Pogues don't mack on Pogues is a golden rule to be broken on Outer Banks, and Season 3 of the teen drama could see JJ and Kiara as the next Pogues to break it. The teaser trailer reveals that the Pogues have found paradise in Poguelandia, and one of its most emphasized scenes is a hug between JJ and Kiara. Outer Banks' other big ship -- John B and Sarah -- is mostly absent throughout the footage. This detail suggests that JJ and Kiara's story will be more prominent in Season 3, like John B's in Season 1 and Pope's in Season 2.

Showrunners Jonas Pate, Josh Pate, and Shannon Burke told Entertainment Weekly that romance was always the plan for Season 3. Josh Pate spoke to JJ and Kiara as a fan-favorite ship, "We wanted to tease that for the third season. We didn't want to do it immediately, but we definitely want to do it just because that took us by surprise, like the audience's reaction to JJ and Kiara and rooting for that romance." Narratively, it is for the best that JJ and Kiara's romance (coined Jiara by fans) wouldn't begin -- if it does -- until sometime in Season 3.

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While JJ has yet to have a significant romance on the show, Kiara has had romantic interactions with John B and Pope. Her kiss with John B in Season 1 is purposefully less momentous than her kiss and subsequent relationship with Pope. The former reads as a way to underscore how John B and Kiara are strictly friends with zero romantic chemistry, and that's okay. Alternatively, Kiara and Pope give their feelings for each other a chance, but it doesn't work out. Refreshingly, they pretty quickly bounce back to being the best of friends.

As John B and Sarah deal with romantic drama and Pope's attention turns to discovering more about his familial history, a more prominent connection builds between JJ Maybank and Kiara Carrera. The pair have a few standout moments throughout Season 1. Most notably, Kiara (and Pope) come to JJ's side to comfort him after an intense run-in with his abusive father in "Dead Calm." Coincidentally, Season 2 of the coming-of-age show dials up their bond when JJ's father, Luke, returns to use his son to find a way off the island after leaving jail.

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Kiara and JJ in Outer Banks Season 2

Kiara doesn't mince her words (or her actions) when she puts Luke in his place about how he treats JJ and talks to her. Kiara asks him, "Do you have any idea how special your son is? Like, even a clue?" Adding on to that, once JJ and Luke are alone, Luke doesn't ease up on his belittling words about Kiara, to which JJ responds, "Everything — everything I have, you freaking ruin." Though they don't often say it explicitly to each other, it's evident through how they speak about each other and show up for each other that JJ and Kiara value one another. They also learn how much they have in common when their dreams perfectly line up while planning a spontaneous surfing trip -- another standout scene in the second season.

The Season 2 finale, "The Coastal Venture," puts their strengthened connection and care for each other in action when Kiara jumps overboard to save JJ's life after he leaps to her defense. Of course, the Pogues are a loyal bunch, so Kiara and JJ would come to any of their defenses, but it matters that the story makes it Kiara and JJ. Context clues from the past suggest JJ has always had feelings for Kiara, and Kiara's starting to come to terms with hers. That near-death experience and the heartfelt hug that follows could pull real feelings from them. Those feelings may very well be the romantic ones the showrunners want to tease for Season 3.

Season 3 is the optimal time to explore that process -- not Season 2. Pushing up Jiara's romantic relationship would have caused everything with Pope and anything with JJ to be too close together, preventing the stories from having any lives of their own. In Season 3, JJ and Kiara have time and space to explore their dynamic and any feelings that come from it, and their hug in the teaser is loaded with emotions. Plus, the build-up to Jiara can make the slow burn more romantic and narratively satisfying. Pairing the showrunners' comments with that hug, it feels like it's only a matter of time before this fan-favorite ship sets sail in Poguelandia.

Outer Banks Seasons 1 and 2 are streaming now on Netflix.