Summary
“The Runaway” is a frantic, dramatic episode with Ward desperate to extract all the gold and villainize John B.
Outer Banks Season 1, Episode 8 starts as it means to go on after a revealing previous episode. Ward attacks John B, claiming it wasn’t his fault that his father died. Both men fight and struggle on the boat in a tense five minutes, but eventually, John B gets off the boat using a speedboat. Ward injures himself on purpose.
And then Episode 8 gives the audience the full truth:
John B speaks to Lana, and she provides a “tell-all”; she explains how one night, Ward talked to Scooter about accidentally hurting John B’s father over a deal.
A flashback reveals John B’s father (John Routledge) wanted legal assurance, as he does not want a 50/50 split on the gold, and it needs to be 20 percent for Ward.
After a small fight, Ward accidentally kills John Routledge by pushing him over, but he doesn’t ring the police or confirm that his friend had died; he instead throws John Routledge into the sea and sinks the boat. Ward then asked Scooter to head out into the storm in case the clues to the treasure are washed away, which is when he found the compass. He scribes Redfield into the compass; Lana warns John B, claiming Ward is dangerous.
Meanwhile, Ward heads to the sheriff’s office and claims John B has hurt him. Episode 8 sees both Ward and John B in some cold war, and it’s difficult to see how it will pan out until the end.
A fuming John B grabs the gun and his friends try to stop him, but he walks away and gets on the motorbike before saying, “Ward knows about the gold. He killed my dad”. John B. approaches Sarah in her bedroom and asks her if she told her father about the gold. A confused Sarah wants to know what is going on, so John B tells her the truth. Sarah does not believe him and walks away.
We are then treated to a scene that is a closed moment in John B’s life; he does a small memorial for his father next to the sea — he’s finally accepted that he’s dead.
Meanwhile, Sarah asks her father, Ward, for the truth. Ward makes up a scenario where John B. became ultra paranoid and attacked him. Ward then has a lightbulb moment and figures out the gold is at the Crain house after his wife mentions that the kids have recently invaded it.
Episode 8 is a story of everything falling apart; John B heads to the Crain house and sees how Ward has extracted the gold – he freaks out; his father’s life’s work is now gone. John B tells Kiara that all the gold is gone. Pope runs over with information and reveals his father is helping Ward Cameron prepare a long airstrip for a plane due to the extra weight – Ward is flying to the Bahamas with the gold.
And then we are treated to a twist; Lana tells the sheriff the story about Ward. Lana warns the sheriff that Ward has many friends and looks out the window at the cop outside. It turns out that Sheriff Susan was on John B’s side all this time.
“The Runaway” ends in explosive terms; John B. and co. head to the airstrip. As Sarah and Ward head to the plane, Sarah asks her father what’s in the crates.
Using his binoculars, John B sees Ward and Sarah fighting. John B gets into the vehicle and charges for the plane, which is now in motion. John B blocks the plane, so Ward has to stop it. Sarah suddenly takes John B’s side, and that’s when Sheriff Susan shows up. Susan arrests Ward for the murder of John Routledge and says, “I don’t like being used”. And then, a real spanner in the works happens – Rafe turns up from nowhere, then shoots the sheriff and says, “I saved you, Dad”.
Okay, I know this ending was dumb and overdone, but it’s entertaining!
The Pogues’ Diaries
Here are some extra interesting tidbits from the episode:
- Wheezie tells Rafe that the family is going to the Bahamas.
- Pope tries to tell the college administrators that he found the Royal Merchant to impress the man, and then runs off.
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