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Wayward Pines, Ep. 1.07, “Betrayal”

Wayward Pines, Ep. 1.07, “Betrayal”

Wayward Pines, Season 1, Episode 7, “Betrayal”
Written by Rob Fresco
Directed by Steve Shill
Airs Thursdays at 9pm (ET) on Fox

There’s been an interesting shift that’s taken place in Wayward Pines since the events of “The Truth.” Before the real nature of the town was revealed, so much of the drama and intrigue was based on the odd way that all of its inhabitants were behaving, with a prevailing Stepford Wives or Twilight Zone aura. Everyone in town felt as though they were making an effort to imitate real behavior, but didn’t quite grasp it beyond surface mechanics. Since the big reveal, the curtain has pulled back to reveal that the town’s inhabitants are indeed very human. And being human makes them all the more problematic: they’re not easy to control, don’t like not knowing what is going on, and are willing to fight for what they want.

In “Betrayal,” there are two very human desires on display, the desire for procreation and the desire for freedom. With passions running high, Wayward Pines begins speeding up after the exposition-heavy efforts of last week’s “Choices,” everyone doubling down on their respective commitments to save the town or find a way out of it. It’s an episode that scales back from some of the big-picture problems of the town—the abbies, the failure of Group A—and focuses on setting up conflicts and alliances between the people safe/trapped behind its walls.

The biggest of those conflicts is the one developing between Ethan and Kate, with the former now established as the sheriff and the latter revealed as the leader of the resistance. It’s a cause-and-effect relationship, as Ethan finding a pipe bomb in his car leads him to dig deeper and his investigations push Kate to accelerate their timetable to blow a hole in the fence. This progression lets us see more and more shades of both characters: Ethan proves to be greatly suited to the role of sheriff by tracking down the bomb’s origins from Frederick to Harold to Kate, and Kate’s back story gets even sadder with the reveal that the resistance only began because people wanted a place to feel safe breaking a rule and discussing their life before.

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Ethan’s progression is also interesting to watch given where the character started out. He’s still feeling Kate and Harold out for answers but to an entirely different end, and he’s gone from smashing Pam’s face into a wall to asking for her help on the surveillance monitors. It’s a testament to both the writing and to Matt Dillon’s performance that they’ve been able to pivot his motivations while at the same time keeping it an organic move for the character, able to make it all come from the same place of desiring to keep his family safe. And it’s even more interesting because of the way Wayward Pines has made him into something of an antagonist to those who don’t know the truth. The viewer knows that Ethan is trying to do the best he can without hurting anyone, yet to the townsfolk—particularly those who witness his takedown of Harold on the main street—he’s become every bit the ruthless company man Sheriff Pope was.

And as the Wayward Pines administration’s trust in Ethan grows, so does the suspicion on the part of those who were ostensibly his allies. He immediately breaks Pilcher’s rules by trying to tell first Theresa and then Kate the truth about the town, but neither of them wants to hear it. Their reaction is a largely anticlimactic part of the episode given Pilcher’s doomsday warnings from last week, choosing to believe that Ethan’s been manipulated rather than a truth too outlandish to swallow. Yet while their immediate reactions fall flat, the long-term ramifications of not believing him continue almost immediately: if he’s been co-opted, than they’re going to have to figure a way out on their own. In Theresa’s case that means digging into the mystery of Lot 33—now with a potential Lost hatch located under the grass—and for Kate it means accelerating her timetable to the point that they almost manage to blow the fence in a camera blind spot.

These developments would be stressful enough, but Wayward Pines smartly ups the stakes by linking it with the episode’s other plot. Now that he’s passed orientation, Ben’s classes are configuring to offer further instruction about the future of the town, which includes a biology class that’s incredibly up front about the fact that being first generation implies an obligation to produce the second. (It’s an idea that’s all over “Betrayal,” between Pam telling Pilcher about the new pregnancies in town and her judgment of Harold and Kate for failing to conceive.) It leads to a cringing awkward sequence where Megan puts Ben and Amy in front of the class and goes on a tangent about how human bodies fit together, “hand in glove.” There’s a divide that exists in Wayward Pines that explains another part of the resistance’s goals: the town doesn’t care about them as individuals, only what they mean for the future.

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Amy’s desire to embrace that responsibility (and Ben by extension) means that they become unwittingly tied up in the conspiracy, hitching a ride on the back of Ted’s truck—at the same time that truck is carrying the music box bomb and headed for the gate. Fittingly for the human dimensions of the episode, this assigns a very human cost to the escape attempt. Director Steve Shill creates perfect tension in the final act of the episode, Ethan racing through the streets to get to the truck in time, while simultaneously Ben and Amy enjoy awkward adolescent intimacy with no awareness they’re sharing a ride with an explosive device. And once again, Wayward Pines proves it knows it has a limited amount of time by not finding a last-minute cheat out of this. The bomb may not breach the wall, but it does go off, sending Ethan to the pavement, and throw both teens onto the street.

The final scene of Ethan desperately trying to find a sign of life in Ben’s face is an utterly wrenching one after everything we’ve experienced—so of course that’s the moment that the episode closes on. “Betrayal” is an episode that smartly draws the battle lines in the town after blurring loyalties over the last two weeks, and raises the stakes to a level that means whatever side Ethan isn’t on should be afraid of the consequences. The worst of those consequences in a horde of hungry abbies ripping through the fence is avoided, but depending on whether or not Ben lives through this experience, something even worse may be about to descend on this town.

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The Points Beyond The Pines:

  • There’s been some murmuring over the last week that Wayward Pines might be under consideration for a second season. While the show was optioned as a limited series, it’s performed well by the standards of summer network programming, and is qualitatively better than most of its competition (*cough*Under The Dome*cough*). It’s hard to see what a season two would look like right now, given that the show was optioned in 2013 and its cast are actors who are fairly in demand (even without deceased characters like Terrence Howard and Juliette Lewis). It’ll be interesting to see where this goes, especially given we don’t know how much earth will be scorched in the remaining three episodes.
  • Last week’s review criticized Pilcher for lacking the fervor one would expect from a visionary of his caliber, but his moment in the hospital with Pam is a good explanation for that. The various losses he’s suffered have beaten him down and even with Ethan’s support, all he can dwell on is the “passion for self-destruction” his subjects have. Pam’s efforts to support him appear to be as much about keeping him together as they are serving a greater good.
  • The “Don’t cockblock me, Dad” look on Ben’s face when Ethan grabs him from his conversation with Amy is a thing of perfection.
  • Also perfect: the moment of awkwardness when Theresa and Kate have to share the hospital elevator, amplified by the awesomeness of Carla Gugino’s hat.
  • Big Bill update: still the worst. Though his nervous glance towards the surveillance device in the office indicates he’s not immune to the upsetting elements of the town.
  • “This fake little town is all that’s left.”
  • “Your job is to feed them and keep them safe. Let us do the rest.”
  • “We’re not murderers.” “Why not? They are.”
  • “It’s not going to stop. It’s just begun.”

 

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