Wayward Pines “Betrayal” 

I understand why Kate and Theresa can’t bring themselves to believe Ethan’s story. Without seeing the proof with my own two eyes, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t believe him either. But, quite frankly, even if Ethan had a completely clean bill of health, i.e. no history of mental illness, his story still wouldn’t make much sense.

But I also have to remind myself that just because Ethan believes something, doesn’t mean it’s true. Just because Ethan’s seen something, doesn’t mean it exists. I’m willing to believe his version of events when someone else can corroborate his story. Do I believe there are Aberrations? Yes, because Megan is teaching “the first generation” about them, Pilcher has talked about them as well as that demon-looking thing we saw last week and because some kind of creature took Pope away after Ethan killed him. Do I believe the year is 4028? Yes, again because of Megan and Pilcher. But one thing I cannot figure out is the Adam Hassler angle. The present version of Pilcher somehow talked to Hassler in 2014. When Kate “woke up” in Wayward Pines she got a message (but didn’t actually talk to him, I’m assuming, because he’d been dead for two centuries) from Hassler telling her she was entering a government experiment and that she might be severely tested by an agent.

Quite frankly, I’d been wondering why it took Kate so long to make her move. Lest we forget, Kate’s been in Wayward Pines for 12 years. 12 YEARS. No matter her Secret Service training, there has to come a time when she’s had enough. And she (and Ted) are willing to risk innocent lives in order to escape. Because Kate doesn’t have the proof Ethan has about where and when they are, she’s determined to escape. Experiment or not, I can’t blame her. Being under constant surveillance with the threat of death practically hanging over your head has to be the worst kind of existence. So when plan A is thwarted, Kate’s group is ready with a backup plan. Unfortunately, Ben and Amy become collateral damage when the bomb detonates early. Amy’s dazed and bloody, but is Ben even alive? I’m going to say yes, but we’ll have to wait until next week to find out.

Other developments

In a country where abstinence is taught as an acceptable means of pregnancy prevention — if the school has any sex education classes at all — it’s strange and kind of funny to see a teacher promote sex. I don’t know if we’ve ever been told Ben’s age, but I’m going to say he’s 16. His hormones are definitely raging, but back in Seattle we know he was a shy kid who kept to himself. So the fact that Amy is taking an interest has to be just as exciting as it is confusing. I wasn’t happy to find out Ben was “an assignment” for Amy, but I wonder what that means. We know Megan considers these kids most important job to be reproduction. Obviously, they need to beef up the population of Wayward Pines, but it’s still weird. And the fact that married couples have a yearly fertility check-in with Nurse Pam has got to be strange for everyone. Pam’s very disappointed that Kate and Harold haven’t had children yet. She calls them a perfect blend of genetics, and I can’t say I disagree. But I wonder if their marriage is just a cover. We know they care for each other, but Harold has a fiancée on the outside and she’s the first person he’ll be looking for when they get out.

I like Theresa’s determination, but it makes me constantly fear for her safety. I just want her to stop talking to Big Bill. He keeps telling her to mind her own business, which she obviously ignores, but since he’s in no way encouraging her, she needs to keep a lid on it in the office. It’s that job that led her to Plot 33 in the first place. Now we just have to find out what that substructure’s all about.

Questions

Why would Pilcher want to wake up an explosives engineer? We don’t know how long Franklin Dobbs has been awake — although if that flashback is any indication it’s almost as long as Kate — but we know he’s good with bombs. No one in Wayward Pines gets awakened without a purpose, so I’m wondering why Pilcher felt Franklin needed him.

It’s a little hard to believe that Nurse Pam and Ethan can co-exist. I liked their dynamic when they were enemies. Nevertheless, they have to work together to track Harold down. If it wasn’t for the surveillance system — that absolutely still needs to be dismantled for people to really feel safe — Ethan would’ve had no idea about Ted. It’s just too bad he couldn’t get there in time.

Random Thought

Even though Ethan threatened to kill Kate if Franklin didn’t disarm the bomb, I didn’t believe he’d actually go through with it. There’s a lot he would’ve done to prevent damage to the perimeter wall, but killing Kate, a woman he used to love, isn’t on that list. I also like that Kate won’t be deterred.

Kate: “It’s not gonna stop. It’s just begun.”

I think the only thing that will stop her and her group is if Pilcher and Ethan clue her in. But considering that Pilcher still doesn’t want the truth getting out, that’s seems unlikely. For now.

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