Ethan Burke scales a wall of rocks to make his way to Boise, Idaho to get help. After a few hours of sleep, he wakes up in the morning and sees a pale white figure watching him. The creature runs around him and slashes Ethan’s right arm with its talons. Ethan shoots at it with his rifle but misses each time. The creature moves at super human speed. ‘Wayward Pines’ Season 1 Episode 5 “The Truth” aired on Thursday, June 11 on FOX.
Ben’s new friend Amy asks him to meet her before school so that they can walk to school together. She tells him that she will introduce him to her friends Sam and Katie. When Ben gets home, he asks his mom Theresa where his father Ethan is. She lies and tells him that he’s working late on his case. She adds that as soon as Ethan wraps up his mission, they will all leave for Seattle. “How does that sound?” asks Theresa. Ben doesn’t seem too happy about it. The next morning Theresa gets into a sharp argument with Ben after he tells her that he is going to walk to school with his new friends. She wants to keep a close eye on Ben in the strange town of Wayward Pines.
“Who would ever want to be friends with a loser like me?” says Ben angrily. He storms out of the house.
Meanwhile, Ethan is deep in the forest and navigates his way to Boise using a paper map. Ethan is at a location on the map. He sees that he should be at a church. Yet, all he sees are stone ruins and moss growing on buildings.
Ben arrives at school with his new posse of friends. He is taken aback as everyone who walks past him in the hallways greets him by name. He asks Amy whether everyone is nice or if they were told by someone to be nice to him. “At my old school everything was different and everyone was different towards me,” says Ben. Amy tells Ben that “This school isn’t like your old school or like any other school” and concludes with a strange remark, that they are "all in this together.” The P.A. calls Ben, Carrie, and Reed to a room for orientation.
After the stressful debacle with Ben, Theresa decides she does not want to stay home all day out of fear. She takes a second look at the letter for a new job opening. She walks to the realtor’s office and She is greeted by a gruffly man named Big Bill. Bill hands her an assignment. “I want you to give him a house,” says Bill. She wonders why she is not to sell the house like a normal realtor. “Think of it as a welcoming present from his friends at Wayward Pines,” says Bill.
At Wayward Pines Academy, Ben walks into the orientation room. He finds a boy and girl sitting in two chairs. There is a chair marked with the number 111. He sits in it. Principal Meghan Fisher rolls a projector into the room and turns off the lights. A wide screen rolls down from the ceiling as she welcomes them to orientation. Principal Fisher plays a slideshow of students who have passed orientation. She introduces them as “the first generation of Wayward Pines.” She tells them that only exceptional beings who are ready for the truth can be a part of this selective group.
Theresa goes to the Wayward Pines hospital to meet Mr. Wayne Johnson. She walks down the corridor to Wayne’s room. He is blankly staring off into space. Theresa introduces herself to him and tells him that she wants to show him his new house. After getting no response out of Wayne, Theresa tells Wayne that she was also in an accident. “Did you see it too?” asks Wayne. Theresa asks him what he saw. “After the accident. I saw something. Something awful. They did something to me, to us and that nurse, she was there.” Theresa tells Wayne that their conversations are being monitored and that it is not safe to speak about these things at the hospital. They make their way to the new house.
Principal Fisher shows Ben, Carrie, and Reed a photograph. She asks them what they see. They tell her that they see Wayward Pines, trees, and leaves. “This photograph was taken 14 years ago,” says Fisher. It was taken about 100 yards away from the town. When she asks if there is anything off about the photo, Ben answers that there is something in the left corner. “We refer to them as abbies,” says Fisher. Abbies, short for abberrations are the result of a series of genetic mutations. The animals evolved in a harsh environment. “In the food chain, nothing else comes close. Not even us,” says Fisher. “On its own an abby can kill or devour an armed soldier. They always travel in herds and if you come across a herd, survival is quite… impossible.” Abbies have bird-like talons, ears with an extended range of hearing, and a sense of smell that is 100 times that of a human. Their DNA is only a ½ percent different from that of human beings.
According to his map and compass, Ethan should be in the city of Boise. He sees a broken wooden sign that reads “Boise, Idaho.”
During lunch, Ben sits at a table with Carrie and Reed. Amy joins them and tells them that she could not eat for two days after the orientation. Afterwards they return to orientation. “Listen , I know you’re confused and lost,” says Fisher. She hands each of them an ancient relic. Ben scrapes off the dirt from the relic and finds out that it is a quarter. It was minted in 2095. Fisher tells them to not think “in terms of what is and is not possible.” She tells them to instead “think about the facts.” She asks them what they remember. Each of them were involved in a hit and run car crash prior to waking up in Wayward Pines hospital. She asks if they know how long they were unconscious. None of their accidents were accidents. They were chosen to be a part of Wayward Pines, which Fisher describes as "a community that is not part of a world that" they once knew. She tells them that human beings did not become abbies overnight and that it took a very long time. The quarters in the hands of Ben, Carrie, and Reed look very old because they are. Fisher tells them that “they are the last known relics of human civilization, a civilization that died out almost 2,000 years ago. She tells them that “this is not the year 2014. This is the year 4028.”
