Wayward Points: Will the circle be unbroken?

Welcome to Wayward Pines... where paradise is home.

Here's what we know:

• It's the year 4028. All of civilization has been wiped out, save for this small group of cryogenically preserved survivors, nestled away safely (they thought) in Wayward Pines, Idaho.
• Wayward Pines is surrounded by an electric fence, which keeps genetically mutated homosapiens (called "Abbies") out of the city. And... as of last week... The Fence no longer has any power. The Abbies are coming.
• Dr. David Pilcher's mad scientist experiment saved (he says) at least a couple hundred people from the man-made destruction that ravaged the globe in the years surrounding 2014. Our current group of citizens are not Pilcher's first attempt at salvation. A previous test group was told The Truth from the get-go. They went crazy and went extinct, whether by their own doing or that of the human-hating Abbies. The time has come, it seems, for another purge of humanity. Pilcher has powered down the city as an effectual "reset button."
• Ethan Burke, the story's protagonist and the town's most recent mayor, has known The Truth for a while now and is leading the charge against Pilcher and his closest associates. Burke wound up in Wayward Pines by "accident," but has come to realize that his search to find his two missing colleagues has much more grave and expansive significance than he ever could have imagined.
• Ethan's wife, Theresa, recently discovered - with the help of the increasingly neutral Nurse Pam - stumbled across the secrets buried beneath Plot 33, which contained video journals of people from all across the world, documenting the ruin that lies outside of The Fence. Once by one, Theresa and Ethan's former co-worker Kate have been showing The Truth to citizens of Wayward Pines, convincing them of the reality that they had been ignoring for so long.
• Pilcher has tried to convince Ethan that reckoning (publicly executing) Kate, as the leader of the ongoing insurrection that I call "the Bomb Squad," would put an end to the chaos and bring peace and harmony back to the community, but Ethan isn't quite sold on that idea.
  
• Mrs. Fisher and the brainwashed student body of Wayward Academy have sided with the establishment and they want to bring justice to those who seek to do the community harm.
• But now, with many of Wayward Pines' citizens having turned against Pilcher for holding them prisoners, it seems the time has come for another reckoning. While some stand firmly with The Rules that turned this troubled city into a thriving, miniature metropolis, a majority of the populous has their proverbial finger pointed straight at their self-proclaimed savior - Dr. David Pilcher, himself...

***

Abbies. That's how the series finale begins. Herds of Abbies running toward The Fence. But, as the camera pans backwards, we see something else making its way toward Earth's final stronghold. Are those... torches?? And Pilcher is watching on a surveillance camera as they approach the perimeter... Hashtag Wayward Pines.

Ethan warns the crowd that had gathered for Kate's mock reckoning that they can't stick around on Main Street. It's not safe. They've got to get to the bunker at Plot 33 - and fast! From the sounds of it, they've got less than 20 minutes before... whatever it is out there... makes it to The Fence.

Power is restored first at the hospital. Looks like they had a generator. Unfortunately, Amy is still alive. (Is she the worst character of the series? I vote yes.) Theresa goes to grab Ben, but he refuses to leave Amy's side. A doctor advises that Amy is too weak to be up and moving quite yet. The power cuts back off and the doctor heads back to start up the generator again.

Jason Higgins, the leader of the Class One Trio, awakens in a jail cell. Apparently, he was not killed in last week's shootout at the Sheriff's office. That could mean bad news for Sheriff Burke and company. Ethan and a handful of others, including Kate and members of the Bomb Squad, collect all the firearms from the office, and they've got a few bombs, too. Jason tells the Bomb Squad that Pilcher had prophesied of a Day of Reckoning, where the weak would be filtered out from the First Generation, but, wisely, Kate ignores the little imprisoned brat and heads out to the streets.

Back at the Complex, Pilcher embraces Pam, happy to see his sister in this time of trial. He says they need to discuss preparations for the Awakening of Group C. Pam asks her deranged brother to turn the power back on and spare the lives of the citizens out in the streets, but Pilcher says it's too late. Pam says there will always be mistakes, but that there is still time to fix this situation. Pam says "the great experiment" is working, but that the power has to come back on to end the conflict. Then Pilcher has his sister detained by security guards. The entire Complex is now under house arrest and being ushered downstairs to containment.

Meanwhile, the doctor reaches the hospital generator and attempts to start it back up. I use the word "attempts" because it's not working. And "not working" means... WIOEFWOPEFH@#HOLYCRAP!! There's the episode's first casualty. RIP, Doc. Murdered by an Abbie. They're here! (*Bray Wyatt voice*) And we're headed to a commercial.

"Oh, my living... freak." Those were my actual words as we got back into the action. The Abbies, those naked parkour visionaries, are out in force on Main Street. RUN FOR YOUR LIVES, PEOPLE!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!! Exploding cars, cannibalism (essentially), Assassin's Creed-style takedowns, you name it - it's all-out bedlam in the once-peaceful streets of Wayward Pines! I mean, it's like the Red Wings just lost the Stanley Cup or something. Like, what is going on??

