One thing I will always appreciate about television is a good ole excitement factor. Like, if a show has me gasping and screaming and giggling and texting my friends in a frenzy, I would undoubtedly be a bit biased in my objective review of the content I’m consuming. I’m trying to put that lens down for a second right now to deliver you my thoughts on The Wilds Season Two, which succeeded in accomplishing the above effect. Heads up for lots of spoilers, by the way (a little inevitable and thus a necessary evil) so tread carefully if you haven’t watched yet!
As many others like me have, I’ve gone trawling through recent offerings on streaming services in the dying teen media genre and struck gold with The Wilds on Prime Video. If there’s one thing I’m gonna watch, it's gonna be a Prime Video Original, so I think I’m just picking up on patterns in personal taste here. A tight ten episodes surrounding a group of girls stranded on a deserted island on the way to a wilderness wellness retreat presented a story of survival and societal boundaries inside a psychological experiment meant to prove the proficiency and superiority of women in traumatic situations. Of course, this premise would suggest a control group of male test subjects, which Season Two delivered by fire and brimstone and Twitter rage unlike any other.
Before dissecting the importance of the boys, I’d like to say that my greatest gripe with Season One was that I felt that much of the mystery of the experiment and the allure of the treacherous events that the original Unsinkable Eight endured were diminished by egregiously heavy handed dialogue that attempted to explain for the umpteenth time why life as a teenage girl is hard and how it remains relevant to the social dogma surrounding teenage psychology. Respectfully, put the Cool Girl monologue down. This isn’t to say that Season Two improved upon this phenomenon, because the dialogue is still prickly with the cringe stained musk that so many teen marketed shows reek of, but I found that the addition of male characters created a space for nuance and juxtaposition that had been previously missing.
As I said before, if it's valuable to the narrative and presents an exciting direction still relevant to the themes of the show, I’m open to drastic change! I wasn’t pressed about the show becoming less “female-centric” (which it certainly still is) because of male characters, but hesitantly awaited what they would have to offer in contrast to the backstories of that of the girls. What I found in a doubled cast count and shrunken episode number was a tight plot that connected the successes of the girls with the failures of the boys with the unethical cherry-picking behind the experiment that created both instances. I saw foils, but not mirrors; similarities, but not cheap replicas.
Some examples that particularly stuck with me:
Seth, a chillingly heinous example of what becomes of the “nice guy” trope that often covers a bend of violence and insecurity, rose as an exceptional antagonist. In each reveal of another piece of his fragmented psyche and dreadful deeds, I found myself more engaged with their implications on the dynamics of the group as a whole. I thank Aussie Alex from The Society for his dedicated portrayal of Literally Just Some Guy From Lakeview in this space and time.
I won’t front - the jocky aggression and “cis white male stank”, as Roman Roy would call it, radiating off of Kirin was enough to make me groan with exhaustion by the end of the first episode. However, examining the factors behind his presentation of toxic masculinity and how rapidly and fiercely defended a survivor of sexual assault was a pleasant surprise that gave the girls an overdog of sorts. I will always root for a hot blonde, and will continue to do so. Also, rooting for his half-sibling arc with Shelby that exists solely in my brain.
As irritatingly meta it was, I felt so much gratification in Ivan’s story. Seeing how hostility and pride can weaponize a person’s heart for justice, and witnessing them give themselves the space to grow and change with nothing to lose was a breath of well-documented air.
Raf’s foil to Leah’s audience view account of events doesn’t go unnoticed, although I do feel we missed out on some deeper potential in his inner world. Give it to me, Season Three.
In regards to the screen time allotted to each group and corresponding plot lines, I felt that the season was crowded but not overcrowded. There was a lot going on, and balancing parallel timelines of events with present-day interviews and outside developments regarding the experiment was certainly a Task and a Choice. I will say that the show’s writers are exceptionally talented at weaving these narratives together, in smart ways that reflect the general themes and developments of each camp while singling out the progress (or regression) of one specific character.
The end of this season leaves us in a very interesting place. An imminent Phase Three (with no confirmed Season Three renewal) and coed camp moment loom over audiences like a cyclical threat, and there’s a lot of potential for expanding upon the wounds and realizations of the last two seasons. I’m just speaking canon Leahtin into the void and hoping we can get Taylor Alison Swift off the music licensing shortlist of this show’s soundtrack. I love you, and I’ll see you next week!