Ethan stands at a cliff and sees the ruins of a civilization.
Theresa and Wayne are in the new house. She turns on the washing machine and tells Wayne about the cameras and mics. Wayne says that he does not remember much. He says that he looked out a small glass window, much similar to that of the washing machine. He says that there were people looking at him and the nurse was there. He saw shadows and voices before he passed out. He tells her that there were more of these chambers and they were all filled with people. “Do you believe me,” asks Wayne. Theresa tells him that she believes him. “What is this place?” asks Wayne. Theresa tells him that she will figure it out and find the answers. She tells him to take the house and to pretend like nothing has happened if he wants to survive in this town. She walks out of the house after handing him the keys.
Fisher tells the students that after the accident they were place din hibernation chambers. As soon as they awoke, they became a part of the first generation of Wayward Pines. “Why were we chosen?” asks Ben. Fisher tells them that they “were chosen to assure the survival of the human race.” 2,000 years ago, scientist David Pilcher foresaw the events that would occur. He collected a sample of “human beings to preserve mankind.” Pilcher “created an ark. He created Wayward Pines.” She said that although they will never meet David, that he will protect them since they are the future.
Ethan hears the whirring of a helicopter and sees one flying towards him from a distance. Dr. Jenkins, the town psychiatrist and a gunman step out of the helicopter. Jenkins reintroduces himself to Ethan as David Pilcher. Ethan has a flashback to a time when he is asking his boss Adam Hassler about Pilcher prior to a car accident. “What is this. Some kind of an experiment?” asks Ethan. David tells him to trust his own eyes and to see that there is nothing left for him here in Boise because the world as he knows it is gone. “Our species has evolved into something less than human,” says David. David says that thousands of years of culture was lost in an instant. He tells Ethan to come with him and that he will show him everything that he needs to know. Nurse Pam helps Ethan into the helicopter. As they fly off into the distance, a herd of abbies chase after them.
Principal Fisher concludes the orientation and tells them to not tell any adults. They are forbidden from telling even their parents because “the future of this great town lies not with the adults.” She tells them a story about a student named Chris who, after orientation went home and told his parents everything. The next day, the family decided to go on a trip, but before they, left the mom and dad ensured that they would all die together. Their whole family died from knowing too much. “The truth is too much for their minds,” said Fisher. “Telling them would put all of their lives in danger. They have lived in the past world for too long.” Ben, Carrie, and Reed are ushered into a dark room filled with students. Each student holds a lit candle. As they are welcomed to the group, the others begin chanting the anthem of “the first generation.”
Back at the realtor’s office, Theresa looks through a book of clients. Bill gives her a gold star for a job well done. She asks Bill how often people move into Wayward Pines. Bill tells her that the clients move in whenever they need someone and that it happens like clockwork. He warns her about the dangers of trying to know too much about their town.
‘Wayward Pines’ stars Matt Dillon as Secret Service Agent Ethan Burke, Carla Gugino as Kate Hewson, one of the missing agents and Ethan's former lover, Toby Jones as Dr. Jenkins, a psychiatrist at Wayward Pines Hospital, Shannyn Sossamon as Theresa Burke, Ethan's wife, Reed Diamond as Harold Ballinger, a toymaker, Tim Griffin as Adam Hassler, Ethan's boss, Charlie Tahan as Ben Burke, Ethan and Theresa's son, Juliette Lewis as Beverly, a bartender who bonds with Ethan, Melissa Leo as Pam, a nurse at Wayward Pines Hospital, Terrence Howard as Sheriff Arnold Pope, Siobhan Fallon Hogan as Arlene Moran, Sheriff Pope's secretary, Sarah Jeffery as Amy, Ben's friend, and Hope Davis as Megan Fisher.
Ep. 5 “The Truth” was directed by James Foley and written by Blake Crouch and The Duffer Brothers. According to TV By The Numbers, “The Truth” was watched by 4.24 million households. Full episodes can be watched on the FOX website. Ep. 6 “Choices” airs on Thursday, June 25. Each episode runs for 42-44 minutes. It features music by composer Charlie Clouser. M. Knight Shyamalan, Donald De Line, Chad Hodge, and Ashwin Rajan are the executive producers of the series. Rob French is the producer. Elizabeth Kling and Michael Ruscio are the editors. Amelia Vincent is the cinematographer. Blinding Edge Pictures, De Line Pictures, Storyland, and FX Productions are its production companies.
