Wayward Pines Review: Walcott Prep (Season 2 Episode 9)

If there’s one thing Wayward Pines is good at, it’s doing the last thing people expect.

I totally did not see this one coming. The realization that Jason is Kerry’s son is absolutely gross and maddening.

Yet at the same time, it’s an ‘oh’ moment that the show desperately needs. What’s more, it provides a fitting end to the convoluted character of Jason Higgins.

Jason embodies the flaw in Pilcher’s ideology. Pilcher is responsible for Jason being the person that he is. Who knew that the partner he would pick for himself would turn out to be his own mother?

The twist is messed up; it’s badly executed, but it’s ironic. It’s a great way to say that Pilcher’s ideology doesn’t work anymore.

Pilcher weighs down the characters on the show. It would be nice to say goodbye to his character.

With Jason dead, it will be up to Theo to assume leadership of Wayward Pines, but at this point, we must question if Theo is really fit to lead the town.

Theo obviously manipulates Kerry to kill Jason. That is cold, especially for the protagonist. If Kerry hadn’t done it in self-defense, I’m sure Theo would have done it himself.

This is one of the reasons why Yedlin’s character is so unlikable. He pretends to have moral values, and proceeds to abandon them in times like these. Theo Yedlin is a hypocrite, and I’m sure we don’t want to see him survive past the season.

None of the characters are really working out for Wayward Pines. We have a lot of characters with great potential but they’re just being used as plot devices.

Take Xander, for instance. He is useless this time around. So far, all he’s done is shoot Margaret and not even kill her.

Then there’s Frank who’s only point is to be there.

Since we’re on the point of leadership, I am now damn convinced of two things: Arlene will die, and Ben will turn out to be alive.

Everyone is unfit to lead, and Ben and Arlene are the only Season 1 characters alive. I think the show has always been setting up Ben to be the leader of Wayward Pines.

But…

There’s also CJ. His role in this episode is to tell everyone that only half the people in Wayward Pines can be saved. It’s a rather convenient setup for the finale.

CJ is also involved in Theo’s plan to take down Jason. It seems that he is tired of Jason’s leadership, but he constantly insists that he’s not insane.

I have other ideas.

CJ might just be a crazy person because of all those years he spent waking up from his sleep. We knew that he was hallucinating about his family and now he’s showing all the obvious signs of madness.

It makes you question if the cryogenic sleep will actually work, but first, they will have to deal with the town’s reaction.

Overall, “Walcott Prep” doesn’t really advance the plot in any way except for Jason’s death. That reveal does take up a lot of screen time, with Jason’s entire history being revealed.

Ultimately, it’s all a big setup for the finale.

What did you think of this episode of Wayward Pines? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Wayward Pines airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on FOX.

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