Wayward Pines Season One DVD Review
Summary: Wayward Pines Season One successfully recreates the novels by Blake Couch but just be warned... the ending is not what you expect! Nonetheless, great TV!
4.2
Gripping TV!
Wayward Pines is M. Night Shyamalan’s TV debut who transforms Blake Couch’s book series into a gripping 10-part TV experience that stars Academy Award Nominee Matt Dillon as secret service agent Ethan Burke. The premise behind this series revolves around Burke’s search for two missing federal agents which point to the secluded town of Wayward Pines which has a dark collective of secrets.
Unfortunately for Burke when he arrives in the town of Wayward Pines, he soon discovers that this country town is not what it seems and beneath the “normal” looking exterior, something more sinister lies within its belly and although his role is secret service agent, he soon becomes an unwilling pawn to whatever is running this town.
So as the series progresses and with each episode, Burke uncovers more secrets of both the town and its residents and before he knows it, he is stuck in Wayward Pines and although he “finds” one of the agents, he is given a choice, forget about his former life and become a citizen of this town or face the consequences… this town is actually more sinister than Twin Peaks.
Although the star of Wayward Pines is Matt Dillon who successfully creates this realistic and empathetic agent who is out of his depth, Dillon’s supporting cast really adds to the twisted nature of this story, especially Toby Jones who plays Pilcher, the founder of Wayward Pines who believes that his actions are for the greater good, even though he holds his townsfolk in servitude.
Then you have Carla Gugino and Melissa Leo whose characters have another layer of mystery to them and believe that Burke may be the key to their salvation. Another stand out actor is Terence Howard who plays the town’s Sheriff who has some really powerful scenes in the series, especially when Burke gets too close to the secrets or when he attempts to leave. All in all, the cast really compliment this amazing modern fairy tale.
So as each episode rolls on, Burke starts piecing together the puzzles of Wayward Pines and the more he discovers, the more precarious his position becomes in the town that leads to a deadly game of cat and mouse as he searches for the answers that will lead him out of his town.
At times, Wayward Pines is almost supernatural and it works extremely well with the complex plot and strange characters. From this, you can tell that Blake Couch was inspired by Lynch’s Twin Peaks TV series because there are some very strong parallels but thankfully Wayward Pines is its own entity.
I also like how M. Night Shyamalan challenges the viewer by changing how some characters act like Nurse Pam (Melissa Loe) who was quite forceful towards Burke at the start but as the series progresses, she sees this agent as a potential pawn and perhaps a way of changing the destiny of Wayward Pines in this vicious game of Chess.
Video, Audio & Special Features
Well presented on DVD, Wayward Pines boasts some exceptional video and audio quality. To compliment this great release by Fox, the DVD boasts a couple of special features that includes two featurettes that takes you behind the scenes of the story which include Where Paradise Is Home: A Wayward Pines Style Guide plus Creating a Mythology. The only thing missing is that I would have loved to see an alternate ending but then again, this is M. Night Shyamalan we’re talking about!
Final Thoughts?
The only downside of Wayward Pines is probably the ending and after such a meaningful build-up, the ending definitely leaves the series open for interpretation. Even though the series is based on all three books by Blake Couch, the ending will leave you craving for more answers but it is still a satisfying conclusion, even though the answers are not concrete. All in all, Wayward Pines was a gripping tale about this strange town and its denizens that is well acted and produced which makes a perfect 10-part series.
DVD Details
Actors – Matt Dillon/Terrence Howard/Carla Gugino/Toby Jones/Juliette Lewis
Film Genre – TV Drama
Label – 20th Century Fox
Audio – English (Dobly Digital 5.1)
Aspect Ratio – 1.78:1
Region Coding – 4
TV Standard – PAL
Rating – MA15+
Year of Release – 2015
Primary Format – Movies/TV – DVD
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