Wayward Pines
Season 1 Episode 2: “Do Not Discuss Your Life Before”
Directed by Charlotte Sieling
Written and Created by Chad Hodge
Starring Matt Dillion, Juliette Lewis, Carla Gugino, Toby Jones, Shannyn Sossamon, Melissa Leo, Hope Davis, Reed Diamond, Terrence Howard
FOX
Air Date: Thursday, May 21st, 2015, 9:00pm

Fox’s new 10-episode series, Wayward Pines, debuted last week with a star-studded cast and a plot taken from the dark nightmares of X-Files and LOST. Based on a series of novels by Blake Crouch, the story centers on Secret Service Agent Ethan Burke (Matt Dillon) who awakes from a car accident in the tiny Idaho town of Wayward Pines. He and his partner were to investigate the disappearance of two agents there. What he finds instead are a strange array of characters, who all seem to be lying or hiding something. A nurse (Melissa Leo) at the hospital won’t let him leave. The sheriff (Terrence Howard) is anything but helpful. The one nice person he finds is bartender Beverly (Juliette Lewis) who slips him an address where he finds one of the agents dead and decaying. Unable to reach his office or wife, Burke is quickly losing it. It only gets worse when he finds his former partner Kate (Carla Gugino) who claims to have been lost in Wayward Pines for years!

Done with this creepy town, Burke drives off, only to find the entire town is fenced in and there’s no escape. With nowhere to go, we enter Episode 2…

We pick up directly where we left off, with the Sheriff Pope holding the ID-less Agent Burke at gunpoint. As some kids ride by on bicycles one turns and warns, “Don’t try to leave Mr. Burke. That’s rule number one.” After the premiere we know that the Secret Service knows something, as a doctor (Toby Jones) who appears in Wayward Pines, also appears in Seattle meeting with Burke’s agency buddy. The show exists in the real world (I think), because they routinely show his worried wife (Shannyn Sossamon) talking to her son and Ethan’s agency friends about where he could be, or who he ran off with.

Everyone in town acts robotic (I got a serious Stepford Wives vibe from the coffee shop girl). Kate speaks to him in code. There are signs in all the stores reminiscent of “Big Brother is Watching.” As with most things M. Night Shyamalan touches, I’m both confused and curious. Is there really bleeding on Burke’s brain… and if so is this all in his head? Or is this some elaborate government test facility? And who are the “they” everyone refers to? If we don’t get some answers soon, there may be bleeding on my brain!

At the exact moment I started thinking the Pines people’s obsession with giving Burke brain surgery was a way to implant him with something, he is coaxed to remove a “chip” from his leg by Bev. Bev says it best; “the more you see, the less anything makes sense in this town.” Burke and Bev plan a grand escape, which of course meets with some expected and not-so expected consequences.

The A-list cast continues to carry the show. Dillon is frantic but strong, Lewis scared but hopeful, and Howard is outright evil. He even eats ice cream in a dark creepy way. And Melissa Leo is straight out of The Twilight Zone. The best thing I can say about this show is that despite all the questions I have, I am thoroughly intrigued rather than annoyed. LOST drove me to stop watching by providing too many questions without any answers, and no ending in sight. Wayward Pines (only 2 episodes into a 10-episode run) is fresh and different. I genuinely have no clue what’s going on, but that’s the point… neither do any of the characters! I cannot wait to find out the answers to my questions, and uncover the secrets hiding deep inside Wayward Pines.

Wayward Pines Episode 2 “Do Not Discuss Your Life” Before debuts tonight on FOX at 9:00pm ET. And if you missed the pilot episode, “When Paradise is Home,” it is on immediately before at 8.

Videos

Ethan and Beverly are invited to dinner by Kate.

Ethan investigates Bill’s belongings at the coroner’s office.

Ethan and Sheriff Pope discuss Ethan’s accident and the whereabouts of Bill’s body.

Theresa calls the CIA looking for Ethan.

Ethan confronts Kate at her toy store.

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