All the characters in Netflix's Outer Banks are fun to watch, but the JJ Maybank quotes provide some of the best dialogue in the series. The series follows a group of teenagers as they bond and go on a treasure hunt that puts them in danger in the Outer Banks of the Carolinas. With each season, the stakes are raised, the treasure gets bigger, and the friends only get closer. The main characters 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.

JJ Maybank’s’ quotes are a great way to track his character arc and mental state. The more sarcastic he is, the more stressed he likely is. The meaner his lines get, the more he’s dug into survival mode. He is seen as a fun-loving troublemaker, but JJ has a hard life in Outer Banks. He’s an incredibly loyal friend who winds up in trouble because he’s willing to do anything for people he cares about. JJ’s quotes are often full of sarcasm and lies, but that’s because he says exactly what he needs to to get out of any situation he and his friends wind up in.

20 "If I'm The One Mediating, We've Hit Rock Bottom."

Season 1, Episode 8 "The Runway"

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 particular road. JJ is also well aware that he is responsible for a lot of bad decisions for the Pogues in Outer Banks.

So, when Kiara and Pope argue about John B's safety in the first season of the series, JJ acting as a mediator between them is a little surprising, even to him. He always takes a side among 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 defuse the situation.

19 “No Working On Swell Day. That’s Rule Number One.”

Season 4, Episode 4 “The Swell”

Most of Outer Banks is spent with the teenagers in mortal peril while they search for a hugely historically significant treasure. The artifact might change every season, as well as the location, but that is the crux of the adventure in the show. It’s rare for the Pogues to have a chance to just have fun with one another.

Swell Day is a rare thing in the show, even if some of the audience might not have thought it was necessary. It provides a nice reprieve to see the friends have a good time. When JJ and John B can tell that the conditions are perfect for surfing, they round up everyone to have a beach day. While Pope and Cleo don’t end up on the beach with the rest of the group, JJ makes a valiant effort to get Pope to come along.

He makes the point that no one works on Swell Day, and he’s not wrong as various shots show other characters clo shop and heading out to surf. While the line itself is perfectly in character for JJ, what makes this funnier is that by the end of the episode, JJ has a completely different rule number one.

18 “This Blaming Each Other Is Some Kook-a** Bull***t, All Right? We Don't Do That. Okay? We're Pogues.”

Season 2, Episode 8 “The Cross”

The Pogues are the definition of the found family trope in young adult media. These teenagers are people who have learned trusting adults doesn’t always work out for them, the world is a difficult place, and the only people who have their backs are the friends they’ve been hunting treasure with. When the stress starts to build in season 2 and Kiara, Sarah, John B, and Pope start to argue more than they one another, JJ reminds them of that.

He reminds them that they are friends, that they’ve have been through some of the worst times, and that they still find their way out of it. That’s why he reminds them all that they are not Kooks, but Pogues. The Kooks can afford to turn their backs on one another and betray one another and use their money to buy themselves fake loyalty. The Pogues have real loyalty. JJ never lets his friends forget that he would do anything for them.

17 “You Know What The Key Is Here? You Just Got To Make It A Little Janky And He Does It For You.”

Season 4, Episode 1 “The Endure”

When the fourth season of Outer Banks kicks off, the Pogues develop a plan as the show catches the audience up on what happens in the 18 months between finding El Dorado and taking on the hunt for Blackbeard’s necklace. Their plan is to build their own business and living space. Because of how much money they spend on their property (thanks to JJ going rogue at auction), they quite literally have to scavenge materials and build everything themselves.

When Pope onishes JJ for not being exact with his measurements, JJ argues that his work is good enough, but Pope is more concerned about the dock they are building up not being safe thanks to JJ not caring about making everything perfect. While Sarah, Cleo, and Kie are amused at the back and forth between the two of them, JJ reveals that his pretending not to care about the measurements at the dock is more thought out than Pope might think.

JJ prefers to be the fun one of the group, so if he pretends to slack off just enough, Pope will fix his work for him. It’s a system that has likely worked for him for most of his teenage years and speaks to the bickering dynamic that Pope and JJ have had since the start of the show.

16 “I Ain’t Scared Of You Anymore.”

