‘The I-Land’ on Netflix: Meet Kota Eberhardt, a Tough Talking Castaway

The I-Land is filled with many mysteries, and that includes the cast! While you meet a whole lot of characters in Episode 1, there are plenty more to meet throughout the course of the series–and their true natures are even harder to figure out.

That goes for the characters too, as they wake up on  a deserted island with no memory of who they are, how they ended up on a beach, and why they’re dressed like an Old Navy model. Natalie Martinez, Kate Bosworth, and Alex Pettyfer lead the ensemble cast that’s filled with faces you’re probably going to start seeing pop up in more and more projects.

One of them is Kota Eberhardt, who plays the mysterious and blunt Taylor. But who is Kota? And who is Taylor? And, on the spoiler-y tip, what happens to Taylor on The I-Land? We’ve got answers to all those questions! But first, the non-spoilery part…

Who is Kota Eberhardt?

Kota Eberhardt is model and up-and-coming actor who has had a pretty big 2019. After a small role in the 2016 indie film The Persian Connection, Eberhardt made a big splash this year by playing Selene in X-Men: Dark Phoenix.

She followed that up with The I-Land, and who knows what’s next! You can follow her adventures on Instagram at @kotaeberhardt. As for her role on The I-Land, let’s break that down–and there are some SPOILERS ahead.

Who is Kota Eberhardt on The I-Land?

Eberhardt plays Taylor, a strong-willed and combative “castaway” who would rather get some sun than humor all the feuding and macho posturing around her. Get out of her light, Blair!

SPOILERS AHEAD if you’ve only just watched the first couple episodes! Of course if you know the real premise of The I-Land, you know that there’s way more to Taylor than meets the eye. In reality, Taylor is a death row inmate in a Texas penitentiary, one that signed up to take part in this “rehabilitation” experiment. She’s serving time because she robbed a bank with her boyfriend and inadvertently killed someone during the hold up. To escape getting the chair, she volunteered to have her memory erased in order to enter a simulation wherein she’d have the chance to prove that she’s ready to start over.

Back in the I-Land simulation, Taylor does prove useful–sorta? Well, she makes a hat out of some leaves and she’s really excited about that. But unlike the rest of the islanders who are content to squabble over whether or not to live on the beach or inland, Taylor grabs the group’s only inflatable raft and hightails it for freedom in Episode 5. Things don’t turn out so well…

Where do we leave Taylor on The I-Land?

SPOILERS–Taylor’s solo trek on the raft is a rough one. She ends up on another island, battered and bloody from her trek. She passes out and wakes up to a mysterious gift of chicken soup. Seriously, there’s a pot in front of her with a crude, carved sign that says “chicken soup.” She eats it.

Fast-forward a bit and Bonnie and Clyde, the two mercenary hackers hired by Warden Wells to crack the code and mess with the inmates on the island, show up to punish Taylor for trying to escape. They don’t kill her. Instead, they tell her that she found Two-Land (yes, the “I” in I-Land is a Roman numeral) and that Two-Land has one resident: a cannibal. That unseen cannibal cut off Taylor’s fingers while she was passed out and served them to her… as chicken soup.

That’s the last we see of Taylor! Does she survive her time on II-Land? We may never know, because The I-Land is a limited series (for now, at least).

Stream The I-Land on Netflix