Rudy Pankow's Departure From 'Outer Banks' Leave Many Wondering Why He Left

Season 4 of Outer Banks brought more drama than any previous installment, and that included one of the most high-stakes plot decisions in the show's history.

JJ, who has survived all of the treasure hunts the crew has been on through four seasons, died at the end of Season 4.

Following the revelation of JJ's death, many wondered why Rudy Pankow was leaving the show. Was this something that had been written in, or was it a decision that the actor made?

Here's what we know about JJ's death, and whether Rudy had anything to do with it:

Many fans were convinced that, because JJ had just learned who his real parents were and the nature of his identity, he still had plenty of story left.

According to the show's creators, though, they had known for some time that Season 4 would be the last season for Rudy's character.

"We were pretty sure early on that this was where it was going. We thought that one of the Pogues would die almost in the very beginning in Season 1, and we were pretty sure it was going to be JJ," co-creators Shannon Burke, Jonas Pate, and Josh Pate told Cosmopolitan. "We just weren’t sure when we were going to play that card. We knew this would be JJ’s season — this is JJ’s story. And we realized pretty early on, like, Okay, we’re going to play this card now.”

JJ's death certainly ups the stakes for the final season, as the rest of the Pogues vow revenge for the death of their friend.

While it's certainly possible that this twist was done for entirely narrative reasons, there are plenty of fans who suspect that there was something else going on that had much less to do with the drama on the show than the drama around it.

While the showrunners would never confirm this, many believe a rift had formed between Rudy and his co-star Madison Bailey.

This was made even more uncomfortable for the actors because JJ and Madison's character Kiara had become romantically involved on the show, even though there were rumors that Rudy and Madison would not film scenes together.

While none of this behind-the-scenes drama has been confirmed, and nobody really knows exactly what happened, it dates back more than a year, and seems to involve a cast dinner.

Regardless of exactly what happened behind the scenes, though, there are many who simply believe that Rudy was killed off because he could no longer work with Madison or even other members of the cast.

In all likelihood, though, the official line will be that JJ's death was a creative decision. Of course, there are also some who believe that JJ isn't dead at all.

We may know a little bit more about JJ's fate when Season 5 premieres, but until then, fans will continue to speculate.