Madelyn Cline Says She Was “Crying Every Day” Filming the Final Season of Outer Banks, Which Ends Its Run August 20

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Madelyn Cline says the final season of Outer Banks broke her open. She was crying on set almost daily, missing castmate Rudy Pankow’s JJ after his Season 4 death, and calling the wrap the end of a chapter that shaped her entire 20s.

Cline says she was crying “at least two times a week,” and some weeks every single day, as production wrapped on Outer Banks after five seasons. She called it “the end of a big, big chapter of my life,” bittersweet after growing up alongside the cast since the show premiered in 2020.

Part of the weight came from an empty spot on set. Rudy Pankow’s JJ was killed off in the Season 4 finale, and Cline said it was “definitely strange” filming a full season without him after four years together.

The cast shot much of the final run in Dubrovnik, Croatia, before wrapping in South Carolina, and Cline has described the vibe as feeling like Season 1 all over again. She’s said the show was essentially her college, the springboard for her 20s, and that finishing it leaves her a little terrified about what comes next.

Madelyn Cline in a yellow sleeveless top and floral green sheer skirt standing in front of a fountain at an outdoor event.
Dressed in a pale yellow draped top knotted at the waist and a sheer floral pastel skirt, Cline poses near a fountain at the Outer Banks farewell event in Los Angeles on August 15, 2026. Photo by Backgrid.

All 10 episodes of Season 5 drop on Netflix August 20.

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