Outer Banks has ended its five-season run, but Drew Starkey says one of the show’s final scenes hit him on a deeply personal level. In an exclusive interview, Starkey revealed that filming Rafe Cameron’s emotional goodbye to his sister Sarah, played by Madelyn Cline, “felt like I was saying goodbye to one of my sisters.” The actors had spent roughly seven years building their on-screen sibling relationship, making the final exchange especially difficult.
The scene comes as Rafe prepares to leave Kildare with Sofia after facing the consequences of his actions. Before leaving, he says goodbye to the Pogues and shares a particularly painful moment with Sarah, who is pregnant and expecting a baby with John B. Starkey and Cline were both visibly emotional while filming the sequence, blurring the line between their characters’ farewell and the reality of ending the series.
OUTER BANKS Finale Turns Rafe and Sarah’s Goodbye Into a Real Farewell
Starkey said the emotional weight of the scene came from more than the script. He explained that he has “loved working with Maddie” and valued their friendship, making the farewell feel like a genuine goodbye between two people who had spent years working side by side. Cline similarly described the scene as cathartic, saying she adored working with Starkey and particularly enjoyed portraying their complicated sibling dynamic.
Outer Banks premiered in 2020, meaning Starkey and Cline had been portraying Rafe and Sarah for six years on screen and around seven years through the production journey. Their characters’ relationship was rarely peaceful: Rafe repeatedly clashed with Sarah, while the siblings moved through betrayal, danger and family trauma before finally reaching a more emotionally honest place in the final season.
OUTER BANKS:The End of an Era for the Netflix Cast
The emotional farewell between Starkey and Cline was only one part of a larger goodbye for the cast. The fifth season was the show’s final chapter, with Netflix releasing the concluding episodes on August 20, 2026. The season follows the Pogues as they deal with JJ’s death and pursue the Blue Crown while trying to survive another series of escalating threats.
The finale eventually gives the characters a sense of closure. Sarah and John B. rebuild their home and have a son named JJ in honor of their late friend, while the wider group moves toward separate futures. Rafe, meanwhile, leaves the country with Sofia after his legal troubles catch up with him. The ending allowed the cast to say goodbye to characters they had inhabited for years while also closing a major chapter of their own professional lives.
Outer Banks ultimately became more than a television job for Starkey and Cline. Their fictional relationship required years of intense performances, while their real-life friendship developed alongside it. That is why the final Rafe-and-Sarah scene carried such unusual emotional weight: the actors were not simply closing a storyline—they were also confronting the end of a seven-year chapter they had shared with each other and the rest of the cast. Buzz Legit will continue following the stars as they move into their next projects beyond Kildare.
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