Filming has begun on Outer Banks‘ fifth and final season, but one key member of the cast is missing.

Rudy Pankow, who played JJ Maybank for the first four seasons of the series, is not returning for the final season after his character died during the Pogues’ mission in Morocco — at the hands of his biological father, Chandler Groff (J. Anthony Crane).

The death rocked the Pogues onscreen and fans off-screen alike, and also was the subject of much speculation, as rumors surfaced that the actor had departed the series due to a falling out with his costar Madison Bailey.

A source denied the rift rumors at the time, but speculation has endured, particularly now that filming on season 5 has begun. Madelyn Cline is now weighing in.

Pankow’s absence is noticed on set of the final season, Cline says.

At the Los Angeles premiere of I Know What You Did Last Summer, Cline, 27, was asked about if the cast is missing Pankow, 27, on set.

She told Extra TV it’s “definitely strange” not having the actor around “because we shot four seasons with him.”

“There’s a part of the dynamic that isn’t there anymore,” she added of Pankow’s exit and the loss of JJ, best friend to John B (Chase Stokes), Pope (Jonathan Daviss), Kiara (Bailey) and her character Sarah Cameron.

The cast is more focused, though, on enjoying one last ride

“But also, you know, we’re all just happy to be there,” Cline continued.

“The camaraderie, the chemistry is all amazing,” she said of the cast, which also includes Drew Starkey, who plays her older brother Rafe. “I don’t think we take a single second of it for granted.”

It’s emotional, too, though. “I cry at least two times a week,” she told the outlet of her mostly “happy tears.”

“It’s the end of a big, big chapter of my life. But yes, it’s bittersweet, it’s emotional, and we’re all really, really happy to be back.”

Speculation about a rift between Pankow and his costars was fueled again earlier this year when Stokes remarked on his tight bond with Daviss and Bailey.

In January, Stokes, 32, gushed about how “very thankful” he is for Outer Banks and “the people who are on it” with him during an interview on The Rich Eisen Show.

“I mean, like I said, Jonathan [Daviss] and Madison Bailey are both, not just costars, they’re like family,” he said.

The fact that he neglected to include Pankow in his response stood out to fans.

Stokes continued, “We were at dinner last night just kind of talking about it, reminiscing on how crazy the last couple years have been and how much it has truthfully changed our lives.”

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Outer Banks seasons 1-4 can be streamed on Netflix.