogue lifestyle, and in the second season, it starts to catch up with her as she’s constantly at odds with her parents. Her mother threatens to send her to boarding school because of who she’s becoming. JJ comforts Kiara with this line, that Kiara being a Pogue isn’t the worst thing in the world, and while he says it as though he’s speaking for Pope, he’s clearly voicing his own opinion about her.

4 “I Know For A Fact That All I Got Is Your Guys, Okay? You’re It.”

The family a character is born into compared to the family they’ve made in the Pogues is a running theme in both seasons. In the second season, JJ is finally able to cut ties with his abusive father because he helps his father run from the police on a boat, not unlike what he did for John B in the first season.

As JJ watches his friends squabble in the marsh right after Kiara helps him see his dad off for good, JJ makes it clear that this group of people is the only family he really has. Sure, JJ has cousins he can ask for a hand once in a while, but the people he loves and trusts are the Pogues. That’s true for all five of the characters as they make their way through Outer Banks.

3 “Oh, Now She Wants The Gun.”

In the second season, JJ and Kiara end up paired up for a lot of the adrenaline-fueled sequences. Part of that is a result of John B and Sarah being separated from the rest of the Pogues quite a bit. Part of that is also the result of Kiara’s strained relationship with Pope. As much as JJ and Kiara are on the same side, however, they also bicker quite a bit.

One of the chief arguments they have is over JJ’s possession of a stolen gun. While JJ is not as quick to jump to violence as Rafe Cameron, that doesn’t mean he won’t use the gun, something Kiara doesn’t approve of until the second season when the group is targeted yet again. As Kiara asks JJ where the gun is, he’s both annoyed and surprised that she’s willing to use it as soon as he’s had to hide it to protect the group.

2 “So, I Busted The Wrong Guy Out Of Jail, Sue Me.”

When it comes to making plans, JJ isn’t exactly the smartest of the Pogues. His plans aren’t always the most thought out, and that’s never more clear than his convoluted idea that involves using an ambulance to break John B out of jail in Season 2.

When it doesn’t work, and a different inmate is released into the care of the paramedic JJ is pretending to be, he has to text Kiara for help. She and Pope save him just in time. Despite the desperate nature of the situation, he still has time for this quip.

1 “Stupid Things Have Good Outcomes All The Time.”

This is one of JJ’s only lines that makes an appearance in both seasons of the show. It’s an acknowledgment that he and his friends make, in their own words, incredibly stupid decisions. It’s also an acknowledgment that the choice to do that isn’t always bad.

After all, their bad decisions lead them on two different treasure hunts and allow Sarah and Kiara to become friends again. They also save one another’s lives multiple times.

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