Season1, Episode 7 “Dead Calm”

Outer Banks establishes very quickly in its first episodes that the Pogues don’t all have the best home lives. While Pope has parents who care about him and want him to have a bright future, Kiara’s parents so badly want her away from the Pogue life that they smother her, John B’s father leaves his son to hunt treasure and is presumed dead, and JJ’s father is physically abusive. JJ spends a lot of time afraid of his father until he comes to the realization that he doesn’t have to rely on his father anymore:

“You gave me nothing, you gave me nothing but a s***ty life, all you ever did was try and scare me. Well guess what, dad? I ain’t scared of you anymore.”

After JJ steals from someone who first steals from the Pogues, his father ends up taking much of the money from him, and the tension between him and JJ comes to a head. JJ has suffered many a beating in his young life as a result of his father’s temper and substance use, and while giving this speech, he finally fights back. It’s violent and heartwrenching, but also a bit of vindication for JJ.

For it to happen so early in the show - just near the end of the first season - is a welcome change compared to most other young adult shows, which would have saved it for a series-ender.

15 “Are We Really Going To Worry About The Details Right Now?”

Season 4, Episode 2 “Blackbeard”

JJ is known for wanting to jump right into action and not have to worry about what comes next. He has always been the most impulsive of the Pogues, though sometimes, Kie can fight him for the title. JJ is not a planner or a big-picture guy. Pope is the planner of the group and John B is the one who often sees the bigger picture.

When JJ and his friends are offered a large sum of money to find a necklace belonging to the wife of the infamous pirate Blackbeard, JJ is ready to say yes just to make the money they need to save their house. His friends, however, want to figure out the details of a plan and just work through some of the details before they agree to a dangerous job. JJ has this line in response to his friends having some concerns. Of course, everyone tells him, “Yes,” they do need to worry about the details, much to his annoyance.

14 “You Know Who You Gonna Have To Trust Right Now? Papa J.”

Season 3, Episode 8 “Tapping The Rudder”

JJ is a charismatic character with a good heart, but he’s not exactly trustworthy. He’s more like a classic rogue. He’s the kind of guy who tells his friends he didn’t bring a weapon but has a gun hidden in his backpack to protect them. He’s also the kind of guy who will repeatedly annoy a friend just to get their attention but then will turn around and lie to the police so that he gets arrested instead of someone he cares about. JJ is a young man of contradictions.

That’s why this line, said with Rudy Pankow’s signature charm, works so well. Characters don’t want to trust JJ. They know his plans go badly and that his impulses get him in trouble. Despite that, they can’t help but trust him because they know his heart is in the right place.

13 “It Is To Us.”

Season 4, Episode 1 “The Endure”

Before the Pogues can set off on their next treasure hunting adventure in season 4 of Outer Banks, they try to get their lives on track. They want to live and work together and build a life they can be proud of without others interfering. To do that, they decide to use part of the money they got from the gold found in season 3 to buy the Maybank property that is up for auction.

JJ might not have ever thought of his home as being with Luke, but the property itself has a lot of advantages that Pope points out to the group. It’s the perfect place for them to live and work once they build their own dock, bait shop, and fix up the house. Pope has a plan for the auction, but JJ’s impatience and anger at someone else bidding on the property gets the better of him, and he drives the price up way above what the property is even worth.

When the man who wanted the property tells him that the property is nowhere near worth what he’s paying for it, JJ says, “it is to us.” Despite his friends being angry that he made them pay so much more than they wanted to, he’s right. All the group wants is something to call their own where they can lean on one another for and live a normal life. The Maybank property is what they expect to provide that for them.

12 "He's Straight Up Like The Spanish. Just, Bon Voyage."

Season 2, Episode 8 "The Cross"

JJ doesn't always make the most sense when trying to make a point to his friends, as is evident in this 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, now, more than ever since his father has left him. 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.

It's also a great demonstration of how JJ brings levity to even the most dramatic moments in the show as his line confuses his friends during the middle of a dramatic speech.

The entire exchange from Outer Banks season 2 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. It's also a great demonstration of how JJ brings levity to even the most dramatic moments in the show as his line confuses his friends during the middle of a dramatic speech.

11 "The Pentagon... We Have Security Clearance. I Have A Card."

Season 1, Episode 1 "Pilot"

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. Pope's parents are, from the first moment of their introduction, worried about their son and see JJ as potentially a bad influence.

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 JJ still 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, or their own parents, or really, adults in general.