Wayward Pines
Season 2 Episode 1: “Behind Enemy Lines”
Directed by David Petrarca
Written by Mark Friedman
Created by Chad Hodge
Starring Jason Patric, Djimon Hounsou, Terrence Howard, Carla Gugino, Tom Stevens, Nimrat Kaur, Hope Davis, Charlie Tahan
FOX
Air Date: Wednesday, May 25th, 2016, 9:00pm

Last May, M. Night Shyamalan helped bring Blake Crouch’s Wayward Pines series to the small screen as a ten-episode event. The sci-fi action drama featured a true all star cast including Matt Dillon, Carla Gugino, Juliette Lewis, Terrence Howard, Toby Jones and Oscar winner Melissa Leo. Dillon starred as Ethan Burke, a Seattle secret service agent who wakes from a car crash in the woods outside a quiet Idaho town. Soon we see the town is more of a totalitarian dictatorship with censorship, 24/7 surveillance, and the public “reckoning” of any dissidents. Why is it like this? Burke is finally told the truth by the town doctor, who is actually the town’s founder, David Pilcher (Jones). Able to predict humankind would wipe itself out, and a new terrifying wave of evolution would sweep over us, Pilcher recruited many and kidnapped thousands of others to undergo cryogenic freezing, to be woken up at a later date as the last vestige of humanity. This is Wayward Pines. When everyone was let in on the scheme, it caused a rebellion and soon the walls were breaking down and the “abbies” (mutated former humans) were on the loose. Season one ends with Burke sacrificing himself to destroy the abbies and save his family and the remaining members of the town. Unfortunately the town was left in the hands of the “First Generation”; those born and raised in Wayward Pines, who continue Pilcher’s legacy.

Spoilers ahead…

We open with a monologue summarizing the events that ended season one by Ben Burke (Charlie Tahan), Ethan’s surviving son who has awakened from an over three-year coma. We then meet Dr. Theo Yedlin (Jason Patric) on vacation with his wife (Nimrat Kaur). He ends up drinking shots at a tropical bar with a talkative stranger (Howard) who speaks to the good doc about saving people. Yedlin comes to in what appears to be a doctor’s office having no clue how he got there. He is transported in a military vehicle en route to an emergency medical situation. With paranoia getting to him, Yedlin leaps from the vehicle and tries to make an escape on foot. He tries to call the police from a landline at a family’s house, but they have photos of the late David Pilcher on their hall table. He is soon apprehended near a bloody bullet laden wall, and warned not to run again.

Brought to the lone hospital in Wayward Pines and told he’s the only doctor, Yedlin demands answers. He’s informed by the new leader Jason Higgins (Tom Stevens) that the entire town is a government-run experiment testing war trauma on civilians and that everyone is a volunteer. The patient he’s called to deal with is Kate (Gugino). While he’s operating, Higgins is informed that 3 more men were killed today as a rebellion continues, led by Ben Burke (Tahan). Megan Fisher (Hope Davis), who was Pilcher’s most devout follower and trainer of the first generation, enters in a wheelchair to remind Higgins of Pilcher’s message: clear and severe. If they don’t get the message clearly, punish them severely.

We see Ben and a crew of rebels, old and young, planning their next move. They have spies within the first generation, feeding them info and they’ve succeeded at making small dents against them. Other season 1 holdovers are seen as Yedlin wanders through the hospital including Arlene (Siobhan Fallon Hogan) being electro shocked. Kate wakes up and tries to clue Yedlin in to the truth but he’s whisked away. Higgins only saved Kate because as a rebel leader, she can give answers to where Ben and the rest of them are. I guess she’s still angry about her husband being executed right in front of her at the end of last season…

The good doctor questions his military escort about the location of airports, and distance to big cities… of course fruitless questions in 4032 when the world is gone and all that remains is Wayward Pines. I started wondering at this point, why not immediately tell the unfrozen the truth. Give them time to re-condition and accept it, and they’d be more likely to carry on with the whole ark concept. The lying and withholding of truth just breeds paranoia and resistance. Case and point, Dr. Yedlin is told he’s the only doctor but then he’s led by armed guards and watches women being pulled away from their children in the street with no explanation, just some lie about a “government experiment.” In fact, Higgins even says at one point, in reference to Yedlin, “we don’t want another Ethan Burke situation.” Well then why the heck are you making all the same mistakes you did with Burke?!?!

Dr. Yedlin gets to witness first hand the true nature of Wayward Pines, from its totalitarian laws, to the public reckonings and of course the Abbies. At the end of the premiere I’m left wondering what direction the show is taking. Season 1 had an aura to it, akin to LOST at the beginning. There was always that question of “where are they going with this story and with these characters?” and they brought people to the water cooler and kept them coming back. Now the cat is out of the bag with Wayward Pines. The mystique is gone. It’s the future. It’s a dystopian society. In fact, with youngsters in lead roles on both sides I feel like I’m watching an episodic version of one of the many YA movie series out there (Maze Runner, Hunger Games, Divergent, etc.) The characters we cared about from season 1 have been replaced with cookie cutter actors; even Jason Patric just kinda moved slowly and blandly through the episode. Matt Dillon has an aura of rugged realism, and unfortunately Patric reminded me of the guy replacing Keanu Reeves in Speed 2. And that’s sad because I’m a huge Jason Patric fan from his roles in Lost Boys, Rush, and Narc. The show will need to find a new layer of mysticism and intrigue and quick. Or else I feel; like human life on the show, it will soon become extinct.

The second season premiere of Wayward Pines is tonight, Wednesday May 25th at 9:00 on FOX.

FOX’s synopsis:

“ENEMY LINES”
JASON PATRIC, DJIMON HOUNSOU AND HOPE DAVIS STAR IN THE SEASON TWO PREMIERE OF “WAYWARD PINES” AIRING WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, ON FOX
WED MAY 25 9/8c

Season Two of WAYWARD PINES stars Jason Patric (“Rush,” “Narc”), two-time Academy Award nominee Djimon Hounsou (“Blood Diamond,” “In America”) and Emmy Award and Golden Globe nominee Hope Davis (“American Crime,” “The Newsroom”). The 10-episode psychological thriller picks up after the shocking events of the Season One finale, with the residents of Wayward Pines battling against the iron-fisted rule of the First Generation. Dr. Theo Yedlin (Jason Patric) – a new resident of Wayward Pines – awakens from suspended animation and finds himself in the middle of this rebellion, as he tries to understand what Wayward Pines really is and help preserve the endangered human race. Don’t miss the all-new “Enemy Lines” Season Two premiere episode of WAYWARD PINES airing Wednesday, May 25 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

Image Gallery

Videos

WAYWARD PINES | Welcome To The Neighborhood | FOX

The citizens of WAYWARD PINES welcome you back to the neighborhood.

WAYWARD PINES | Something Is Rotten Here | FOX BROADCASTING

Find out what it is in the return of WAYWARD PINES this WED at 9/8c on FOX!