BIG BILL SIGHTING! Theresa's pervy boss (AKA Friar Tuck, if you know what I mean...) is trying to sneak his way out of the realty office, which means we all know what's coming... It's only a matter of time. There it is! RIP Big Bill. BUT NO! Not former lesbian receptionist Arlene!! Thankfully, Kate blasts an Abbie to high heck with her semi-automatic. That was a close one. But now Kate's gun is jammed and she's got to run, defenseless, to the Toy Store, where she dead-bolts herself into the back room. At least if she dies there, nobody will see it on camera, am-I-right??

Down in the Complex basement, Pam tries to talk some sense into Pilcher's people, but it ain't working. Remember that little chat they had a couple episodes back about tightening up The Rules and beefing up security? Uh-huh. Boom. Taser to the neck. Looks like the volunteers are about to get put down for the long, cold nap that is death by cryo tube... Later in the episode, we see that Pam is the first one shown being put into a cryo tube, like a super-expensive, metal coffin. Pilcher watches as she's put to death and turns his back with nary a word once the dirty deed is done.

More members of Class One have come to break the Trio out of jail. Jason Higgins, who is basically a walking liability at this point, reminds his classmates that Pilcher entrusted them with the future of Wayward Pines. They've got to make it to "The Ark." Everything depends on it.

Kate's chilling in the Clean Room at the Toy Store and it's way too dang quiet. Oh gosh. Any second now... But it remains quiet. Kate steadies her breathing... *#R(QYHFIUEWHFHOLYCRAP!! An Abbie just dropped through the freaking ceiling! AHHHHHMOMMY!!! Then Kate hacks it to death with an axe of some sort. Oh my. ... Oh, and RIP Tim, the Bomb Squad guy that looked like Gay Josh from "Survivor" a couple seasons ago. RIP, dude... RIP. But, as he's dying, he motions with all the life left in him, to his backpack, lying precariously in the middle of the road. Bet that baby's got a bomb in it! Kate picks it up and takes off like the sneakiest shoplifter ever.

Theresa, Ben and Amy all loudly "shhhhh!" each other in the halls of the hospital as they struggle to evade the Abbies who so mercilessly are stalking them. Theresa scuffles with one until her husband saves the day and blasts it to the afterlife with his shotgun. #FamiliesAreForever

The Burkes, Amy, Kate and many other citizens have made it safely to the bunker at Plot 33. But wait! Who the heck let stupid Mrs. Fisher in?? They shoulda left her out there to rot. Ethan demands that Mrs. Fisher tell them where the underground tunnels lead, but Fishy is all hush-hush about it. Pilcher will rescue them, she naively asserts. Ben, no longer blinded by hypnotherapy of any kind, yells at his former schoolmaster, and she finally blurts out that a western tunnel leads to an elevator that will take them to The Complex. Ethan makes a quick game plan and Kate bandages up Theresa. This scene right here shows us how far Theresa and Kate have come. As you may recall, they weren't really on the best of terms at the beginning of the series.

Ethan teaches Ben how to shoot a gun, as any good dad should, and Ben apologizes for riling up the First Generation at the hospital in last week's episode. It's time to get a move on. Everybody's headed to the tunnel - except for Mrs. Fisher. She says she needs to stay behind to, allegedly, let in any other survivors who make it to the bunker. (Bull!!) She tells her husband that she made a promise to protect the First Generation and she needs to keep it. So help me, if she lets in the Abbies... Shortly thereafter, the citizens reach the elevator. Ethan and Kate are going to go ahead to make sure everything is safe. They'll have to make the trip in groups.

We jump over to Wayward Academy, as Jason Higgins and Class One enter the room where Ben and two other students were taught The Truth. Jason finds a secret button, which opens a secret door to what, I assume, is "The Ark." The lights switch on and Jason verbally explains for the viewing audience at home that Pilcher left the First Generation everything they would ever need.

Ethan and Kate take out a couple guards, scattering the security guards, but, as things start to get crazy at The Complex, one of the guards demands that Pam be woken up from her cryo-burial... The way is clear and Ethan lets Theresa know via walkie-talkie that they're good to send others up the shaft. But wait! There's a pounding noise on the bunker door and Mrs. Fisher watches helplessly as that sucker gets ripped from the hinges. Who - or what - could it be?? Amy heads up the elevator and Ben stays behind. Heck, after all, he now knows how to take the safety off his firearm, so he's gonna stick around and give it a whirl.

Uh... RIP Mrs. Fisher, I assume, because there are a ton of Abbies bookin' it down the west tunnel. Maybe hypnotherapy doesn't do much on mutants?

When Ethan finds out that Ben didn't make it up the elevator, he is a man on a mission. He takes Tim's bag of pipe bombs and is headed back down the shaft, whereupon we see Ben firing his gun like a madman - with reckless abandon, you might say. Surprisingly, he hits a couple Abbies in the process. But apparently he didn't learn how to reload. It doesn't matter! Because Pops is here to save the day! He mows down those Abbies like a middle schooler playing "Call of Duty" without parental consent and ushers the survivors to the elevator. Going up!

