FoxFor better or worse, Wayward Pines begins its second season feeling like a whole new show.
Sure, the titular town is still front and center—and those problematic abbies are still scratching at the fortified walls—but this is not the same place that Matt Dillon's Ethan sacrificed himself for at the end of the Fox series' first season. Long gone is the pretense of the peaceful idyll carefully cultivated until the not-so-dearly departed David Pilcher's (Toby Jones) watch, replaced instead by the fanatical First Generation's martial law. This semi-reboot, and the several fresh faces that come along with it, was born out of necessity, sure—what was originally intended as a one-and-done limited series was given a stay of execution when it became the surprise ratings success of last summer—but as new star Jason Patric told E! News, it's also provided an easy entry point for newcomers.
"If you want to watch last year's, you certainly can, but otherwise, you're going to completely understand it because you're going to be in my shoes," he admitted. "My character Theo gets dropped right in there and, I think, in a lot of ways, I'm a subjective surrogate for the audience, and that's how I've tried to play this guy who does not understand and is trying to figure out the logic of everything."
Patric's Dr. Theo Yedlin is the latest Wayward Pines resident to be taken out of suspended animation at the start of season two, finding himself thrust into the unfamiliar town where nothing is quite as it seems—and if you find yourself thinking, "Wait a minute, isn't that exactly how season one began?" you're not wrong. But Patric insists there's plenty there for returning fans, as well. "And people who loved it last year, there's so much of what was last year," he added. "But it really is like a new show…It's a new show."
While much of season one consisted around the mystery of exactly what the heck was going on in Wayward Pines, the big question heading into season two is, now that we know the series actually takes place in 4028, with Earth a virtual wasteland and the human race all but extinct, what's left to be surprised by? According to Patric, there's plenty. "The first season, the star was Wayward Pines...Now, the cat's out of the bag, so it is about the characters," he admitted. "It's not about finding out what happened, it's how do people then live in this environment and the pressures of it. So, I think the characters are forefront."
And don't forget about those abbies. While we may know much of Wayward Pines' secrets this time around, the genetically mutated monsters doing their damndest to get past those electric fences still offer plenty of mystery on their own. "The abbies have been underestimated," Patric teased. "As opposed to, I think people think they were some aberration, some zombie-like aberration, they're far more intelligent than that. It's going to be a struggle to survive and see who wins."
While several familiar faces from season one will pop up in the new episodes—and under some surprising circumstances, too—there's a host of new players in the game. Aside from Patric, Djimon Hounsou, Kacey Rohl, and Nimrat Kaur are all on board as new series regulars, while Hope Davis and Tom Stevens return with more to do than ever before as creepy Wayward Pines Academy principal Megan Fisher and lunatic First Generation leader Jason Higgins, respectively. Oh, and as for Ethan's son Ben (Charlie Tahan), who we last saw stumbling down Main Street in the season one finale, much like his father did in the series premiere? He's still out there—doing what, we'll leave that a surprise. But, as Patric warned, no one is safe. "Trust me, as the season goes on, there's lots of carnage," he teased. "So, get attached to the characters, but they're going to drop off."
With the abbies closing in, we'd expect nothing less.
Wayward Pines returns for season two Wednesday, May 25 at 9 p.m. on FOX.