Jackson Lee Davis/Netflix

Topper’s new girlfriend, Ruthie, didn’t exactly sit right with Outer Banks fans — so what does that mean for Austin North’s character — and the fictional couple — ahead of season 5?

After season 4 came to an end on Thursday, November 7, North, 26, exclusively told Us Weekly how the show intentionally questioned Topper’s future with his new love interest (played by Mia Challis).

“Topper is trying to get over his love for Sarah. He’s trying to move on,” North explained about the tumultuous onscreen trajectory. “He’s got a new girlfriend, Ruthie, and she’s probably not the best influence on him. I don’t know if she’s the best fit for him but he’s trying to move on.”

Part 1 of season 4 showed Ruthie egging Topper on during an argument with the Pogues. After nudging him to escalate the feud, Topper ended up unknowingly driving over a group of baby turtles trying to find their way back into the ocean. The scene caused Kiara (Madison Bailey) — and some viewers — to get emotional, which resulted in some surprising online backlash against Ruthie.

Related: Us Ranks Every ‘Outer Banks’ Couple: From JJ and Kiara to John B and Sarah

Outer Banks has inspired countless conversations about romance — but which of the show’s fictional couples come out on top? The hit Netflix series, which premiered in 2020, introduced viewers to a coastal town in the Outer Banks of North Carolina that’s divided into wealthy and working-class sides. The show follows a group of teenagers […]

“I have to remind people that are watching the show that Ruthie and Topper didn’t look down the beach and go, ‘There’s turtles, let’s go run over them.’ It was more, ‘Let’s drive over there and spray some sand on them.’ Topper didn’t really know what Ruthie was up to at the moment,” North clarified. “At the end of the day, the turtle hatch happened and Topper and Ruthie got involved in that and they probably didn’t react the best way when Kiara came down to the beach and was confronting them.”

North could see why the controversial scene didn’t help sell Topper and Ruthie’s relationship.

Jackson Lee Davis/Netflix

“That’s probably the part that got the fans fired up. But Topper and Ruthie’s intention was not to go run over some turtles originally,” he said while weighing in on the fictional couple’s future together. “[Ruthie is] somebody that fits where Topper is at right now. He is in this place where he’s matured a lot but he’s attracted to this wild child in Ruthie — including her recklessness.”

North continued: “Topper has tried to just be on [the] straight and narrow his whole life. After all this pressure from his mom, Ruthie just brings out another side of Topper. A fun and chaotic side that probably isn’t the best for him. It seems that she’s definitely a way for him to get over Sarah. But I don’t think Ruthie [is] the best influence on him.”

With Outer Banks being renewed for a fifth and final season, North is looking forward to seeing where Topper’s story goes from here, adding, “The environment on set is very unique and different from anything I’ve ever done. That holds a special place in my heart. There is a freedom they give us creatively. They allow us to just improv, bring our own to scenes and collaborate with the writers and the director.”

Executive producers Jonas Pate, Josh Pate and Shannon Burke recently hinted at the Outer Banks universe potentially expanding in the future. As fans hope for a potential spinoff — or two — North admitted he would love to see a show that would expand on Topper’s side of the story.

“This show is just so special and I am just so grateful to be a part of it. It’s always fun to see where they take these characters so it would be cool to continue the journey in a spinoff,” he shared with Us. “I would definitely be open to that. That would be a lot of fun and I could continue to do other projects on the side.”

North has been thrilled by the time he got to spend on Outer Banks so far.

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“On this show, things can be so unpredictable and it’s allowed me to figure out how to just adapt as an actor and save my energy. But I have also learned to just commit 100 percent in these scenes. It’s a little scary at first hopping onto a set this big with all these people on a Netflix production,” he recalled. “[But everyone involved in the show] allowed me to just fully commit and trust myself as an actor. It’s created some really amazing work and I’m going to carry that with me to other sets and just trust myself more. I’ve grown a lot as an actor and I’ve learned a lot from these people that I’ve been working with.”

He concluded: “I continue to learn every single day. And anytime I’m on set, I learn something. I try to take in something, whether it’s stuff behind the camera or in front of it. There’s only so much you can learn in acting class and I’ve learned so much just being on set. It’s been quite the blessing.”

Outer Banks is currently streaming on Netflix and has been renewed for a fifth and final season.