Not so fast! The Abbies start climbing up the shaft in a way that would make Nathan Drake proud. The elevator stops half-way to the destination and Ben makes the bold decision to climb up on top of the car and find a way out. He sees a ladder and a door that might be their clearest path to safety. Everybody out!! Ethan smooches Theresa, which may or may not be an indication that either or both of them will not make it out alive, and everybody starts climbing the ladder... Everybody except for Ethan, who's staying behind to, uh, fight those Abbies like a bad-a**, I guess. Yeah, dude!! Blaze of glory!!

The climbers make their way up to the room where the other survivors have been waiting and, on the other hand, Pilcher watches Ethan assemble the pipe bombs. Pilcher taunts him over the surveillance system, but Kate busts into Pilcher's office and demands, at gunpoint, that he turn the power back on. (Thought: What good would turning the power on now even do? The Abbies have already breached the perimeter and killed like 90 percent of the people in the town!) Pilcher continues to heckle Ethan over the speaker, saying that Wayward Pines was never about freedom - it was about the preservation of mankind. "Enlightenment is coming," he says. "My ideas will live on long after I'm gone." Pilcher dares Kate to kill him and... BANG! But... it wasn't Kate that shot! It was... FREAKING NURSE PAM! PILCHER'S OWN SISTER!

RIP Dr. David Pilcher, the mastermind behind the Wayward Pines experiment.

Meanwhile, Ethan is sitting in the corner of the elevator with pipe bombs strewn in front of him as the Abbies rip their way through the bottom of the car. With six Abbie arms prying through the elevator, Sheriff Ethan Burke thinks back on the happy memories of his family and presses the detonator, blowing the elevator - and the Abbies - back down the shaft. Did.............. But............ Ben pokes his head back down the shaft and calls for his father, but there is no response. What there is, however, is a big piece of metal headed right for Master Burke's noggin. It knocks him unconscious. I giggled a little bit... out of surprise... and sadness... What is this madness?? We're headed to our last commercial break.

@atownmania David Pilcher warned us that there would be a day of reckoning. pic.twitter.com/imyJBQijEb

— Wayward Pines (@WaywardPinesFOX) July 24, 2015

Kate finds Pam in a concrete room in The Complex. She tells the nurse that Ben is still unconscious, and that she wants to help stabilize the conditions at Wayward Pines. Of course, if she's going to help out, she's going to need more information. And Pam smiles, for once. Pam leads Kate down to the cryo tubes - "the rest of the population." Kate is skeptical, noting the widespread tradition of dishonesty in Wayward Pines. Moving forward, there will be "no more lies, no more surveillance, no more reckonings," Pam asserts. Pam believes that success is possible, but they'll have to work together. Literally, they'll have to. This is the last of humanity.

Security guards are shown cleaning up Pilcher's office as the camera focuses on a shot of Pam and Kate on a TV screen, standing among the tubes.

Ben wakes up in a hospital. Amy, looking less bloody and noticeably older, informs him that he is in "Wayward Pines, of course." Amy, who is now a graduated nurse at the hospital, tells Ben that he has been unconscious for three years and four months. She also tells him the chilling news that he was put back into cryo-suspension, along with all of the other adults. She tried to get him out sooner, but "they" wouldn't allow it - and they're listening to this conversation, too. "They" are still mad at Ethan Burke. "They blame him for the savior's death. They think you're like him." Amy told "them" that she could fix Ben - that he is not like his father - but Ben demands his clothes and storms out of the room, despite his former girlfriend's tears.

Ben slowly strolls down Main Street, all cleaned up and renovated, as if nothing had ever happened. There's a new sheriff in town. It's Jason Higgins - and he has an ice cream cone in his hand. The merry-go-round is up and running and all seems to have been restored. There's a new addition to the town, though, which is a statue of Dr. David Pilcher, the Wayward Pines visionary and founder.

All Benjamin Burke can do it scratch his head in shock... and the camera pans back to show several dead bodies, strung up around the city with signs on their necks.

"DO NOT TRY TO LEAVE"

The First Generation has taken over.

***

Wow. It's going to take some time to digest that. I'm shocked. I did not see that stuff coming. I was positive that Ethan would survive. But one thing I love about this 10-episode format is that it truly allowed M. Night Shyamalan, Chad Hodge and company to have a lot of freedom with the plot. I loved tuning in every week because, with a set number of shows, every episode counted. Their decisions to kill off major characters with little to no warning was thrilling and unpredictable and the wild twists throughout the series quickly made "Wayward Pines" the show of the summer - and possibly one of my favorites of all time.

***

What would one of these recaps be without a few final Wayward Lines? There were a couple good ones tonight and I figure they're worth mentioning:

- Nurse Pam: "David is not a savior. He's not a god. He is just a man - and he's made a mistake."

- Kate to Theresa: "Sometimes, people surprise you."

- Pilcher: "They're going to get up the shaft, Ethan, and they're going to kill everyone."

- Kate to Pam: "You and I have never said one true thing to each other."

And how about a couple Wayward Signs, while we're at it?:

- Survival is success

- Wayward Pines is the future

Finally, here's tonight's obituary section. It's a big one. You can't deny that the show went out with a bang.

