Diving into ‘Outer Banks’ Season Four with Madison Bailey and Carlacia Grant

“Outer Banks” returned for Part One of season four Oct. 4, with no shortage of its usual treasure-hunting schemes. Nearing Part Two’s release Nov. 7, actors Madison Bailey (Kiara) and Carlacia Grant (Cleo) spoke with The Phoenix about their characters’s journeys, on-set camaraderie and the Moroccan setting of upcoming episodes. Both questions and answers have been condensed for clarity. 

The Phoenix: This season is finally a return to normalcy for the Pogues. At least to some degree, you guys get to settle down. When do you feel most settled into your characters?

Bailey: This season, my turtle beach moment, I felt like this is Kiara 101. I think really in the scenes that we’re all together, and also anytime Kiara is bickering at somebody, I’m like, “This is the bread and butter. This is really what’s going on.” 

Grant: Same. I feel like Cleo and her knife, like swinging a knife — which I do now in my regular life — I automatically feel like Cleo. Like, automatically. I see them and I just want to flip them. That’s when I’m like, “Oh yeah, she’s here.”

The Phoenix: What do you think makes a Pogue a Pogue?

Bailey: I think what makes a Pogue a Pogue is needing the bare minimum to be happy. I think just not needing a lot of materialistic things, just being out in nature and being with your friends is quite Pogue.

Grant: I think friendship, going after what you want, love and just being rebels. I think that’s a very important thing. 

Bailey: Doing what you want.

Grant: Doing what you want, not falling into what society wants you to do, just be yourself. That’s very Poguey.

The Phoenix: The cast has a real camaraderie on-camera. Do you feel like you have that kind of family connection with everyone on set?

Bailey: Absolutely. We are super lucky to have a good percentage of the season one crew still kicking it with us in season four. Obviously, there’s new people and then some people have gone. That’s definitely another extension of the little family that a lot of people don’t see.

Grant: Our crew is like an extension of us. We spend so many hours doing the show — so many hours a day, so many months at a time — that it’s so great that not only we’re cool and we get to have a good time, but the people who are also working around us, a 100-something people a day making this thing work, are also cool. They are so fun and we have such a great time. 

Bailey: Lot of Pogues in the crew. 

The Phoenix: Loss is a big theme of the show, especially this season. Despite this, what do you feel like your characters are gaining this season?

Bailey: My character is gaining a relationship with this person that she’s loved longer than she’s known that she was in love with.

Grant: I think Cleo’s gaining trust. What’s the opposite of fear? Trust? I think sometimes with loss, it could go one of two ways, or it can go all ways, but then you kind of circle back. And I think with her growing relationship with Pope and how he anchors her through this process, she’s learning trust. 

The Phoenix: Madison, do you think Kiara’s defining characteristic of going the extra mile for the people she cares about complicates her strained relationship with her parents?

Bailey: Of course. I’m sure there has to be a small percentage of Kiara that understands where they’re coming from. I think there’s an element of that that makes sense to her, but being a friend is one of top two priorities for Kiara. I think she’s tried explaining herself in many different ways and her parents haven’t heard her out and now it’s just like, “All right, well I’m going to do my own thing.” We’re all living together and we get to explore the life that we would be living on our own accord.  

The Phoenix: Carlacia, how do you think Cleo’s past — as tumultuous as it has been — prepares her for life on The Cut?

Grant: It definitely prepares her because she’s so nomadic, so she has to forge relationships with people rather fast. I think her being able to be around people that she hasn’t known for a long time just brings those past experiences of getting to know people very quickly. I sort of envision Cleo as a kid that would grow up in foster homes, which she kind of did with Terrance and moving from boat to boat. Usually people who have those types of experiences are able to bring their home with themselves — their home is themselves, because that’s the thing that they always have with them. So I think that it influences her relationships with them, for sure. 

The Phoenix: When release day comes, are you online, are you stalking what people are saying? Or are you removed, letting it happen?

Grant: I’m watching it happen. And then I just go to sleep because no one says anything. It takes a while for people to start giving a response, like it’s really dark. First, it’s like, “Oh my God, I can’t wait, 10 more minutes,” and then like, “No one’s there.” Like, “Oh my god, no one’s watching, it doesn’t make any sense,” and then I’m like, “You know, I just need to go to sleep.” And then I wake up to so many notifications. 

Bailey: This show comes out past my bedtime, so I wake up to everything. I’m scrolling, I’m definitely curious what people’s thoughts are. You can’t not be. It’s something that we worked so hard on. This season in particular, we shot almost 200 days, like 180-something. So you want to see what people think of this thing that you created. This is my art, and that’s another way you can grow is by seeing a response.

The Phoenix: What are you most excited for people to see in Part Two?

Grant: Honestly, I like the Morocco setup. I think it looks so cool, like the dunes and all that stuff. 

Bailey: Our little OBX filter looks really good on Morocco. 

Grant: It looks sick. The shots in Morocco look sick. I’m just excited for people to see that. 

Bailey: That finale is going to be gorgeous. I mean, like we’ve always said for past seasons, the Outer Banks is like an unspoken character, like Charleston’s like an unspoken character. The world is so important. Even when we go to Barbados, even with your [Carlacia’s] whole character, it’s expanding the idea of Pogue. Doing that in Morocco, as well, is very cool. 

Bailey and Grant will continue on their high-stakes hijinks in Part Two of “Outer Banks” season four, streaming Nov. 7 on Netflix.