In the time ofLostandYellowjackets, what doesThe Wildsadd to the scene? Created by Sarah Streicher,the show’s debut seasonpremiered in December 2020 (almost a year before the first episode of fan-crazed thriller seriesYellowjackets)and follows a group of teenage girls who, on their way to an empowerment retreat in Hawaii, find themselves stranded on a desert island after their plane crashes. While playing out the disaster, the show jumps to the past and future, intertwining scenes of the character’s personal lives and recovery process.
It is easy to dismiss any comparisons ofthe Amazon Studios serieswith its predecessors and successors as it carries an unwavering theme of sisterhood, one that is seldom seen as genuinely as portrayed in the series. It introduced conversations of grief and death, and the desperation to be loved, bringing forth characters who lost their parents and other loved ones, and ones who are suffering from heartbreak, be it from another person or from the loss of their lifestyle. The series is chaotic and doesn’t shy away from the ugly, showing the teens with their hands covered in blood and their faces burnt red from sunburn. Being beautifully diverse, it showcases characters of different sizes, sexualites, ethnicities, and backgrounds, which doesn’t change in its second season. Still carrying its consistent tone, the new season is a major shift from what viewers are used to.
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The general premise ofThe Wildsexpands beyond the “a group of people are stranded on an island” trope. It has a clear instigator and antagonist in Gretchen Klein, a former professor who helms the “Dawn of Eve” project, and the newly introduced “Twilight of Adam”. Claiming she is doing a scientific study, Gretchen is a manipulative leader responsible for the faked plane crash. While transporting the teens via private plane to the retreat, she has them drugged by chocolate cake and then her team loads them into the ocean.
Throughout the experience, the team spies on the crash survivors and plants useful tools and resources to keep them alive. But as seen in the first season, it isn’t always enough and they can’t account for natural happenings while also maintaining their secrecy. In season one, Gretchen oversaw the loss of two survivors (to the viewer’s knowledge), one by a fall-related injury and the other by ashark attackand high tide. There were also small mishaps like a survivor losing the group’s lighter, therefore leaving the group cold and subject to hypothermia, an edible-induced party that led the survivors to binge-eating all of their snacks, and a sick and anxious camper spilling their emergency supply kit of medicine and first aid materials in the forest.
The show’s most angsty camper Leah Rilke (Sarah Pidgeon) was onto Gretchen and her sick experiment in the season one finale, both while on the island and then immediately after being rescued and placed in holding (with Gretchen’s team disguised as agents). In the second season, she kicks everything up a notch and finds some unexpected allies along the way. The storyline continues with an exploration in both experiments, further developing the already-loved characters and introducing a group of guys.
The season feels rather unbalanced and overloaded with testosterone. It puts forth the most stereotypical male characters and makes their big reveals early on. The first season was expertly guided with character-focused episodes, however this one feels like a mumble-jumble and is thrown off track by its half-fleshed newbies. While there’s one or two to keep an eye on, as a group, they offer little.
In episode five when the series reaches its mid-season climax, the new group join forces against an unforgivable evil. It truly becomesLord of the FliesmeetsLost, meetsThe Stanford Prison Experiment,in more ways than one. And as Gretchen predicted, the patriarchy rears its ugly head and infects those most vulnerable, leaving many scathed. While the first season dipped into teenage angst overload, the second season packs double the trouble but with half the originality.
This second season offers some much-warranted reality checks and depth to the fan-favorite characters and relationships, and the mystery behind the drama. While it may ebb and flow, which is destined to happen after a perfect previous season,The Wildshas set a solid foundation for many seasons to come. It is heart-racing, filled with love, and offers a deeper perspective into the contemporary teenage experience - the fears, the anxiety, and the loneliness of it all.
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