Wayward Pines may be no ordinary town, but its certainly in the mold of more classic, fictionally strange ones.
Based on a series of novels by Blake Crouch and shepherded to the small screen by filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan (who also directed the pilot), Wayward Pines is to be another strange little series indebted to the likes of Twin Peaks and a long lineage of cinematic and televised towns with their own weird ways of doing things.
This one is Wayward Pines and Secret Service Agent Ethan Burke (Matt Dillon) drives to the bucolic Idaho town searching for two missing federal agents. One of the best Secret Service agents in the Seattle office, hes the man who knew missing agent Kate Hewson better than anyone. They were more than partners; their relationship nearly destroyed Ethans marriage. Everything changes when a truck slams into his car and he wakes up in the Wayward Pines Hospital, with the intense and unpredictable Nurse Pam (Melissa Leo) at his bedside. It soon appears that Pam is more interested in harming than healing. She and Ethan grow into deadly rivals, and her role in the town proves much deeper than anyone realizes.
And so the synopsis continues fleshing out a place unlike most, where odd things happen and everyones chipper demeanor gives way to a threatening glance. Wayward Pines is certainly a place youre not allowed to leave, but lets hope its allure (like Terrence Howard trying to twist ice cream into something sinister) is one that audiences wont want to.
The directorial list is certainly something. Following the Shyamalan-helmed premiere, Wayward Pines will see episodes directed by Sound of My Voices Zal Batmanglij, Vacancy and Kontrols Nimród Antal and Twin Peaks alum James Foley (Rivers Edge) and Tim Hunter (Fear).
The series premieres on FOX Thursday, May 14th. You can find the Wayward Pines trailer, below.
