Wayward Pines “The Truth” 

I honestly don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this.

Megan: “Don’t think of it in terms of what is or what is not possible. Think about it in terms of the facts.”

The year is actually 4028, not 2014.

We find out the name of the “creature” that took Sheriff Pope’s body back in “Our Town, Our Law.” They’re Aberrations, or Abbies. They’re the most efficient carnivores on the planet and they evolved from humans. They’re incredibly strong, have birdlike talons and very sensitive ears and noses. They travel in herds and if they target you, you’re dead.

The First Generation

Apparently, adults can’t handle “The Truth.” Since they spent so much time in human civilization before the collapse, they have a very hard time coming to terms with the truth of their currents situations. It seems extreme to me that because of once incidence (that we know of) of suicide, Pilcher and whoever else is in charge has decided that adults need to be kept in the dark. But it’s because of “the rules” that adults keep getting reckoned. So, either way there are quite a few adults who end up dead.

But the kids aren’t as indoctrinated, so they seem much more willing to believe what Megan is telling and showing them. And if they all make it through orientation, because apparently that’s never a foregone conclusion, they’ll be part of the first generation. Ben’s number 111.

Even with all this craziness, it’s nice to see Ben finally fit in somewhere. You can see how freaked out he is that these kids actually know his name and that they seem genuinely interested in him. It’s a new experience for Ben, who was all but ignored at his school back home. So, in at least one way Wayward Pines is better than Seattle.

Another Car Crash Victim

Well, I guess it’s safe to say that sexism in the workplace is still alive and well in the future. Theresa’s new boss, Big Bill, is all kinds of inappropriate, but because of her new role as realtor, she’s able to get some interesting information – namely, that our latest car accident victim, Wayne Johnson, woke up in a glass box, which we later find out is a hibernation chamber. A few people were there, but the only face he can remember is Pam’s.

Theresa is pretty good at playing this game, but I guess that’s how you survive in Wayward Pines. Big Bill likes the change in scenery, so he encourages her to stop thinking too hard. He says it’s not becoming. But she learns that a few new residents come to Wayward Pines every month. So are a lot of people dying or are they slowly trying to build up their numbers? Either way, I can’t wait for Ethan to return so they can both talk about their days.

The Mad Scientist

Pilcher/Jenkins: “Is that the last of mankind? Do I even want to be here?”

So Dr. Jenkins is actually David Pilcher. And in order to preserve humanity, he created an Ark. Megan tells the kids they’ll never meet him, but that he’s always watching over them; he’s their protector. He’ll never allow any harm to come to them because they are the future.

While Megan’s done a good job of elevating Pilcher to a god-like status, Ethan interacts with the man. And he’s pretty interesting, as we’ve already seen. He gives Ethan a choice. He can stay outside the walls or return. If he returns, Pilcher promises to show Ethan what Wayward Pines is. I mean, I’d go with him too. No matter what Pilcher tells him, it’s got to be better than living outside those walls on your own, fighting off the Abbies. Right?

Random Thoughts

Ethan’s smart and industrious, as evidenced by him dragging that deer carcass with him so he could hide without being detected. But if the Abbies have such sensitive noses, wouldn’t they be able to smell him anyway? It’s a quibble, really, but I couldn’t get it out of my mind.

I like that Pam is pretty universally mistrusted and/or despised by the new arrivals – at least from what we’ve seen so far. She and Ethan didn’t mesh and Wayne has absolutely no interest in interacting with her. She’s intriguing, though, because Pilcher trusts her. Or, trusts her enough that she knows exactly what’s going on in Wayward Pines and accompanied him outside the wall to retrieve Ethan. I’m ready for some more backstory on her.

Also that induction ceremony for Ben, Carrie and Reed? A bit intense and cultish. Just saying.

Questions

• How cool was the wasteland once known at Boise, Idaho? It really makes everything Megan’s been telling the kids hit home. It also makes you wonder what the heck happened. When are we gonna get more on that? The tipping point seems to have come in or around 2095, when the last quarter was minted.

• How are Nurse Pam, Pilcher and Sheriff Pope (when he was still alive) able to “travel” back to the past? We’ve seen Pilcher and Pope in 2014 and Pam traveled back to maybe 2002 (as far as Peter could tell when he talked to Ethan about it. Now the fact that there are no calendars in Wayward Pines makes more sense). So, how are they doing that?

• Tell me more about these hibernation pods and how the current and former Wayward Pines residents are deemed worthy of being preserved. How does or did (depending on whether or not time travel is a thing that exists in this world) Pilcher decide to pick this particular gene pool? How many total pods are there? How many people have they already lost to murder, suicide or escape?

Wayward Pines airs Thursdays at 9/8c on FOX.