Ready for more drama and thrills in new, fourth season of Outer Banks? Blavity’s Shadow and Act spoke with stars Jonathan Daviss, Carlacia Grant, Madelyn Cline, Madison Bailey, Chase Stokes and Drew Starkey, and according to the actors, emotional complexity is at the top of the list of themes this season.

Blavity/Shadow and Act Managing Editor Trey Mangum spoke to the stars about their characters and what fans can expect. Grant, who plays Cleo, said this season will be a little different for her character, but in the best way possible. She described Cleo’s journey this year as “fun and exciting” for her as an actor.

“I’ve been talking to the writers since last year and basically talking about how Cleo was going to have a focal storyline this year. And we went through who would get me to those emotions. It was great,” she said, talking about how a person from Cleo’s past surfaces in the first part of Season 4.

“Cleo is such a mysterious character but she’s also a human who has different levels and different emotions. I think this year we see a completely different side of Cleo that we haven’t gotten to see,” she continued. “I also think she is humanized in a way because she’s so strong and she’s so powerful and she’s so fierce that sometimes she can come off like a superhero things don’t bother her, but I definitely think we get to see more of her human side.”

This development for the character highlights how important it is for Black characters to be as emotionally complex as their non-Black counterparts, something that, sadly, often doesn’t happen in genre television such as YA drama. Jonathan Daviss, who plays Pope, agreed with the sentiment that Black characters should always be well-rounded without falling into tropes such as being a strong, silent type.

“I think it’s very important when you’re portraying any character to make sure they’re well-rounded and fully fleshed out as a person,” he said. “You can’t fall too far into one trope or the other, but you gotta make sure these characters are who they are from bone to blood. They’ve got to be fully realized and emotionally rich and have a lot of depth to them. I think every actor strives to put that into a character.”

Watch the full interviews with the cast above. The first half of Outer Banks Season 4 is now streaming on Netflix, with Part 2 of Season 2 dropping in November.