RIP Wayward Pines Doctor (real doctor not actually pictured)

Episode 10

RIP Big Bill

Episodes 5-10

RIP Tim Bell

Episodes 1-10

RIP Most of Group B

Episodes 1-10

RIP Dr. David Pilcher

Episodes 1-10

RIP Mrs. Megan Fisher (allegedly)

Episodes 4-10

RIP Lots of Abbies

Episodes 3-10

RIP Sheriff Ethan Burke

Episodes 1-10

Well, this is your last chance to let me know what you think! I know some of you out there actually watched this show. Was it worth your time? Did you have a favorite scene? A favorite character? A favorite twist? Hit me up in the comments.

Oh yeah, one last thing:

Be happy and work hard.

Wayward Points - When the lights go down in the city

"One life to save Wayward Pines."

There's a ton to recap this week, so we'll burn this thing to the ground tonight and save any critical analysis for next week's season finale. Major spoilers to follow, of course, but... you probably already knew that. Let's take this baby from the start. Deep breaths, everyone.

***

Always answer the phone if it rings. Kate is dragged, amidst wild applause and at knife-point, to be reckoned by Sheriff Ethan Burke. Legit chills to open the episode. Hashtag Wayward Pines.

Oh gosh. Two minutes into the episode and the Abbies are INSIDE THE FENCE! ...But the first one in gets run over by the sheriff truck and Ethan blasts the freak with a shotgun. Oh baby. He takes out the dump truck tires as two more Abbies try to crawl underneath it, crushing one of the so-called aberrations in the process. Ethan Burke is a bad man.

This just in: The Bomb Squad prisoners do not like Ethan Burke. Three new dudes in trenchcoats - Class One of Wayward Academy - come storming into the sheriff's office, confronting the former lesbian receptionist Arlene and accusing Ethan of being too lax on the rules and of sheltering terrorists. They claim that the future of the town is in their hands. If Ethan doesn't reckon the traitors, they threaten to do it for him. Arlene makes a bold stand and convinces the Class One Trio to "skedaddle."

Ethan asserts that the dump truck incident happened because they didn't know what was out there - because Pilcher didn't tell them what was out there. Pilcher in return urges Ethan to reckon Kate, as doing so, he believes, would put an end to the rebellion. He rubs salt in the proverbial wound by reminding Ethan of his mistake with the Easter Bombings.

The next morning, Harold is dragged in for interrogation. Ethan shows Harold pictures of the Bomb Squad Dudes that got eaten at The Fence and demands names of the insurgents.

Back at the hospital, Nurse Pam looks longingly at a picture of herself and Pilcher as children. She checks in with Theresa to see how Ben's recovery is coming. In a hushed voice, Pam tells Theresa about the dump truck incident. Pam knows that Ethan told Theresa The Truth and she admits to Mrs. Burke that it is very good to question things. She then mentions that Main Street is not safe and encourages Theresa to take an alternate route home. "See what you find..." she says, and she slips Theresa some kind of ID card that says "restricted access" on it. What the Pam??

Harold gave Ethan 14 names, which Sheriff Burke takes to Pilcher at The Complex. Surveillance shows that all 14 insurgents have removed their tracking chips and stashed them in a cup at the beer garden.

There's something wrong at the hospital. Ben goes to investigate. Amy's in rough condition. Brain hemorrhage. Ben is sad. Stupid Mrs. Fisher shows up and immediately establishes physical contact with Ben. I've taken to thinking that physical contact is a kicker for her hypnotism. Ben hears something pounding outside the hospital window and approaches it to find the First Generation, in unison, playing Paper-Rock-Scissors as some sign of admiration for poor, suffering Amy. Mrs. Fisher urges Ben once again to be a hero and speak up against his father, but Ben seems reluctant.

The surveillance worker focuses in on the Paper-Rock-Scissors tournament outside the hospital as Ben Burke steps out to speak. Ben preaches to the First Generation about the importance of The Rules, informs them about the dump truck incident and outs his father for "[failing] this town." The leader of the Class One Trio demands a reckoning for the Bomb Squad, but Ben admits that his father isn't planning on killing anyone else in Wayward Pines.

Theresa heads to Plot 33 with Pam's access card and knocks out the surveillance camera. She enters the shack and finds something under the precariously loose floorboards. Like... that wasn't very securely hidden, people. It's a ladder and, like any concerned citizen, Theresa climbs down the hole like Alice into Wonderland. Looks like an underground bunker of some sort. She uses the access card to open a sealed door...

The Class One Trio busts into the sheriff's office as Arlene frantically tries to call for help. Arlene desperately glances at the security camera, but the leader insists that "they" won't help her. They're on his side, he says. They're just here to protect Wayward Pines. And, you know, it looks like he's not wrong. Pilcher and the surveillance worker are watching this all unfold without any visual cues of panic. The leader, Jason Higgins by name, demands the keys to the jail cell and Arlene spits in the guy's face. Jason handcuffs Arlene to a filing cabinet and begins to loot the sheriff's firearms. He's not scared. He knows Ethan won't reckon them. Kate recognizes Jason as "a good kid" that used to frequent the toy store. She talks some sense into two of the Trio, but Jason is crazed. "One crack in the ark and it all goes down." Jason believes it is his responsibility to take out the terrorists. He frees three members of the Bomb Squad, but forces them to their knees at gunpoint. He opens Kate and Harold's cell, too, smacking Kate in the face with the butt of his shotgun. He forces Harold to the ground and proceeds to scream The Rules, a la Sheriff Pope (RIP) at the reckoning of Beverly way back at the beginning of the series.

