Wayward Pines, starring Matt Dillon, premieres this week on Fox. Our primer will help you prepare for the psychological thriller.
What they say
First things first. What exactly is this show? Here’s what Fox is saying about it:
“Imagine the perfect American town, beautiful homes, manicured lawns, children playing safely in the streets…Now imagine never being able to leave. You have no communication with the outside world. You think you’re going insane. You must be in Wayward Pines.
“Based on Blake Crouch’s international bestselling series of books and brought to life by suspenseful storyteller M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs), Wayward Pines is the 10-episode, intense psychological thriller evocative of the classic hit Twin Peaks.”
If the name M. Night Shyamalan gives you pause, keep in mind that he is producing — and he also directed the pilot. However, he did not write the series, and guest directors tackled the other episodes. The creator would be Chad Hodge, Shymalan’s co-executive producer. Hodge’s other writing credits include The Playboy Club, Runaway, and All About Us.
Who’s in it?
If that description piques your interest, be sure to check out the star-studded cast:
Matt Dillon stars as Secret Service Agent Ethan Burke. Ethan arrives in Wayward Pines, Idaho, in search of two missing federal agents. He is described as “one of the best Secret Service agents in the Seattle office.”
Carla Gugino plays missing agent Kate Hewson. She and Ethan were former partners. But they also had a relationship that nearly ended Ethan’s marriage.
Melissa Leo plays Nurse Pam. She is described as “intense and unpredictable.” When a truck slams into Ethan’s car, he wakes up in Wayward Pines Hospital. There he discovers Nurse Pam “is more interested in harming than healing,” causing her and Ethan to become “deadly rivals.” Moreover, “her role in the town proves much deeper than anyone realizes.”
Toby Jones plays Dr. Jenkins, a psychiatrist who treats Ethan at Wayward Pines Hospital.
Reed Diamond plays Harold Ballinger, a toymaker.
Juliette Lewis plays Beverly, a bartender who is as wary of Wayward Pines as Ethan is.
Terrence Howard plays Sheriff Arnold Pope. He “takes offense at a Secret Service agent showing up on his turf.”
Tim Griffin plays Adam Hassler, Ethan’s boss.
Shannyn Sossamon plays Theresa Burke, Ethan’s wife.
Charlie Tahan plays Ben Burke, Ethan and Theresa’s teenage son. After his parents arrive in Wayward Pines, they enroll him in the town’s only school.
Ben’s teacher, Megan Fisher (Hope Davis), “provides key information about the town’s origins.” But the more Ethan investigates, the more questions he comes up with. And it all adds up to the most important question of all: What’s wrong with Wayward Pines?
What Shyamalan says
Shyamalan says, “The decision to basically get to the reveal midway through the season was something that I felt strongly about, and everybody concurred that we didn’t want to have more the traditional format of tease, tease, tease, tease and then at the very end tell you the answer, because I thought the answer was a very exciting world to live in.”
With that in mind, the first half of the series covers the first book in the series, Pines, while “book 2 came out well into our shooting and book 3, so [Crouch] started to evolve the world. So to some extent, we were parallel creating our world post episode 5-6.”
He adds that the show has “a cinematic quality to it. I hope. And by that I mean maybe an attention to the camera work and a pacing that might be more akin to what you might see in film. Certainly the cast in general was a cast that you might see more in film.
“It’s a giant, giant idea. It’s a big idea. It’s like one of those Jurassic Park kind of ideas and I can’t take any credit for that. That’s all Blake [Crouch]. And I’m super lucky to be able to be the one to shepherd it to the audiences. You’re lucky to come across big ideas like that that are both human and gigantic at the same time.”
Watch an interview with Shyamalan:
Trailer
Finally, watch the official trailer for the series:
Wayward Pines premieres Thursday, May 14 at 9:00 p.m. ET on Fox.
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