We’re just three episodes in — soon to be four — and already things are starting to heat up. This show is a lot like Lost when it comes to the mystery, with one exception: the big reveal is apparently going to happen within the next couple of episodes.
According to M. Night Shyamalan, we’re going to find out what’s really happening halfway through the season. We won’t have to wait until the end of the series to know what the hell is going on in the crazy ass town of Wayward Pines!
“You never want to put that paradigm shift [a twist] at the very end because you want to live in the new world, and this allows me to live in that new world for the whole second half of a season.”
Season one has a total of ten episodes and we’re three in, that means we’ll find out the “paradigm shift” in about two more. Considering the big reveal on last week’s episode — read: creepy thing — it’s not a stretch to believe that something big is coming real soon.
As always, this is your SPOILER WARNING.
What Is the Big Mid-Season Reveal?
By now, we know enough of the weird happenings to make an educated guess. That was a lot tougher to do after the first episode because there were so many questions.
It seems like, even just after three episodes we’ve already had a lot of those questions answered, albeit some of them in an ambiguous way. Wayward Pines is much different than Lost in that respect, as it’s not quite so frustrating and uptight with its answers.
So, just what the hell is going on? What’s the big reveal going to be?
While I can’t say for certain, I do have some guesses of my own. I’ll also share some comments that pose interesting theories — thanks, folks!
Wayward Pines Is In the Future
I can’t explain how or why this stuff is happening in the future, but this theory does seem to check out.
Beverly tells Ethan that she first got to Wayward Pines in 1999 and felt that she had only been there for a year. Ethan, on the other hand, knew it was 2014 – 15 years later than what Beverly quoted.
According to Ethan, Kate went missing about five weeks before he arrived. He assumed she hadn’t been there for long, but she ends up telling him that she’s been a resident for 12 years — and has aged accordingly and been married for almost as long.
She also told Ethan that after 10 years, their partner — agent Bill Evans — had suddenly gone missing, and he hadn’t aged at all since the last time she saw him.
To add to that, in Episode 2 Ethan catches a glimpse of Theresa and Ben being wheeled into the hospital before they were even in the town. Back in the real world it seemed like they were still looking for him.
Later, he finds Theresa’s car, covered in dust like it had been there for ages when really it had been an accident just days before.
One thing is certain, time is screwy in Wayward Pines. The only way these events seem to line up correctly is if everything in the town is happening in the future and everything outside of it is happening in the past. Perhaps, we’re being served flashbacks from the real world to coincide with current events?
That would mean Wayward Pines is trapped in some kind of stasis field, or possibly even another dimension.
Trippy, man.
On an earlier post, Jim Parker said something similar:
[..] it’s actually many years in the future. It would explain why Kate states she’s been there for years not 5 weeks.
Wayward Pines Is a Breeding Ground
Otter said it best:
I was thinking some kind of research facility for wayward agents at first a la BBC’s “The Prisoner”, but now, by episode 3; it has gone much deeper than that. No one can just drive there…it seems to involve “the accident” and lost time, and now we see the beastie alien thing grabbing the body of —- and gobbling it up. So, the lost time is probably a long trip thru space and internment in some prison that tries to mock Earth, but is a bit cheesy like with the crickets and the public sacrifice. The weak are being culled, and the strong survive to breed. And we learn that Dillon’s character is special because he has his whole family there. Then there are the babies and the nurse. They are coupling people up and giving them a house with the secret wish that babies are born and delivered to the aliens. Probably the aliens are dying out and need to develop some kind of hybrid breeding stock mixing with humans of the right stock, just conjecture, but it is a much too elaborate program for just the feds.
The creature we saw at the end of Episode 3 dragging away Sheriff Pope’s body was humanoid looking. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s human, it could be extraterrestrial in nature.
What’s most important is that they exist. It doesn’t matter what they are, they’re dangerous either way. That huge electric fence has been built around the town to protect the residents from what’s outside. Now, we know what’s outside.
As Pope says before Ethan shoots him, “You think you want to know the truth, but you don’t. It’s worse than anything you could ever imagine.”
If we go with the theory above that Wayward Pines is indeed in the future, it’s likely the town is some sort of breeding ground. Are the residents inside truly protected, or are they being bred to meet some sinister end? My guess is that we’ll have to wait a few more episodes to find that out.
What do you think?
The Government Is Responsible
We don’t know for sure who’s behind Wayward Pines other than Dr. Jenkins and Ethan’s boss Adam Hessler. They might not even be at the top, someone else may be calling the shots. Since Hessler is in charge of the Secret Service it’s not a stretch to assume that the government is involved in some way, or perhaps another shady organization is to blame?
We know that Dr. Jenkins is at Wayward Pines when Ethan is there, so either he can travel in time or he could come and go freely back when Ethan was in the real world. What we don’t know yet is Hessler’s involvement outside of arranging for Ethan to end up in town, along with Theresa and Ben.
How does management choose new residents? What are the criteria for moving someone new into town? Kate, Bill, and Ethan were all members of the Secret Service. Obviously, they found something out they weren’t supposed to. Does everyone else in the town have some relation to the Secret Service? Are they all retired agents?
The good news is that we don’t have to wait ten episodes to find most this stuff out.
Wow what a turd jim
Boo Jim Parker!! I think they have actually translated the books into a miniseries very well. I loved the books, but I am really loving the show!!
Who is Jim Parker because he obviously read the trilogy and wants to pretend he figured out what’s going on, which is supremely annoying. Dude, you need this to look cool? There is no way that he came to this conclusion without reading the books or reading the spoilers for the books:
“I think it’s humanity that has regressed back to an animalistic state and it’s actually many years in the future. It would explain why Kate states she’s been there for years not 5 weeks.”
You should take this down because it isn’t a theory; it’s a spoiler.
Ive read all three books….the storyline is awesome in the book, they clearly had to change a lot of things to fit t.v……