Outer Banks season 3 recap guide: All 10 episodes explained

Outer Banks season 3 episode 6 recap: The Dark Forest

After going on their unique adventures, the Pogues are finally reunited at the top of the episode, but Big John quickly begins to drive a wedge between them when he urges John B to keep Sarah at a distance — advice John B ends up taking. You see, Big John is not a fan of Sarah and doesn’t trust her with the secret that they now have the Gnomon of Solana in their possession which could hold the key to locating El Dorado.

Big John seeks out a woman by the name of Kelly Keple, an archeologist he’s hoping will be able to help translate the glyphs on the gnomon. However, he finds out she had a heart attack and died after getting back from a dig in South America which sends him and John B searching for Professor Sowell.

Sowell says three of the five people from the dig have died since returning, but he agrees to help Big John with the translation of the glyphs. Before he’s able to do so, Sowell is struck and killed by a poison dart shot off by Singh’s men. As he dies in John B’s arms, he’s able to utter the name “Neville,” a hint that will come into play later.

Singh’s men quickly enter the home and take Big John hostage knowing he’s the key to translating the gnomon. Singh then orders his men to kill John B, but he’s able to escape and eventually makes it back home where he tells JJ everything that has just gone down, and the pair begin to hatch a plan to make it to South America.

Elsewhere in the episode, after John B pushes her away, Sarah ends up meeting up with Topper who invites her to a Kook party. Feeling all alone, Sarah agrees. Topper asks if things would have been different if he didn’t do the things he did, says he wants her to be happy, and kisses her. She pauses and then kisses him back, leaving her future with John B up in the air.

As for the other Pogues… Pope attempts to return to school but is told he must enter lower-level classes due to the time he’s missed while away which leads him to walk away entirely. JJ tries and fails to get his old job back, but when doing so he overhears a conversation between Rafe and Barry talking about melting down the cross.

JJ soon relays this information to Pope, who reaches a breaking point running off saying he’s tired of being the good guy. We learn he took a gun and has plans to kill Rafe for what he’s done. Fortunately, Cleo shows up to talk him down and stop him from throwing away his future by killing Rafe.

Speaking of the Camerons, after Ward confronts Rafe about the cross being stolen, Rafe puts his father in his place reminding him that he’s dead in the world’s eyes and Rafe is ready to make his mark as the new head of the family. This conversation seems to be enough for Ward to realize he needs to make his way back home, which he does as the episode ends.

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