M Night Shyamalan Has Ideas For ‘Wayward Pines Season 2’
I love how modern television is giving us season-long mini-series, which allow for a richer story than allowed in the time restraints of the big screen, but also create full story arcs that don’t suffer from the seasonal strain of normal television. One of the latest in this genre isWayward Pines, theM. Night Shyamalan-produced series based on theWayward Pinesnovels byBlake Crouch.
The ten-episode limited series ran on Fox from May 14th to July 23rd 2015. But while the series has officially come to an end, M. Night Shyamalan and author Blake Crouch have an idea for a possibleWayward Pinesseason 2. But doesn’t this completely defeat the purpose of the limited television series premise? Will a second season happen?
Will There Be a Wayward Pines Season 2?
M Night ShyamalantoldDeadlinethe following about the ending ofWayward Pines:
So what is the idea? We don’t know. But Deadline did ask Shyamalan if any of the surviving characters/actors could return for a possible second season, and he would only tease: “We have an idea we’ve discussed. That’s all I’ll say.”
ShowrunnerChad Hodgemade similar comments toThe Hollywood ReporterandEntertainment Weekly:
There are some preliminary discussions, but nothing official yet. … It was not meant to tease a season 2. It was the end. Period. Really what it does is it comes full circle. Just as Ethan woke up in episode 1 and found himself in this strange town of Wayward Pines, in a hospital bed with a nurse standing above him, and then he walks up Main St. to find this strangely odd town and people staring at him, it’s actually partly shot-for-shot exactly what we did in the first episode as Ben comes up Main St. and sees people starring at him. It’s meant to be full circle that Ben is now experiencing, in a way, exactly what his father experienced when he came to Wayward Pines. Not that much has changed, but in fact, things have maybe gotten a little worse.
ObviouslyWayward Pinescould keep going but it was meant to be these 10 episodes. To leave you with a few questions/possibilities for your mind to wander is a good thing. … What Ben does and how he responds will be up to your imagination to decide. There is no official season two yet, no talks yet. Nothing to report on that front.
When asked if any of the cast has been asked to return for more, Chad said “Not yet. We haven’t had any official discussion.”
What Could Wayward Pines Season 2 Be About?
In my mind, there are only three ways you can go with aWayward Pinesseason 2:
My Thoughts on Wayward Pines Season 1
I should have lovedWayward Pines. At surface level, it has everything I loved fromLost– great mysteries, a fun premise and some good actors (Oscar winner Melissa Leo, Oscar nominees Matt Dillon and Juliette Lewis, Golden Globe-nominated Toby Jones and Hope Davis). And unlikeLost,Wayward Pinesdelivers on more of the mysteries and has a well planned out 10-episode arc. ButWayward Pinesalways feels like a cheap imitation. It might be the bad screenwriting, or the budget which was never as big as was needed from the story.
I watched the pilot episode and gave up on it almost immediately. It took my friend Reza’s passionate plea to give the series another chance following the reveals in the fifth episode. As I chugged through the series with my girlfriend, we often asked ourselves why we were still watching the show, but just enough a good reveal or mystery was introduced to keep us interested. And yes, the big reveals in the fifth episode might make the entire ten-episode series worth your time alone. But I somehow came out of the series finale this week (which yes, ended with another gutsy twist that will likely leave most audiences annoyed), wanting more. And maybe thats the point?
Should They Make a Wayward Pines Season 2?
I can understand why they would make a second season –Wayward Pineswas Fox’s second-best performer of the summer, beating out shows likeSo You Think You Can Dance,Bullseye,Boom!,Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, and more. But should they?
If M. Night Shyamalan does decide to develop a second season ofWayward Pines, I admit that I will probably watch it – hey, I’m a sucker. But the problem is thatWayward Pineswas adapted from the completeWayward Pinestrilogy of novels, so there is no more source material to use. I just hope that if they come back to somehow continue the story they nail down the entire story arc before going into the season, that was one of the big appeals of a show like this.
And yes, I know there are shows likeDexterwhich had their whole first season based on a book, and season one ofDexterwas always my favorite for that reason — it felt the a complete well-designed and plotted story. And the subsequent seasons were unable to match the first, even when they had A-level performances from the likes of John Lithgow, playing a role of a lifetime.
