A Daft, Addictive Mindfuck 🎬 My Wayward Pines Review

WTF did I just watch? A creepy Sci-Fi thriller with ambitious political and philosophical themes.... and zombies.

OK not quite zombies, and I don't want to give too much away, but it's safe to say, regular humans aren't the only inhabitants of this bizarre television series. In Season 1 of Wayward Pines, Secret Service agent Ethan Burke (Matt Dillon) wakes from a car accident in one of the strangest little towns to ever grace our TV screens; Wayward Pines.

His first encounter is Nurse Pam, a nurse reminiscent of, but more terrifying than Tarantinos "Nurse Elle Driver" in Kill Bill. No mean feat, but Melissa Leo is superb in the role of the nurse who is so chillingly calculated with every word and action. If Nurse Pam wasn't unnerving enough, Toby Jones turns up and the penny drops for the viewer, "OH, it's gonna be THAT kind of show". Indeed it is. Welcome to the weirdest TV show since Twin Peaks.

Of course, when they start talking about cutting his brain open, Burke decides it might be best to leave the hospital, and before long, he's exploring Wayward Pines, meeting its various inhabitants, whose bizarre behaviour only further mindfucks our dear protagonist. In Wayward Pines, there is always a mountain on the horizon. Nobody talks about the past, and every corner of every street, bar and shop, has hidden cameras and microphones. Is it a prison? Is it an experiment? Fans of video game Bioshock or cult 1960s TV show The Prisoner will feel right at home in this mysterious, isolated dystopia.

Am I giving too much away? Don't worry, this all happens in the first ten minutes.

Wayward Pines is based on a trilogy of novels by Blake Crouch, but they pack them all into Season 1. This pace is both it's greatest strength, and greatest weakness. Early on, the show never gets boring, and it's so refreshing not being distracted by mundane side plots, like in so many other shows these days. Unfortunately though, by the last couple of episodes, there is such a sense of urgency to wrap things up, some of the more intimate and nuanced moments are sacrificed for high drama, and a little too much exposition in the dialogue.

Let's back up for a second though. For the most part, Wayward Pines is endlessly entertaining and features some terrific performances. Looking like Bruce Campbells crack-addicted twin, Matt Dillon gurns, grunts and grimaces his way through the ten episodes of the first season with corny but appreciated intensity. Other cast members include Juliette Lewis and Carla Gugino who both act their socks off as expected. Terrence Howard (as villain, Sheriff Pope) is a weak link for me. There's nothing menacing about a handsome cop with a penchant for ice cream cones, who constantly sounds like he's about to cry. Then again, a lot of this show doesn't add up. Sometimes there is a mystery to be solved. Other times, there's a plot line left open. Sometimes it's just an oversight, weird edit or outright WTF moment.

There's further inconsistency in the production too. Throughout Season 1, there are some very jarring cuts from wide angle POV shots ala Terry Gilliam, to cut-away shots that appear to have been shot with an inferior camera, possibly at a different time. We also have some bad dubbing and sound problems. There's even some strange continuity at times. Whatever it is going on, our suspension disbelief is abruptly interrupted all too often. Frankly, it feels like the production crew were learning as they shot this.

All is forgiven though!

Why? Because despite its problems, Wayward Pines has the balls to explore some huge themes, at lightning speed. Anarchy, propaganda, groupthink, ethics, existentialism, democracy; all fair game. All explored, and none with too much lingering bias. And all with the backdrop of paranoia, in a town that feels like a house of cards, ready to implode.

A lot of people will be catching up on Wayward Pines after the success of Stranger Things, but it turns out the Duffer Brothers connection isn't as meaningful as fans might have hoped. Sure, they wrote and produced a couple of episodes of Wayward Pines, but this show simply isn't made of the same stuff as Stranger Things, thematically or stylistically. Don't miss it though. Wayward Pines is a daft, addictive, mindfuck!

--- words: @condra images © Fox USA