Wayward Pines episode 5, “The Truth,” dropped a major bombshell about what is going on. We explore just how much the truth actually explains.
Warning: This post contains major spoilers from Wayward Pines episode 5, “The Truth.”
In this week’s episode of Wayward Pines, Megan Fisher revealed to Ben and two other new Wayward Pines Academy students that it’s no longer 2014; rather, it’s 4028 and human civilization died out nearly 2,000 years earlier. What remained mutated into carnivorous creatures called “Abbies” (short for “Aberration”).
A scientist named David Pilcher (who turned out to be Dr. Jenkins) foresaw the calamity and created Wayward Pines as a sort of ark to preserve the human race with a select group of people — and whose children would become the first generation of Wayward Pines.
Related: Wayward Pines episode 5 recap: A whole new world
On the surface, this does appear to answer some questions about the town. Numerous inconsistencies still seem to remain, though. After all, how have certain members of the town been interacting with the outside world in 2014?
We believe the reveal actually explains this, however, because the conclusion we can draw is that the narrative we’ve been following has not been told chronologically. Keeping that in mind, things start falling into place.
For example…
In the first episode, we see Ethan and his partner in their accident. Ethan wanders into Wayward Pines and passes out, only to wake up in the hospital, where he meets Nurse Pam and eventually Dr. Jenkins (David Pilcher). Meanwhile, Theresa and Ben learn Ethan has gone missing and Jenkins/Pilcher meets with Ethan’s boss, Adam Hassler, who asks Jenkins/Pilcher to pull the plug. Jenkins/Pilcher replies that it is too late.
While these events appeared to happen in order in the episode, chronologically they did not. By the time Theresa and Ben learn that Ethan is missing and Jenkins/Pilcher meets with Hassler, Ethan is either in hibernation or the plans are in motion to put him there. (More on this later.) But no matter when Ethan goes into hibernation, at the time this conversation occurs, it’s too late to stop what is in motion.
In other words, the meeting between Jenkins/Pilcher and Hassler occurred in 2014, but Ethan’s attempts to discover the truth about the town he ended up in take place in 4028.
There’s still some uncertainty, but so far we can work out a general timeline.
Let’s try another one
In episode 3, Theresa and Ben decide to look for Ethan and eventually log into his account at the Secret Service branch in Boise. Hassler then calls and warns Wayward Pines that the Burkes are headed that way. This, we know now, happens in 2014.
Furthermore, Sheriff Pope pulling the Burkes over and cutting a line in their car also occurs in 2014. We can infer that Pope has been brought in on the secret and is helping to prepare the town for its eventual reemergence in the future. The Burkes have their accident and are brought into the hospital to be placed in hibernation, which is when Ethan first sees them. This, we now believe, happens in 2014.
On first watch, part of the oddity of Ethan seeing Theresa and Ben the first time is that they seem to be simultaneously outside of Wayward Pines and in the hospital. Ethan likely assumed he was hallucinating, but them going into hibernation explains why Ethan is never able to find them, and the narrative’s changing chronology explains how Ethan seems to see them before they ever arrive in the town.
This also indicates Ethan didn’t go into hibernation until after his family was brought into the town; each clue helps us clarify the timeline a bit more.
We also know the Burke family reunion occurs in 4028. They also kill Sheriff Pope in 4028, as it is an Abby that comes from the wall to retrieve and consume his body.
Related: Wayward Pines EP talks revealing the truth, promises more twists
Okay, but…
But what about Kate being 12 years older while Beverly stated she had only been in town a year despite being taken in 1999? This, we believe, is the result of people being taken out of hibernation when needed. According to Theresa’s new boss at the realty office, “Big” Bill, people always seem to show up when needed.
We can then assume that Kate had been living in Wayward Pines for 10 years before Bill Evans, the other missing FBI agent, was taken out of hibernation. This is why it appeared he hadn’t aged while a decade had passed for her.
And why now?
Another logical question is why Ethan was taken out of hibernation when he was.
This, we believe, ties into something executive producer Chad Hodge said about Sheriff Pope: “I think he probably got power hungry. Imagine being told that you’re the boss of the last 500 people on the planet — some people, if they’re not wired correctly, could take that power and abuse it, which is what Pope did. And Pilcher recognized that it was getting a little out of hand.”
Because Pope “went and took that a little too far,” removing him as sheriff and installing Ethan may have seemed like the best course of action for Pilcher. Pope was likely aware of Ethan’s background and saw him as a threat to his position (and life) when he was awakened, which would also explain his hostility toward him from the moment they met.
Overall, it’s pretty remarkable to us the way this reveal explains numerous apparent inconsistencies in the narrative. The more we’ve mulled it over, the better it works. Undoubtedly we’ve missed some “inconsistencies” from the first four episodes in this post, but we feel pretty sure that with just a bit of thought, things will line up.
Wayward Pines returns with a new episode on Thursday, June 25 at 9:00 p.m. ET on Fox.