Secret Service Agent Ethan Burke wakes up with severe cuts and bruises on his face whilst lying in a patch of grass near a running river. He has flashbacks from when he received a diagnosis from a therapist during psychotherapy sessions. Ethan has been hallucinating, seeing people or objects that are not really there. He recalls moments prior to a brutal car crash. He walks into a café in a small town nearby the woods, where a barista tells him that he is in Wayward Pines, Idaho. Ethan soon after passes out on the floor of the café. ‘Wayward Pines’ is a thriller mystery television series. The new FOX series premiered on Thursday, May 14.
He finds himself on a bed in an eerie hospital one evening. He is attended to by a nurse named Pam. Ethan asks the nurse for his personal belongings, but she tells him to contact the sheriff. Ethan leaves the hospital and walks out into a small town street. He goes to the sheriff’s office to gather his belongings but finds the doors locked. He decides to enter a bar, the only place open and meets a bartender named Beverly. He tells her that she is the only normal person he has seen in town. She serves him a hamburger free of charge and hands him a note with an address. After stepping outside, Ethan realizes that there is another message written on the other side of the paper. It reads, “There are no crickets in Wayward Pines.” Ethan hears crickets chirping in a nearby bush. It is a recording device found in a bush. Ethan stays at a hotel.
The next morning Ethan goes to Beverly’s house. It is rundown with a lot of weeds outside. He walks up the creaky wooden stairs and finds a dead corpse on a bed. It is an agent – Bill Evans. Ethan goes to the sheriff’s office and meets Sheriff Arnold Pope. He tells him that he is in town to find two people in a missing persons investigation, but that the investigation has narrowed to one person because he found the tortured and mutilated corpse of Bill. Ethan asks Arnold if he has seen a 27-year-old woman with red hair and hazel eyes. He describes her as “beautiful – by anyone’s standards.”
In another scene, federal agents say they cannot locate the GPS module from the car and that other things are missing. In Wayward Pines, Ethan looks for Beverly at the same bar. He cannot find her. He returns to the bar and a man says that no one works at the bar besides him and a another man named Steve. When Ethan gets angry with the man, the man knocks Ethan out cold.
“10 -16 - 28 is not doing well,” he says into a walkie talkie.
Ethan wakes up in the hospital and meets Doctor Jenkins. Nurse Pam and Dr. Jenkins try to force him into a surgery and have him handcuffed to a hospital bed. Beverly saves him by showing up and freeing him with a set of keys she has. Beverly tells Ethan that she has been in Wayward Pines for a year. In October 1999, she was a software sales representative on a visit to a school in Wayward Pines, but when she walked out of the school she got hit by a motorcycle. Beverly thinks it is year 2000. Ethan tells her that its 2014. She has been in Wayward Pines for 15 years.
Ethan asks Beverly if she works at the bar. She says she does, but that they are trying to break his mind. Ethan walks into town with a fresh change of clothes. He finds the woman he has been searching for. Ethan finds his partner. She enters a home with a man. Ethan follows her and knocks on the door. The man answers the door. Kate steps out with Ethan and they sit on the porch.
“They’re watching us. And listening,” Kate says.
Kate tells Ethan that she has been in Wayward Pines for the past 12 years.
“That’s impossible. You were with me 5 weeks ago!” yells Ethan.
Ethan asks Kate if he is having a relapse. Kate shakes her head no and walks back inside her house. Ethan breaks into a nearby car and jumpstarts it to run away from Wayward Pines. The road runs in a circle. Ethan gets out of the car and runs into the woods. He climbs a large wall of boulders. There’s a large electric fence and a sign that reads “risk of death, return to Wayward Pines.”
In another scene, Adam Hassler meets the doctor from the hospital in Wayward Pines.
“If there’s time, I want to call it off,” says Adam.
The doctor tells Adam that “it’s done,” “it’s all been taken care of,” and that “there’s nothing to worry about.”
The wall stretches for miles. His wife has received no messages, although Ethan has left several.
The sheriff finds Ethan,
“You didn’t make it to far, did you? taunts Arnold.
“How do I get out of here?” asks Ethan.
“You don’t,” responds Arnold.
‘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. 1 “Where Paradise Is Home” was directed by M. Knight Shyamalan and written by Chad Hodge. According to TV By the Numbers, the series premiere was watched by 3.81 million households. Ep. 2 “Don’t Discuss Your Life Before,” airs on Thursday, May 21. Each episode runs for 42-44 minutes. ‘Wayward Pines’ is based on the novel Pines by Blake Crouch. 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.