Work hard.
Be happy.
Enjoy your life in Wayward Pines.

And he blows Harold's head off. Kate, with blood splattered on her face, and Arlene, still handcuffed to the filing cabinet, let out tear-filled screams of agony as Jason executes the other incarcerated three members of the Bomb Squad. As he makes his way for Kate, pointing the smoking shotgun barrel right in her face, Ethan Burke arrives back at his office and shoots Jason in the back and orders the remaining members of the Class One Trio to their knees.

Kate is now in the holding cell. She still has blood on her face. You'd think she would have cleaned that off by now, but hey, she does answer the phone upside-down, so this chick obviously marches to the beat of her own drum, as they say. Ethan asks Kate to tell him where the 14 insurgents are hiding. Kate appears to still be processing what just happened at the jail cells. Following Harold's death, she doubts Ethan's ability to keep anyone safe, but says that if he truly wants to protect the citizens of Wayward Pines, he needs to stop protecting her. Oh good. Kate's a martyr now. Ethan says he can't oblige Kate's suggestion, but Kate says, "Someone's gonna kill me. I'd rather it be you."

Theresa shows up at the sheriff's office, spooking Arlene at the front desk in the process, and tells Ethan, "There's something I need to show you. I think Kate should see it, too." Oooooh, Plot 33!!

Deep inside the bunker at Plot 33 is a desk with a computer. Theresa boots it up and finds video footage of secret service agent Adam Hassler, that buffoon from Seattle who was apparently in cahoots with Pilcher from the very beginning. The video shows Hassler, panting for breath, on September 15, 4020. The Truth is legitimate. He pans the camera around to show the Golden Gate Bridge, run down and partly buried by the ocean. He has found no survivors. Only Abbies. Speaking of... RIP, Hassler. Theresa says Hassler was only one of hundreds who recorded video journals from across the country. There's nothing left out there. Ethan decides that they must tell all the citizens The Truth. Ethan tells Theresa to find a way to get as many citizens down to the bunker as possible before midnight. Because at midnight... there's going to be a reckoning.

Ethan requests a meeting with Pilcher at The Complex. He says he wants to reckon Kate, which, Pilcher adds, is the right decision. Ethan disagrees. It's not the right decision - it's the only decision. Kate was the leader; she brought this on herself. Ethan says he'll reckon Kate, but that's it. No more executions. But he wants everybody there. Pilcher hands him a phone. Oh gosh. We're back at the beginning of the episode.

Always answer the phone if it rings. Kate is dragged, amidst wild applause and at knife-point, to be reckoned by Sheriff Ethan Burke. But Ethan's not going to kill Kate. He's not there to kill anyone. He's there to tell them The Truth - because they're running out of time. He tells the crowd that they've been lied to. Pilcher, watching on TV from the comfort of his office at The Complex, can't believe his ears. Ethan outs Dr. Jenkins as David Pilcher, an evil, controlling villain. Ethan, Kate and Theresa divulge the sinister secret - Wayward Pines is the only thing that's left - and their testimonies are backed by those of the citizens who have been to Plot 33. One of the few dissenting voices is that of Mrs. Fisher, who cannot believe that Kate would desecrate the name of David Pilcher. (Mrs. Fisher, as you'll recall, has been in on it from the beginning, too.) Mrs. Fisher calls Pilcher "the savior of all mankind" and says that it is an honor to have been chosen to live in Wayward Pines. Mercifully interrupting Mrs. Fisher's rant, Theresa steps up and slaps her right across the face. Praise you, Theresa Burke.

Then the power goes out. Pardon my French, but PILCHER IS PISSED. There is no electricity in the entire city - including The Fence. Holy heck, David Pilcher is going to let the Abbies breach the perimeter.

Wayward Points:

• The Abbies can be killed. At least these ones died with full stomachs.
• Harold's last words to Kate were, "I love you." Tender!
• One would think that the power outage at the hospital would kill a patient in critical condition like Amy. Sadly, she looked just fine in the preview for next week's series finale. I'm sorry, but I just don't like that girl. She always looks like she's high. :-|
• This wouldn't be the first time the community was purged... but it would be the first time Pilcher did it intentionally...
• By the looks of it, next week's series finale is going to be off the chain!! And I never use that stupid phrase. Can't wait.

The Rules:
- Everybody answers their phone to start the episode.
- The bartender at the beer garden answers the phone.
- Ethan makes a phone call and everyone answers.

Questions:
- Whatever happened to Big Bill? That dude was a pervert.
- Did Ben finally get his cast off??
- What in the freak is Pilcher doing??

Answers:
- Plot 33 is a bunker containing The Truth. The whole Truth. And nothing but The Truth.
- Pilcher and Hassler did not time travel. They knew each other back in 2014 and both survived, cryogenically, until the year 4020.

Wayward Lines:
- Jason Higgins: "If you break the rules, you have to be reckoned. That's the sheriff's duty."
- Pilcher to Ethan: "One life to save Wayward Pines."
- Ethan to Harold: "What? Are you going to call your lawyer? Sit down."
- Class One Trio member to Arlene: "Skedaddle??"
- Kate: "There's more Jasons out there. They breed them in this town."

