Who Does Kiara End Up With in Outer Banks Season 5?

Kiara does not end Outer Banks Season 5 with Rafe, another Pogue or a new romantic partner. She ends the series single, still carrying her love for JJ but finally moving forward after his death. The finale shows Kiara pursuing marine biology, buying back and rebuilding the old Maybank property, and creating a memorial bench for JJ. Rafe, meanwhile, leaves the Outer Banks with Sofia, closing off the long-running fan theory that Rafe and Kiara might become a couple in the final season.

Spoiler Alert

Kiara does not replace JJ with another relationship

Season 5 never treats JJ’s death as an obstacle that Kiara needs to overcome by finding someone new. Her central emotional arc is grief, particularly because she witnesses Groff murder JJ after JJ gives up the Blue Crown to protect her. Revenge initially becomes the way she directs that pain, while the Crown gives her hope that she might still be able to undo the loss completely.

By the end, she has accepted something much harder. JJ is not coming back, but accepting his death does not require her to stop loving him. The finale allows Kiara to build an independent future rather than immediately attaching her to another romance.

That is why her ending feels deliberately different from John B and Sarah or Pope and Cleo.

Do Rafe and Kiara get together?

No. Rafe and Kiara never become a romantic couple in Season 5.

The “Riara” pairing had developed a substantial fan following long before the final season, particularly after scenes in which Kiara showed flashes of empathy toward Rafe. But Madison Bailey had already been skeptical of the possibility. In a 2024 Teen Vogue interview, Bailey said she could understand Kiara recognizing that Rafe had been dealt difficult circumstances, but still described him as frightening and explicitly rejected the idea of a Riara endgame. Madelyn Cline likewise said she could not see the pairing happening.

Season 5 ultimately follows that direction. Rafe undergoes substantial character growth and becomes much closer to the Pogues, but redemption does not automatically turn his relationship with Kiara into romance.

Related: Outer Banks Recap: Everything That Happened in Seasons 1-4

Who does Rafe end up with instead?

Rafe’s final relationship is with Sofia. During the hurricane storyline, he breaks Sofia out of police custody and tries to escape with her. When Sheriff Shoupe pursues them and becomes trapped beneath a fallen tree, Rafe and Sofia return rather than abandoning him.

After the hurricane, Rafe says goodbye to Sarah and the other Pogues and leaves the Outer Banks with Sofia by boat. That ending makes his romantic destination clear while also giving his character a clean break from the Cameron life that shaped so much of his violence.

The finale therefore separates two ideas that fandom often combined: Rafe can change without ending up with Kiara.

What happens to Kiara after Groff dies?

Kiara’s future is built around the things that mattered to her before treasure hunting consumed her life. After the Pogues recover their share of the Royal Merchant fortune, she buys back the old Maybank property and begins rebuilding it. She also gives her parents a yacht and becomes a marine biology intern.

Marine conservation has been part of Kiara’s identity since the early seasons, so the career choice is not a random epilogue detail. It reconnects her with the version of herself that existed before years of treasure hunts, murders and international chases took over her life.

The Maybank property carries a different significance. Kiara cannot rebuild JJ himself, but she can restore a place connected to him.

Does Kiara ever move on from JJ?

Yes, but “moving on” does not mean forgetting him.

Season 5 first gives Kiara closure through the Blue Crown sequence. After asking the Crown to bring JJ back, she sees shooting stars and memories of their relationship rather than a physical resurrection. Madison Bailey described the moment as enough for Kiara, suggesting that its real purpose is acceptance.

The finale later reinforces that idea through the memorial bench Kiara dedicates to JJ. She has a career, land of her own and a future, but JJ remains part of the life she builds.

It is a quieter ending than another romance, and probably a more fitting one for the story Season 5 chose to tell.

Related: Outer Banks Ends With Groff Lost at Sea and the Blue Crown in the Wrong Hands

Why Kiara’s single ending matters

Outer Banks spends much of Kiara’s early story moving her through complicated feelings involving Pope and JJ, while fans later created an entirely separate possibility around Rafe. The final season refuses to make her ending dependent on which man she chooses.

Instead, she gets to choose a life.

JJ remains the person she loved at the end of his life, and the show does not dilute that relationship by immediately replacing him. At the same time, Kiara is not frozen forever as JJ’s grieving girlfriend. She returns to the ocean, her environmental interests and the people she considers family.

So, who does Kiara end up with? No one romantically. Outer Banks ends her story with something more personal: Kiara finally finds a way to keep JJ with her while continuing without him.