Wayward Pines: American Twin Peaks Story

"M. Night Shyamalan is this director who always puts some awesome twist at the end of his movies. Like in the Sixth Sense, that dude in the hairpiece? That's Bruce Willis the whole time!" - Charlie Kelly, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, S05E11

Let's go through all the Shyamalan twists, sheriff's department steals, and of course, population counters (before and after the premiere.)

Starting off, Wayward Pines tries to draw us right in. Ethan Burke, an FBI agent played by Matt Dillon, wakes up in a forest, introduced to us by his eye opening. 

Hold up - are we sure this is Wayward Pines? Is this really Matt Dillon? Are we sure that isn't Matthew Fox waking up in Lost?
After about a minute of Matt Dillon walking around in a pine barrens-type zone, I can confirm that FOX did not steal ABC's content and just broadcast it on their channel. Either way though, the "borrowing" that Pines frequently does begins within the first few seconds. 

Ethan walks onto the trail, attempting to find exactly where he is. Within a minute or two, he finds himself in the small town of Wayward Pines, Idaho. Aside from the public executions, insane nurses, and murderous sheriffs, it's pretty idyllic. South Park, Colorado and Twin Peaks, Washington are reminiscent, though Pines probably has more potatoes. 

This is where our story really begins. Ethan Burke realizes that he has been in a car accident while trying to track two fellow FBI agents - one of whom was his mistress. After finding the carcass of the male FBI agent (who, unlike it would be in American Horror Story, is not his mistress,) Burke sees that something is really wrong. Within the first episode, we are introduced to the various residents of Wayward Pines. 

There's Sheriff Pope (Terence Howard), a lawman with seemingly no regard for the law but a great regard for blood, Nurse Pam (Melissa Leo), a much-more-evil version of Nurse Ratchet, and Dr. Jenkins (Toby Jones), the psychiatrist who seems to be the shadow-ruler of the town, and Megan Fisher (Hope Davis), the teacher who brainwashes students. These villains are pretty diverse, and all of them are able to steal scenes in their own ways. By episode three, Pope is already dead (most likely gone back to work on not Boardwalk Empire,) and Jenkins has already made more power statements. Highlights include the hilariously-evil work of Nurse Pam and the rather subtle nature of Toby Jones's potential big-bad. 

The main narrative however, is shaped around Burke and those he loves. We are introduced to his wife and son, outside of Wayward Pines in the introductory episode. They are convinced that he has run off with Kate Hewson, the FBI Agent mistress. Thus, they take off on a road trip in order to find him, ending up with them in a car-accident, resulting in their introduction to Wayward Pines. At the same time, Burke meets Hewson in Pines, learning that she has been here for ten years, despite the fact that as far as he knew, her defection was fairly recent. However, once Burke's family shows up, their communion is strange. No one knows what the hell is going on, and the strange town is getting to everyone - especially Burke, who witnessed something called a "reckoning," essentially a Wayward Pines tradition in which someone who speaks out is publicly executed. Good way of keeping the town in order, to be fair. 

Now coming up at the halfway point (episode five), it'll be interesting to see where the show heads. A hell of a lot has happened in only four short episodes (drawing my American Horror Story connection,) yet the story still seems quite open-ended, with only more questions being raised each hour. The biggest confusion is what exactly the town of Wayward Pines is. While at first glance it's just a small town with dark secrets, upon closer inspection, it seems more science fiction in nature. There's a large wall around the premises, and outside are creepy animals known as "The Wolves." Knowing Shyamalan, these could be the town elders like in The Village, but one would hope not. Perhaps the town was built in the future by Toby Jones to protect the now post-apocalyptic universe? If that's the case though, the Big Brother nature of Wayward Pines seems rather supplemental compared to what's going on outside. 

We've already seen that Wayward Pines is unafraid to kill off main characters, throw us curveballs, and expand the narrative way past your small town murder trope. While this could easily work to a quality detriment, at the very least, Pines stands out as something new. I'm not sold on it as the new Twin Peaks (especially with the old one coming back so soon) or the new Lost or anything, but if it can continue its "fun" streak and expand the narrative it has crafted, perhaps the show can go into the realm of cult classic sci-fi.

But let's backtrack for a moment. Much as I think this show is fun, Wayward Pines needs to own up to a couple "borrowings." 

- First of all, the sign welcoming folks to Wayward Pines is eerily similar to that of Twin Peaks. I believe the population is slightly less than 51,201, but still! 

- On that same note, the Sheriff's Department looks identical to Twin Peaks. The secretary has a much less shrill voice though.

- The opening credits are incredibly similar to those of Silicon Valley.

- All three shows feature male main characters with the letter A somewhere in their name! Coincidence? I think not. 

In the end, maybe this is just what M. Night Shyamalan needs. Matthew McConaughey had True Detective, John Travolta had Pulp Fiction, and Michael Keaton had Birdman. Perhaps Shyamalan will come back to his former Sixth Sense glory with Wayward Pines.

Whether it sadly sputters out or rises to mythos-driven fascination, I'll be along for the ride. At the very least, they've got me hooked!