Wayward Pines Guest Blog: EP Chad Hodge explains Ethan's evolution

Things move fast here in Wayward Pines. At the end of the fourth episode, Ethan Burke (Matt Dillon) was scaling a vertical rock wall to get out. Now he’s handcuffing people on Main Street. It’s doubtful that becoming Sheriff of Wayward Pines was ever Ethan’s answer to Where do you see yourself in five years? So why did he readily accept the job?

Because, like you, Ethan knows the truth: 2,000+ years ago, he and the other residents of Wayward were kidnapped and placed in suspended animation. Now they’re the last of humanity. The only thing out there are the abbies, the predators humans de-evolved into over the ast two millennia. No burning desire to go hang out with them.

And the electrified fence? It’s wasn’t built to trap to the residents of Wayward Pines. It’s the only thing keeping them alive.

But Kate Hewson (Carla Gugino) and Harold Ballinger (Reed Diamond) want to blow it up. Just like that, they’ve become the enemy. NO!!! SERIOUSLY STOPPPP!!!! FORGET ABOUT YOUR FREEDOM AND JUST SELL SOME TOYS AND GO TO A BARBECUE!!!!

See? You’re seeing it from both sides now. You’re smack dab in the middle. Just like Ethan. And the only thing standing between the two sides is the truth. If we’re doing our jobs, you’re thinking about what you would do.

We can take complaining about it off the table. No matter what you think of David Pilcher’s (Toby Jones) actions and his creation, it’s done. He did it. Your Aunt Susan is long dead, your gym membership expired, and the bank stopped calling about your unpaid bill 2,000 years ago. (Bonus!)

Ethan knows he has to stop Kate and Harold from bombing the fence. Seems like the obvious thing is to just tell them the truth. But Pilcher warned Ethan not to do that. Pilcher told the truth to the first group he took out of suspended animation. Most didn’t believe him. They escaped Wayward Pines and were killed by abbies.

Which is exactly what will happen if Kate and Harold’s plan succeeds.

So what should Ethan do?

Kate was Ethan’s partner in the Secret Service. There is a certain amount of trust there. They haven’t seen each other for 12 years (okay, 2,012) but Ethan counts on the fact that Kate will believe him.

But Kate doesn’t believe him. Neither does his wife Theresa (Shannyn Sossamon).

Everybody thinks he’s crazy.

Remember when Ethan thought everybody else was crazy?

Remember when you thought everybody else was crazy?

This is why we wanted to reveal the truth to Ethan and you at the halfway point. Now, in an instant, you’re on the other side of the looking glass. And you’re seeing people for more than you thought they were. You thought Nurse Pam (Melissa Leo) was a psycho with a syringe… but she’s also a recovering addict who turned her life around and is now responsible for birthing every single human being on this planet. Remember in this episode when she tells Pilcher there are two new pregnancies? She’s so excited she literally goes up on her toes (thank you Melissa Leo). You thought Sheriff Pope (Terrence Howard) was a tyrannical ice-cream-eating killer… but before that he was an ex-con security guard with a dog named Frederick.

I won’t go into a whole emotional thing except for this paragraph: How great would it be to get that kind of opposite-clarity about your life and your relationships? To instantly be able to see things from a completely different, equally legitimate, point-of-view. Fights with your loved ones would be so gratifying. You’d both just go “Ohhhhh… now I get it. I love you. I’m still mad, but I understand.”

Sigh.

Point is, you were convinced Wayward Pines was something to escape from, but now you know it’s the only safe place on the planet.

If you found yourself living in Wayward Pines and knew the truth, what would you do?

If you found yourself living in Wayward Pines and didn’t know the truth, what would you do?

Find me on Twitter @chad_hodge.