Even during Pankow’s first audition, the character analysis for JJ literally said he was “loyal to a fault.” “When I first found out that JJ was going to risk everything and not make it, I understood,” Pankow said. “And the risks got bigger and bigger, and the stakes got higher and higher.” He considers it a “huge honor to portray a character so beautifully and selflessly.”

Outdoor benches creators Josh Pate, Jonas Pate, and Shannon Burke always planned for JJ to eventually die in the series. “It was a very difficult decision because he is such a great part of the ensemble,” said Josh Pate. “It sets the stage for an epic fifth and final season. We are planning a story of redemption and a season that embodies the friendship that JJ came to represent. JJ’s death was a difficult but necessary part of the architecture of the story, and we plan to honor that as much as possible because we love the character as much as the fans do. And Rudy is a good friend of ours.’

After talking to Pankow about it, Jonas Pate says Rudy embraced the “powerful way to end the character’s journey.” The co-creator recalls a great line that Chip Esten (who plays Ward Cameron) shared: “You have to end well. Your character has to end well.”

Looking back on the series so far, our dear Captain Maybank could easily be considered the Pogue-iest Pogue of them all. “At JJ’s core, he’s kind of the heart of it Outdoor benchesin my opinion,” says co-star Madelyn Cline, who plays Sarah. Jonathan Daviss, who plays Pope, would even go so far as to say he is “Pogue incarnate.”

For Daviss, the core of the show is the underdog Pogues trying to break the shackles of their social status for a chance at a better life – hence their constant need to chase the G game (gold) whenever the opportunity presents itself. “You want to work and do whatever you can to get to that other side, to bring your family and friends,” he said. “That’s what JJ’s trying to do — it’s just that sometimes you end up in dangerous places.”

JJ has never actually been to dangerous places. Growing up, he was raised by his abusive (and adoptive) father Luke (Gary Weeks) on the Cut side of Kildare Island and became best friends with John B (Chase Stokes) in third grade. From that friendship he learned “loyalty to the bone” (as well as surfing and dirt bike racing), and that loyalty remained his driving force, until the end. “He was the hype man, the ride or die,” Pankow said.

That dedication was also evident in Pankow’s approach to his character’s death scene. Burke admires how detailed he was and “immediately started planning how he was going to play it.”

But that doesn’t mean filming that final moment in episode 10 wasn’t difficult. “The sound guys were crying,” Jonas Pate said. “That was a difficult scene.”

Bailey remembers it as a very hard day. “This character is a huge loss and everyone will feel it,” she said. Pankow has a hard time putting into words the filming of that scene other than, “I knew everyone was on board to bring everything, and I felt that from everyone. Bailey and I took it, and I know we crushed it. It was emotional, but I think deep down everyone was on the same page… ‘Let’s make an impact.’ And I think we did that.”

In that fateful scene, Groff doesn’t actually have to kill JJ – who he’s already put through the wringer by abandoning him all his life, killing his mother, and leaving him for dead in the middle of the ocean. In the finale, JJ has already handed him the Blue Crown treasure in exchange for Kiara, and Groff simply stabs him out of spite. “It makes it so much more surprising,” Burke tells Tudum. “Every time I see that I cringe. I’ve seen it a hundred times and you’re like, ‘Oh my God. Why did you do it?!” The idea is to make us hate Groff. I think we have achieved that.”

The goal has been more than achieved. Groff is by far the worst father of all the bad ones Outdoor benches fathers. “Yeah, I think he takes the cake,” Pankow says, adding, “It’s not a funny pun, though.”

But at least JJ hasn’t inherited his father’s blinding greed and realizes what’s really important. “I already have everything,” he tells Groff before handing over the crown. “I have everything I ever wanted, things you will never have.” Josh Pate tells Tudum that moment “gets me every time. And I’ve seen it a lot.”

For the OBX makers, that realization is what the show is essentially about. “It’s about these treasure hunters, but we tried to write a scene where he ultimately wants to give up the treasure because he doesn’t care about it compared to the things that matter to him,” Jonas Pate said. JJ found a real family, built a house with Poguelandia 2.0, fell in love and – despite all the evidence against him – tried to give both his Pogue and Kook fathers the benefit of the doubt.

Jonas Pate sees the show’s P4L (Pogues for Life) ethos as being about friendship, and in turn, sacrificing for those friendships. “At some point this had to happen to justify P4L,” he said. “There’s definitely a sense of mortality that runs through the show. John B talks about it all the time. Burke adds that the theme of sacrifice permeates the Pogues, in that “they are willing to give up everything for each other, and this is the ultimate example of that.”

For Pankow, JJ’s death is a reminder that life is precious. “His death really determines the future of OBX with the question: what is it worth? And if someone close to you is no longer there, how do you deal with it?

Carlacia Grant, who plays fellow skilled klepto Cleo, says JJ embodies choosing friendship. “That’s something his character has always represented,” she said.

Stokes thinks back to how working on the show began when he and Pankow shared an apartment together in South Carolina, where they filmed the series. “I am forever grateful for the experience I had with Rudy and for bringing to life a friendship that an entire generation could look at and say, ‘I need someone like that.’ I need someone who will hold me in my low moments and someone who will defend me in my highs. And if I act like an asshole, I get called out for it,” Stokes said. “And it goes both ways. They do it to each other.”

Bailey said she knows “this is going to rock my character’s world.” And JJ’s presence in the Pogues’ lives, she said, is a symbol of “never giving up and not letting your circumstances affect how you love.”

Now that his work on the series is complete, Pankow wants to share his gratitude for his time Outdoor benches. “I would like to leave the cast and crew with the deepest gratitude. It was so nice to come to work,” he said. “This is by far the biggest thing I’ve ever done in (my) experience, and to have this as my start is the start of my life. I’m going to miss it. Thank you for so many great memories that I will have for the rest of my life.”

And to you, the die-hard Pogues: “To all the fans showing so much support and love for JJ, I just want to say thank you,” he said. “It really impressed me when I played him. It was an honor to bring him to life for you, and a joy to play with him. And P4L!”

As fans watch the finale, Pankow hopes they will be inspired to make every second count, just like JJ always does. “The spirit of JJ is: take the risk.”

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