One of the best moments of this new drama is at the end, when the special agent tries to flee the town only to find he's hemmed in by miles of electrified fence and red warning lights.
The reason this was such a good scene is because the preceding hour had been crammed with tantalising, teasing, surreal aspects which made the viewer question themselves or, at least, question the perceptions of FBI Agent Ethan Burke, whose story we are following. We had seen him stumble from a car crash, so maybe this was all some concussed dream? But when he discovers the electrified fence we're left in no doubt: there is indeed some weird stuff going on here and it's OK to join Burke in his bewilderment.
Wayward Pines is a new drama from Fox, and is quite a big deal, being directed by M Night Shyamalan and starring Matt Dillon and Juliette Lewis. Everyone says it's the new Twin Peaks or The Prisoner, but I haven't seen either so was free to relish its strangeness, unsullied by the nostalgic elbowings of other weird shows.
Ethan Burke is searching for two of his missing FBI colleagues, one of whom he had an affair with. Travelling up through Idaho, he and another agent are involved in a horrific car crash and when Burke regains consciousness he's in a silent hospital in a little town called Wayward Pines. The nurse, who simply cannot shift the crazy rictus grin from her face, keeps dismissing his questions and won't bring him his mobile or wallet, saying they've been taken to the sheriff's office. Feeling irked and increasingly uneasy he staggers out of hospital and into a local bar to phone his wife, but the call won't connect and neither will the calls he makes later from his shabby hotel room. Disorientated and sore, he orders a cheeseburger (on the house, as the damn sheriff apparently has his wallet!) and the waitress (Lewis) shares his unease about this strange town, and passes him a note with her address. But this isn't a flirtation: she's giving him her details in case he needs help. Strangely, the note also tells him there are no crickets in Wayward Pines, something he tests later when he's outside, reaching into a chirruping bush to pluck out a tiny speaker.
When Ethan finally gives up and goes to the waitress's address for help he finds the tortured dead body of his missing colleague lying on her bed, but it's in a house which clearly hasn't been inhabited for years.
This is all very weird, and would be maddening were it not for the fact that Ethan is sharing our frustration. He's mad that he can't ring his wife. He's annoyed that he doesn't know where his wallet is. He's infuriated that, when he finally steals a car and tries to drive the hell out of Wayward Pines, that the road keeps looping back and taking him into the town again. We feel his anger and his increasing anxiety, and this is all capped spectacularly when he finally sees that he is a prisoner in the town, locked in by an electrified fence.
I'll be eagerly watching the rest of this series, not just to find out what on earth is going on, but for the weird, unsettling atmosphere of the creepy little town of Wayward Pines.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article