In the third season of Outer Banks, when Kiara continues to defy her parents, she is sent to a fictional wilderness camp called Kitty Hawk Adventure Therapy, which has the same name as a town in North Carolina.
Kiara’s parents disapprove of her relationship with the Pogues. They try to stop her from meeting them and getting in trouble again, but Kiara goes against their wishes to see her friends time and time again.
Finally, when she rejects their ideas of going away for school and her father hears her talking to her friends about El Dorado, they decide to take drastic measures.
Sarah talks to her father and arranges transport for the group to get to Orinoco. Before meeting at the airstrip, some of them decide to bid goodbye to their parents, including Kiara. However, Kiara never comes.
What is Kitty Hawk?
Kiara’s parents want to send her away so that she can try and rebuild her life away from her friends. When Kiara comes home to ask for their permission to go to Orinoco, she finds people from Kitty Hawk already waiting for her.
Her parents have decided on her behalf. They are sending her to Kitty Hawk, which is a reeducation camp outside the city. The camp provides adventure therapy; teenagers are made to work and participate in various activities in the wild.
Teenagers who are sent there are referred to as patients who need to be cured. For the first six weeks of their stay, they cannot have contact with the outside world.
They are not allowed to have their phones with them. They are expected to be diligent and polite; they must wake up and work on time. If they fail to follow the rules, they are locked in a tiny reflection cabin.
What happens to Kiara at Kitty Hawk?
Kiara is forcefully dragged to the camp by two men. There, she is asked to wear the same uniform as the others. She is diagnosed with a condition called ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder).
She is told that due to her condition, she opposes authority figures all the time. She is further told that her condition is treatable with medication.
Kiara does not want to take medication or stay there. She tries escaping, but she gets caught. She is then sent to the reflection cabin and is made to stay there all by herself.
How does Kiara escape?
When Kiara does not return, JJ goes to her house to check up on her. He is told by her parents that Kiara has been sent to the wilderness camp. JJ talks to his cousin, who has also spent time at the camp, and finds out its location.
He manages to sneak into the camp by lying that he is the counselor’s brother and that he needs to drop a package. Once he gets inside, he asks around and locates the main office.
He talks to the lady there and asks her to let him meet Kiara. When he sees that his strategy is not working, he lies that he is Kiara’s cousin and needs to give her some bad news.
Noticing the picture of a cat on the woman’s desk, he tells her that Kiara lost her cat and must be informed about the same. The woman feels bad for Kiara and goes to deliver the news, enabling JJ to find out where she is being kept.
However, Kiara is moved to a different cabin before JJ could reach her. She goes to the dorm but not without leaving behind a message for JJ, informing him of her cabin number.
JJ gets her message and finds the dorm. He sneaks in at night and finally finds her. JJ apologizes to her for stealing from her father, and the two confess their love for each other before sharing a kiss.
They leave the camp without taking the Twinkie to make the people at the camp think that they are still there. Barracuda Mike, who is helping JJ in exchange for a part of the money that they will get from the treasure, comes to pick them up.
JJ and Kiara successfully escape from Kitty Hawk and leave for Orinoco to join the rest of the group.
Also Read: Big John: Outer Banks season 3 character explained