***

Who will live? Who will die? What will be the fate of our beloved Wayward Pines community?

ONE EPISODE LEFT.

RIP at least two Abbies

Episodes 8-9

RIP Harold Balinger and Bomb Squad members

Episodes 1-9

RIP Jason Higgins... allegedly

Episode 9

RIP Agent Adam Hassler... allegedly

19??-4020

RIP The Fence

2014?-4028

Until next week,

Work hard and be happy.

Wayward Points: Clear and severe

"Freedom or safety - not both."

Last week, Ben went boom. Spoiler. We picked up this week with Ethan carrying his lifeless boy through the hospital and screaming for help. Pops plops his kid down on a stretcher, Nurse Pam promises to protect Ben (as part of Wayward Pines' most precious resource) and we're already hitting the opening credits. Hashtag Wayward Pines.

***

Let's get the quick rundown and get to some juicy theories as to what's next for "Wayward Pines."

Pilcher tries to pass the truck bomb off as a "gas leak," but people aren't buying it. Rumors are running rampant and the residents of Wayward Pines are growing skeptical of their safety. What seemed like a good idea on paper got shot to crap when Pam's proposed "Fellowship Gathering" gets shut down by Sheriff Burke shuts the thing down after about two seconds. He wants that place on lockdown until the bomb investigation is over.

Meanwhile, in the hospital, Amy and Ben are recovering, and that's all well and good, but Mrs. Fisher, the resident hypnotherapist, visits young Master Burke and tries to talk him into turning on his father. Her main claim is that Ethan is too lenient on people, as was evidenced by his releasing Harold from custody last episode. Her "clear and severe" ideology does a number on Ben, who accuses his pops of allowing the terrorist act to transpire. If he would have kept Harold locked up, that bomb never would have gone off.

In a flashback, we learn that Ethan made a similar mistake back in his life as a member of an anti-terrorism task force. His squad had apprehended the mastermind behind two horrific, simultaneous bombings, but Ethan got a call from an agent he assumed was dirty, ordering the squad to release the villain. Ethan obeyed and set the guy free. Several weeks later, that same terrorist killed 620 people in another attack. In present-day Wayward Pines, the sheriff swears to his wife to never make that mistake again, and he takes off to track down Harold.

And he does, as Harold is on his way back into town after helping another member of the Bomb Squad steal a dump truck they intended to use to break through The Fence and bury a fellow conspirator who was injured last episode. Showing no mercy, Ethan chases Harold down and pistol whips him right in the face before handcuffing him to a tree. Ethan demands answers and Harold ultimately tells Mr. Burke that he's too late.

That's right. Ethan is too late. The rogue member of the Bomb Squad drives the 30-foot dump truck smack-dab through the middle of a gate in The Fence and, at long last, has accomplished his goal of being able to bury his friend on "free soil." His joy seems ominous and would shortly prove fruitless, as his brief celebration came to a quick and untimely end - three Abbies were there to greet him and welcome him and his deceased companion back to the "free" world with their carnivorous teeth.

The Abbies are coming.

***

Wayward Points:

• Did anyone else find the opening scene with Amy, still covered in blood from the bomb, stumbling like a zombie through the halls of the hospital a little funny? Maybe I'm just a terrible person, but I almost laughed when I first saw her walking around.
• Speaking of which, Amy sucks. She lays on and next to Ben while he's lying in his hospital bed, which I'm pretty sure would not be allowed in a real hospital.
• Theresa confronts Mrs. Fisher about her visit to Ben, reminding the hypnotherapist that Ben is the Burkes' son, not hers. She threatens Fisher, telling her to stay very far away from the Burkes if she knows what's best for her.
• Kate has several flashbacks in the episode, the first of which shows her in a straight-jacket in a
  padded cell. She is straight-up mental, demanding to be set free from her captivity. Pilcher
  takes a few notes to track her "progress" and Pam injects her in the neck with some sort of medicine. Later, in another flashback, Kate has embraced her well-known weirdo persona.
  Chalk it up to "acceptance" of her circumstances. She asks Pilcher for a refill prescription for
  her medication, which she immediately crumples upon leaving his office. In the present day,
  Pilcher visits Kate in jail, having come to the realization that his "model citizen" was never truly reformed like he thought she was.
• We learned this episode that the Bomb Squad has at least a dozen members or so - one of which is Ruby, who works at the diner. Dr. Pilcher notices that she arrived late to work and had pine needles in her hair. Further investigation proves that Ruby has removed her tracking chip.
• Ted, the delivery guy, is dead. Over 90 percent of his body was burned by the truck bomb.
• Television screens at The Complex monitor all surveillance in Wayward Pines. Twenty-four people man the surveillance systems around the clock. Pilcher and Pam held interviews with members of the surveillance team to see if anyone had been aiding the insurgents. One of these Complex workers is a nervous guy named Reggie Hudson. Reggie admits to occasionally
  blurring footage or wiping tape if he felt uncomfortable by anything he saw or heard. "It's human nature to ask questions," Reggie tells Pam. When Pilcher learns of Reggie's dishonesty, he sticks him in a tube and has him killed in front of his co-workers.
• Surprisingly, Pam tries to cover for Reggie. We later learn that Pam believes that if
  Pilcher starts executing his own volunteers at The Complex, he'll lose control of the Wayward Pines experiment altogether. Pam, at one point, even offers her own life on Reggie's behalf, almost begging Pilcher to punish her instead, which was a little surprising.
  
