Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Wilds’ Season 2 on Amazon Prime Video, Where We Discover the Girls Aren’t the Only Ones Who Crashed

When The Wilds premiered back in 2020, we were living in a post-Lost, pre-Yellowjackets world. We’d seen our fair share of plane crash dramas over the years, but never anything that put the spotlight on teen girls in the way that The Wilds did. The first season of the twisty, often confusing series revealed that there was an entire operation behind the plane crash that brought them to the island, and Season 2 quickly reveals that these girls aren’t the only victims of this sick experiment. 

THE WILDS: SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Dot is asked about what happened “that day”.

The Gist: The last time we saw Nora (Helena Howard), the truth about her position as an informant was finally seeing the light of day, and she had run into the water to save Rachel (Reign Edwards) from a shark attack. In the aftermath of the chaos, Rachel loses a hand (helpfully cauterized by Dot), and Nora is nowhere to be found. Rachel blames herself for Nora’s disappearance, and barely speaks to any of the other girls. Shelby and Toni, meanwhile, continue their romantic rendezvous in the jungle, while the rest of the group starts to catch on to their relationship. While all this drama continues to unfold, we learn that a plane full of boys also crashed (on another part of the island).

While the girls live through Day 30, we see the boys on their Day 1; they all fell for a similar lie, about a schmancy retreat that would change their lives and allow them to fly on a private jet. Much like the girls, this group of guys is a mixed bag; we’ve got the emo kid, the asshole jock, the sensitive crier, the poet, and the BFFs, to name a few. Flashbacks reveal that the boys only wind up making it 34 days (while the girls made it the “full 50”), though what that really means remains to be seen. Jumps back and forth through time drop some serious bombshells about who some of these people really are and what their time on the island pushes them to do – and this is only the beginning for our stranded teens.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The Wilds has always had Lost vibes, and it might also bring to mind series like Yellowjackets and even Cruel Summer.

Our Take: Say what you want about The Wilds, but this show is one that consistently lives up to its name. Whether the show is dropping bombshells about its characters or taking us down dark, terrifying rabbit holes, it never fails to go to some genuinely wild places. The addition of the boys this season is interesting in theory, but when we already have so many girls (who have each been depicted with so much love and care), it’s difficult to imagine a show on which the boys are going to get the same treatment. If they aren’t, what’s the point? This isn’t to say that teen boys can’t also have rich inner lives, but giving nearly 20 main characters the time they all deserve in an 8-episode season just isn’t feasible. Because of the addition of all of these people, the characters are essentially cheapened, leaving us with more shallow storytelling when all is said and done.

Despite this new problem, however, The Wilds remains as watchable and intriguing as ever, unafraid to get gory and gross and dive into deep emotional trauma. The series, which initially drew Lost comparisons, now stands alongside Yellowjackets, a very different (better written) show with a similar premise that will likely bring more viewers to The Wilds at the end of the day. The show might not always hit the mark, but you have to appreciate that it’s willing to swing and miss, because some of the bigger swings are its most interesting. The level of darkness might not be easy for everyone to stomach, but for those who like to escape towards the pitch black instead of the light, The Wilds might be just the ticket.

Sex and Skin: Shelby and Toni get a little hot and heavy in the jungle, but we cut away before things get too crazy.

Parting Shot: Raf wears a shell-shocked expression in his cell until he’s surprised to find a hand over his mouth and a threat in his ear.

Sleeper Star: Sarah Pidgeon’s Leah still has one of the most obviously made-for-camera faces on the show. Much like Sophie Nelisse on Yellowjackets, there’s a breathtaking power to her, a unique magic in whatever is going on behind those captivating eyes. I’d pay to watch Pidgeon and Nelisse tear up the scenery together – both gals are just that good.

Most Pilot-y Line: It’s not particularly pilot-y, but Raf’s declaration that the boys in the group “wanted to be men, but the truth is that some of us were becoming monsters,” was good stuff.

Our Call: STREAM IT. While adding boys into the mix takes away some of the singular magic of the first season, The Wilds remains an extremely entertaining and beautifully performed series.

Jade Budowski is a freelance writer with a knack for ruining punchlines, hogging the mic at karaoke, and thirst-tweeting. Follow her on Twitter: @jadebudowski.