Wayward is creepy as hell. From the mind of comedian Mae Martin, the Netflix series is about the eerie small town of Tall Pines, and the academy for troubled teens within it, run by Evelyn (a fantastic Toni Collette). But what in the world is going on at that damned school?
Thankfully, the show’s twisty, explosive finale reveals all. Let’s get into it.
(Warning: Spoilers ahead.)
In Wayward’s penultimate episode, Alex (Martin) is worried about his pregnant partner, Laura (Sarah Gadon), as he overhears her talking to former students of Evelyn’s about their shared experiences, saying that she will never leave Tall Pines—the exact thing Alex has been trying to do this whole time. Alex sets off to help teenager Abbie (Sydney Topliffe) run away from Tall Pines Academy, but he is captured by his police partner Dwayne (Brandon Jay McLaren), who works for Evelyn.
Tall Pines Academy students Abbie and Leila (Alyvia Alyn Lind) are finally ready to make their escape. (For the uninitiated, it’s a school where parents send their misbehaving kids, and leaving is not an option until graduation.) Their relationship suffered after Evelyn tried to tear them apart, but they put their plan into action, hatching an elaborate scheme.
But during their exit, Leila makes the decision not to leave. She’s overwhelmed by pain and grief over the loss of her sister, and Evelyn has promised to take Leila’s pain from her during the “leap,” Evelyn’s top-secret process that effectively removes painful memories using hallucinogenic drugs.
“You won’t be the same,” Abbie warns her, but Leila responds, “Exactly,” because that’s precisely what Leila wants from the leap and from Evelyn. For her, staying at Tall Pines is a very different kind of freedom. She may be trapped physically, but mentally, she’ll finally be relieved of the anguish that plagues her.
After being kidnapped in the last episode, Alex wakes up tied to a chair, with Evelyn ready to perform the leap on him. But before she can begin, Rabbit (Tattiawna Jones), Evelyn’s loyal servant, turns against her, attacking Evelyn to free Alex.
Alex injects Evelyn with the drug that induces the leap. Before Evelyn is taken over by the effects of the drugs, she reveals to Alex that she wasn’t the one who killed Laura’s parents. Evelyn tells Alex that Laura killed her parents herself. That was why Evelyn had to leap Laura: so Laura could forget the horrible thing she’d done.
Alex goes to see Laura, but he’s attacked by Dwayne. Alex gets the upper hand, grabbing hold of a rock and smashing Dwayne in the head with it. Dwayne’s barely conscious, so Alex could easily escape, but Alex ends the fight permanently, finding a gigantic rock and killing Dwayne with it. But before Dwayne is killed, he says something chilling: “Alex, I see you.”
It’s hardly the kind of thing a cold-blooded killer would say. Are the people of Tall Pines really so awful? (Yes. Yes, they are, but Alex could have easily walked away without killing Dwayne, adding another delicious layer of moral complexity to the show).
Just in time, Alex races back home to Laura. It seems like the entire community of Tall Pines is there, and Alex arrives in the nick of time. When the baby is born, they’re thrilled, and Alex holds his child skin-to-skin, a method that regulates the newborn’s breathing and temperature, while also promoting bonding. It’s beautiful. That is, until it gets incredibly uncomfortable.
In one of the most chilling birth scenes since Rosemary’s Baby, everyone watching the birth starts to undress so they can have skin-to-skin contact with the baby, too. Alex looks to Laura, barely able to believe his own terror-struck eyes. “It’s everyone’s. It’s the only way to break the pattern,” Laura says, referring to the harm Evelyn has done to the community, as Alex looks on as the baby is passed around to everyone in town.
Martin plays this beautifully, so overcome by fear that he can’t do anything but sit with Laura in abject horror. A striking realization comes over him: even with Evelyn gone, Tall Pines will always be a cult, and his partner will be the one leading it.
Later that night, Alex decides to escape Tall Pines with the baby, meeting Abbie and his dog Toast at his car, and they make their way to freedom. They have a thoughtful exchange: Alex tells Abbie, “You are not bad. There’s no such thing as a bad kid. You know exactly who you are.” Alex tells Abbie that they’re family now, and she responds, “You’ll always protect us. Because that’s who you are. A protector.” The two drive away from Tall Pines, full of hope and optimism for something greater. What a lovely ending!
Except that’s not how Tall Pines ends. The tender exchange is just Alex’s fantasy; he’s back at the house with Laura and the baby. Instead of leaving, he shuts the door and heads back inside. We see Abbie and Toast in the car, driving away, but there is no joy in Abbie’s face. She’s worried and frightened about her uncertain future. It was supposed to be a new life with her best friend, but instead, she’s alone, forced to face the cold, harsh world on her own. But if Abbie can handle the relentless creepiness of Tall Pines, I’ve got a feeling she’s going to be just fine.
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