• This place is corrupt, from top to bottom. The surveillance team had a crack, Pam lied to Pilcher and the sheriff is done taking orders. Chaos is coming to Wayward Pines.
• "Stay alert. Stay vigilant. Report anything suspicious." Wayward Pines security is going to get beefed up and it sounds like Pilcher is through messing around.
• The Abbies are real. They've got to be. And now there's a dang hole right in the middle of The Fence.

The Rules:

- A phone rings in the diner as residents gossip about what really caused the explosion. Everyone in the diner turns their attention to it.

- Reggie admittedly has broken surveillance rules and protocol.

- Pilcher says Wayward Pines is entering a time of war, where new Rules must be applied, security must be tightened and protocols must be reinforced.

Answers:

- So... Kate was never actually a weirdo, apparently... But she still answered the phone upside-down that one time, which was one of the strangest things I've ever seen.

- Ethan cheated on Theresa because he felt like he could not confide in her his secret that he let the Easter Bombings terrorist free. Full of guilt and remorse, he turned to Kate because they were partners and he felt like he could trust her.

Wayward Lines:

- Amy: "I can hear your heart."

  Ben: "I would hope so."

***

Two episodes left.

RIP Ted Laufer

Episodes 6-7

RIP Reggie Hudson

Episode 8

RIP Bomb Squad dudes

Episodes 7-8

Until next week,

Work hard and be happy.

Wayward Points: The Bomb Squad

"We're not going to get a second chance. ... We execute tonight."

Last time we checked in to Wayward Pines, we learned much of the history of TV's strangest city and got a glimpse of a covert plan to blow up The Fence. That's right - Kate, Harold and Ted are leading a revolutionary faction that has a bomb and a plan to get the heck out of town... But if Ethan is forced to pick sides, will he side with the rebels, with the iron-fisted rule of Dr. Pilcher or will he choose to take the law into his own hands? Time will tell...

***

First of all, I love that the show opens with Pilcher telling Ethan not to divulge the truth of what he learned in the previous episode to anyone and then, right off the bat, he tells Theresa everything. So now Theresa basically thinks Ethan is crazy. Good times at the Burke household. That's about how this entire episode would end up going. Lots of people ratting other people out and talking about stuff they aren't supposed to be talking about. Anyhoo, Ethan is paranoid about the lingering bomb threat that we ended last episode with - and you know what? With good reason! Because it looks like somebody planted an explosive under the hood of the dear sheriff's truck. Luckily, Ethan is a sharp dude and he figures it out before he blows himself to kingdom come. Hashtag Wayward Pines.

Much of this episode revolves around a new character named Franklin Dobbs, who The Files tell us was an explosives engineer in his previous life. Ethan immediately takes an interest in our new pal, Franklin, supposing him to be a lead suspect in the botched truck bomb incident. Ethan meets with Franklin to ask about help with some imaginary gophers, you know, since Franklin is good with explosives, and all... but Franklin nervously ends the conversation and high-tails it outta there. Ethan follows him and finds that he is meeting with Harold from the toy store. Yes, that Harold. The one who put together a bomb last episode with hopes of blowing a hole in The Fence. Suspicion increases and Ethan plans to take Harold into custody to ask him a few questions about the truck bomb, but Harold, too, makes a break for it, earning himself a nice face full of asphalt.

While in custody, Ethan accuses Harold of planting the truck bomb, which he denies any knowledge of, but he does somewhat admit to planning the revolution. He covers for Ted and Kate, claiming that he was acting alone. Ethan passes him a note, requesting that Harold's "wife," Kate, meet with the sheriff ASAP, which she graciously does, meeting at the Burkes' newly-de-surveillanced home. (That's not a word. I made it up.) Ethan again splurges and tells The Truth to Kate, who apparently had no idea what year it truly was. SURPRISE!! Kate goes on to tell Ethan about how the Bomb Squad was formed - and we see, in flashback, Kate, Harold, Ted and Franklin meeting in secret with an additional member that we don't yet know from the seven episodes we've seen on TV. (She may not actually be important. It was an African-American woman, for the record.) This revolution has been in the works for 12 years, by the sounds of it. Ethan asks Kate to anonymously hand over the Fence bomb and all of her supplies and end the rebellion, but, on the other hand, we see Kate hurrying back to the toy store and urging Harold to speed up the time table and to enact their back-up plan, as well. Kate wants this thing to happen - tonight!

Later that evening, Ethan tracks the Bomb Squad to The Fence and busts their big plan. After Ethan holds Kate at gunpoint, Franklin diffuses the explosive and four people, including Franklin and Kate, were thrown in the slammer. Ethan interrogates Kate in a separate cell and realizes that Harold was not with them at The Fence. With the help of Nurse Pam, he uses surveillance video to see Harold's last-known whereabouts - at a bar, meeting with Ted, who we discover was the jerk who planted the truck bomb. The surveillance also shows Ethan and Pam something that we already knew - that Harold handed Ted the bag with the bomb for the Fence. That's a bit of an issue, because Ted is currently running his furniture delivery route and headed to The Fence, as per usual.

