Wayward Pines - S1E5 - The Truth
Previously on Wayward Pines, ‘One of Our Senior Realtors Has Chosen to Retire’
I will do my best to get everyone’s names straight this week. Peter/Paul, Bill/Bob. Close enough!
Unlimited Shotgun Ammo Achievement Unlocked
Ethan makes it to the top of the mountain, but he’s far from reaching the promised land - Boise. The growling creature we got a glimpse of at the end of last week’s episode (perhaps the same thing that grabbed Pope) watches from behind a tree. As Ethan gathers himself, he hears a noise. Suddenly, something runs by and scratches his arm. He fires blindly into the trees, never running out of ammo and never reloading.
Ben and Amy approach his house, making plans to walk to school together the next day. Where the hell are they coming from? Ben is so not smooth, but it’s okay because Amy is - she kisses him before walking away. Inside the house, Theresa tells her son Ethan is working late, and close to solving his case. They’ll be going home soon. Ben looks like he just had his first kiss from a girl only to be told he might possibly never see her again.
Back on the mountaintop, Ethan struggles to tend to his wound and find a place to sleep. Theresa lies in bed alone.
Parents Just Don’t Understand
The next morning, Theresa argue with Ben over whether or not he’s walking to school with his new friends. She wants to walk him to school, but he insists she doesn’t because these are his friends. That he’s known two days. She tries to warn him about the shady people in town without actually telling him just how shady they are, but he takes it as her implying he’s not good enough to have friends. This family really does think the worst of each other. He storms out and she looks at the note she received about her new job.
At school, surveillance cameras watch as the kids pile into their classes. Ben awkwardly asks Amy if people are being nice to him for realsies. She assures him everything is on the up and up, and then his name is called over the loudspeaker so he can report to orientation.
“We’re in this together,” she says as she kisses his cheek.
Ben floats off to orientation.
Wayward Pines Realty
Theresa arrives at the realty office and meets her co-worker, Big Bill. He waddles and makes inappropriate remarks. He cuts off any questions she might have about why she got the job and hands her a folder with her first client: Wayne Johnson. Wayne can be found at the hospital recovering from a car accident. Theresa is to give him a house, fully furnished, free of charge. If she does, she’ll get a gold star. Instantly suspicious that Wayne could be someone like her, Theresa heads to the hospital to do her job.
Orientation
Ben enters a bright white room and meets the other students going through orientation: Reed (#109) and Kerry (#110). Ben is #111. They don’t know what the numbers mean and have no real time to talk about it as Mrs. Fishers enters and dims the lights. She sets up a projector and begins her presentation.
While Ben is getting oriented, his dad is getting disoriented, scanning his map and trying to find his bearings.
Mrs. Fisher shows the kids a photo of three students (numbered 001-003) who were the first to go through orientation. As she shows other students, she explains they were all chosen to be the first generation of Wayward Pines. The teens look at each other in confusion. They are ready, she says, for the truth.
An Ally?
At the hospital, Theresa meets Wayne and tries to go into her pitch, but the man is clearly upset and wants to be alone. Theresa tries to put him at ease by saying she was also in accident, and it seems to work as he asks if she saw what he saw. He feels as though something terrible was done to him and Pam was there. When Theresa sits next to him and whispers a warning, Pam interrupts their conversation. She’s her usually creepy self, congratulating Theresa on her new job while also insulting poor dead Peter. Finally alone with Wayne, she convinces him to go see the house she has for him.
Abbies
Back at school, Mrs. Fisher shows the kids a picture of the woods outside of town,100 yards from the perimeter. It was taken 14 years ago. In another photo of the same spot, there’s a figure in the distance behind some trees. In yet a third photo of the location, the figure is now totally in the camera, blurry and sneering.
They are abbies, short for aberrations, the result of many genetic mutations (or aberrations). She shows them a sketch of the creature, pointing out all of its menacing features: talons, heightened smell and hearing, sharp teeth. As this is happening, Ethan hears abbies nearby and uses a dead deer carcass to mask his scent and hiding location. He watches in horror as three abbies stuff themselves with the entrails of the dead animal before running off.
Mrs. Fisher reveals the shocking truth that humans devolved into abbies.
How, Sway?
At lunch, Amy joins Ben, Kerry, and Reed and asks if things are making more sense. Uh, not fucking really. Ben wants to know if this lesson is real, how come no one has ever heard of abbies before? Amy promises it will all make sense after lunch.
Back in the white room, Mrs. Fisher hands out some dirty coins, promising they will clarify everything. She explains the coins no longer hold value, but they do have answers. Then we cut to Wayne’s new house cause they’re going to draw this shit out.
Three things happen at once now:
- Ethan finds a highway sign completely covered by brush.
- Theresa uses the dryer in Wayne’s new house to provide a noise cover so he can tell her what he saw when he woke up from his accident.
- Ben removes the dirt from one of his coins to reveal it’s a quarter from the year 2095.
Mrs. Fisher asks them all what is the last thing they remember before waking up in Wayward Pines: they were all in accidents. She explains they weren’t accidents; they were all chosen.
Ethan finds more and more evidence of a ruined highway overcome by plant life. He pushes on.
As Mrs. Fisher reveals that the year is actually 4028, Ethan walks through a clearing and views the remnants of a ruined city.
Wayne tells Theresa about waking up in a tube with a window. People, including Pam, were looking at him. There were other chambers filled with other people. Theresa believes him, but doesn’t have answers. She promises to figure it out.
Mrs. Fisher explains they were all placed in hibernation chambers, where they slept and were kept alive until now. Over 2,000 years ago, a scientist knew the aberrations would happen so he preserved humans in his arc: Wayward Pines. His name was David Pilcher, and though they will never meet him, the children should know he is their protector.
Ethan walks to a clearing and watches as a helicopter lands. Dr. Jenkins reintroduces himself to Ethan as David Pilcher.
So, What’s the Catch?
Ethan remembers talking about Pilcher right before his car crash. Even though Pilcher says they’re not safe there, Ethan demands answers. Where the hell is Boise for one? Pilcher will explain, but they have to go.
Mrs. Fisher tells the new recruits that they are not to tell their parents or any adults what they learned. Adults can’t handle the truth. As an example, she tells them about Chris, who told his parents about what he’d learned in orientation. The next morning, Chris’ parents killed all three of them by carbon monoxide poisoning. Adults have lived too long in the old world, and their minds can’t handle it. It would only put them all in danger, she promises.
Back at her office, Theresa takes advantage of being alone by looking through files left on the desk. She finds her family’s files. Big Bill comes in and gives Theresa her gold star. He was dead-ass serious and sticks it to her sweater. She already has a new client in need of a home. She asks about how often new people come to town and he says a few every month. Whenever the town needs someone, they just show up. Theresa presses to know why people only come to town after an accident. He tells her not to rock the boat and worry her pretty little head - then implies she might meet some kind of violence if she does.
After a rousing chant of “First generation!,” Mrs. Fisher takes the three teens into another room where they meet other kids already in the know. There’s candles, and desk slapping, and it’s all very Drink this Kool-Aid.
Filcher has told Ethan the truth about the year and tells him he knows what he’s going through: the loss he feels. But once he thinks about all he still has, he’ll be okay. He still has Wayward Pines, and if Ethan comes with him, he’ll show him what Wayward Pines truly is. As he speaks, Ben is walking home with a, “This might not be so bad” look on his face.
As abbies screech in the distance, they run for the helicopter, where Pam is also waiting to tend to Ethan’s wounds. They take off just in time as abbies burst into the clearing.