Sheriff Burke springs into action and goes on the hunt for the Fence bomb, which is nestled safely in the back of Ted's delivery truck. But it just so happens that Ethan's son, Ben, and his Wayward Academy crush, Amy, are simultaneously using the back of that truck as a convenient place to, um, hook up. (To her own admission, Amy has done it a bunch of times before. Hmm.) Amy finds the bag with the bomb - disguised as a music box from the toy store - and unknowingly activates the bomb by leaving the music box open as she uncomfortably kisses Ben. Ethan is in hot pursuit as the truck slows to a stop for a pedestrian, then, just as Ethan is about to reach the vehicle, KABOOM!!!

The bomb explodes in the back of the truck. Ethan goes flying to the pavement. He gets up and finds Amy, bleeding profusely from the head and leg, then he sees, to his shock and dismay, his son, Ben, lying lifeless on the ground.

Whoa.

***

So that was crazy. Let's touch on a couple other things that happened this episode:

Wayward Points:

• Mrs. Fisher is on a sex-ed kick at Wayward Academy. No wonder they don't want the parents to know what their kids are learning at that infernal institution. She awkwardly and openly talks to the kids about procreation, encouraging them to start taking the baby-making business seriously. It is, after all, their first and primary job as the youth of Wayward Pines. They want the next generation of children to be "100 percent originals." So creepy. She singles out Ben and Amy, which is, ultimately, what let them to their ill-fated rendezvous in the delivery truck, so that was... unfortunate... but hey, on the bright side, the resident hypnotherapist did have a couple of classic "Wayward Pines" quotes that I'll share with you now.
• "School is for children, Theresa, not their parents."
• "Open your books to page 17. Go ahead and... look at all the pictures... Giggle, if you want."
• On finding a mating partner in Wayward Pines: "Take a look around the room. This is a small town!"
• Also of note was Ben's best line of the night, which he uttered after being used as an example in class: "That was weird."
• There are two new pregnancies in town. Nurse Pam is pleased. But she is not quite as happy with Harold and Kate, the perfect Wayward Pines couple, who, despite optimal circumstances for pregnancy, have yet to conceive a child.
• Dr. Pilcher, under his alias, "Dr. Jenkins," made a brief appearance in this episode, expressing to his sister, Nurse Pam, his concern that another revolution is taking place. He wonders why it is happening all over again.
• Theresa wandered on over to Plot 33 again, this time breezing right on past the gated fence and snooping around in the shack. As she walked across the dead grass, the ground was visibly loose, which prompted her to investigate a little further. Using a piece of rebar, she prodded into the ground and discovered something that sounded metallic, like a large container. She asked Big Bill about it and, conscious of his office's surveillance, he was, as always, very reluctant to offer any details. Basically, like usual, he told her to stop thinking about it and mind her own business.
  
• Finally, Theresa approached Kate with her concerns about Ethan's mental stability. Both women fear that Sheriff Burke has been brainwashed by the head honchos and are worried about what to do with him. Theresa tells Kate that, upon first arriving in Wayward Pines, she made an outbound phone call on a secure line and got in touch with that Seattle secret service agent that we haven't seen much since the beginning of the series. He told Kate, allegedly, that she was entering into a government experiment and that the best thing to do would be to lay low, fit in and be careful because she would be severely tested - possibly by another agent. Kate is unsure whether he was referring to Ethan Burke, but she remains wary to this day.

***

The Rules:
- Theresa small-talks Ben on the way to school, asking if he misses things like camping and his old friends. Ben tells her, "We're not supposed to think about the past."
- When Franklin Dobbs brings up Sheriff Pope, Ethan says, "Franklin, we don't talk about the past here. You know that." He then mentions that he was joking about enforcement of The Rules.
- Ethan disables all the surveillance in his house.
- In the flashback, the Bomb Squad discusses their past lives.
- Kate answers a ringing phone. Disappointingly, she picks it up like a normal person, not like a Wayward weirdo.
- Ben is hesitant to go out in the woods with Amy because he feels like it's against the rules. Amy says there are "rules" and then there are Rules.

Questions:
- Is Ben really dead? Highly unlikely, in my opinion, since the preview for Episode 8 shows Ethan rushing him to the hospital. If he were really dead, we would have known it by now.
- Did that phone call between Kate and the Seattle agent really happen? If so, is Ethan the double-agent, or is it somebody else?
- I've mentioned this before, but is Ethan actually crazy? Or is what we're seeing, from Ethan's perspective, actually happening?
- What's under Plot 33? My immediate thought: "Holy crap, it's the mass grave of Group A." But who knows?

Answers:
- Kate really has been stuck in Wayward Pines for 12 years. Now that we know The Truth, that makes sense. But since she's an adult, not a child, apparently they didn't feel the need to let her in on the little secret that, uh, 2,000 years had passed.

***

Three episodes left.

RIP Ben Burke?

(Probably not.)

Until next week,

Work hard and be happy.