# Wayward Pines Season 1 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 14, 2015, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wayward-pines-season-1/720072 "2015-05-14T22:11:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wayward-pines-season-1/720072/161 "2015-06-12T22:35:40Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > We don’t need time travel to tell us we need to do something about global warming, agreed. However, we DO need time travel to convince us to invest in a 2000-year hibernation project. > > Why would anyone in 2015 care at all what’s happening in 4100? As opposed to, say, 2500? Or 3000? etc… > > Ugh, really? I may have just heard what I wanted to hear. Did they explicitly say he “predicted” it? I thought she said he told them, as opposed to guessed it would happen and so convinced them to take a flier on his nutty idea. > > I mean, I get that 2015(ish) Secret Service is letting multiple intruders into the White House and partying with hookers and blow in South America, but even those Keystone Kops would look askance at involuntarily committing their agents (three of them and counting) to 2000 years of hibernation. Maybe there are already morlocks wondering around and it’s the plan to gather humans with the genetics needed in the future. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wayward-pines-season-1/720072/162 "2015-06-12T22:43:27Z")
If we take their story at face value, it’s clear that the goal of the project is not “rebuild humanity” or even “save humanity”. It’s “create a new society in the future that follows a very specific set of rules.” ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wayward-pines-season-1/720072/163 "2015-06-12T23:14:24Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > If we take their story at face value, it’s clear that the goal of the project is not “rebuild humanity” or even “save humanity”. It’s “create a new society in the future that follows a very specific set of rules.” The new society will be built by the children though, not the adults. The adults who have to follow those weird rules are just guinea pigs or caretakers until the children who supposedly know the deal can take charge. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wayward-pines-season-1/720072/164 "2015-06-12T23:41:59Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Don’t feel bad. You can’t get your head around it because it makes no sense. I’m not trying to defend any of it, just explaining their explanation, poor as it is. > > **Lamia** has made an interesting point. Maybe the story told by that teacher is a lie and the truth is different. > > I’ve seen enough bad TV (haven’t we all?) to believe that the writers intend the truth to be exactly what she said, but I’m open to the idea that the story is a lie aimed at the minds of gullible children. > > I’m trying to remember, how much did Pilcher explain to Burke when they picked him up with the helicopter? I’m hoping that the truth is different, and given that the children are being indoctrinated into a cult, I’m going with that. If not, I want the contractors who built those houses to build mine. They are in remarkable shape for a 2000 year old house. Really, nothing makes sense other than the teacher is lying and they are not in the 41st century, unless we have SyFy/Asylum level script-writing. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wayward-pines-season-1/720072/165 "2015-06-12T23:46:56Z")
I seriously doubt they built the houses 2k years ago, the first people probably woke up inside that compound in the walls and built shit up. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wayward-pines-season-1/720072/166 "2015-06-13T00:11:57Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > I seriously doubt they built the houses 2k years ago, the first people probably woke up inside that compound in the walls and built shit up. I was being somewhat facetious, but unless they can place everything, not just people, into statis, nothing would have survived 2000 year, not even the raw materials to build houses, cars, etc. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wayward-pines-season-1/720072/167 "2015-06-13T00:13:31Z")
so - the Y2K girl - was she one of the original test subjects to prove the hibernation theory? or they started ‘gathering’ the residents that many years ago? ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wayward-pines-season-1/720072/168 "2015-06-13T00:42:13Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Don’t feel bad. You can’t get your head around it because it makes no sense. I’m not trying to defend any of it, just explaining their explanation, poor as it is. > > **Lamia** has made an interesting point. Maybe the story told by that teacher is a lie and the truth is different. > > I’ve seen enough bad TV (haven’t we all?) to believe that the writers intend the truth to be exactly what she said, but I’m open to the idea that the story is a lie aimed at the minds of gullible children. > > I’m trying to remember, how much did Pilcher explain to Burke when they picked him up with the helicopter? It’s pretty obvious the teacher is not telling the whole truth at best if not outright lying. I’ll have to rewatch but I thought she specifically said Pilcher was no longer alive or at least really strongly implied it and he’s obviously still around. I think there’s definitely more to this story. On thyroid note it holds together far better than Lost. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wayward-pines-season-1/720072/169 "2015-06-13T00:59:03Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > It’s pretty obvious the teacher is not telling the whole truth at best if not outright lying. > > I’ll have to rewatch but I thought she specifically said Pilcher was no longer alive or at least really strongly implied it and he’s obviously still around. I think there’s definitely more to this story. > > On thyroid note it holds together far better than Lost. She said they would never meet him. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wayward-pines-season-1/720072/170 "2015-06-13T01:15:36Z")
Didn’t Pilcher say it was the year 4028…2014x2? Any significance to that you think? ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wayward-pines-season-1/720072/171 "2015-06-13T02:32:23Z")
The real estate guy said to the wife, “So you’re my new number 2.” Heh! The public throat slitting and the decaying body in the abandoned house seem at odds with the altruistic nature of a Noah’s Ark for the human race story. Maybe they can bring it together. I guess we’ll see. I just hope I don’t end up with that feeling of wasted time I had after season one of “Under the Dome”. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wayward-pines-season-1/720072/172 "2015-06-13T04:49:55Z")
No matter what’s going on, how on earth can you start driving at one end of town? Does not compute. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wayward-pines-season-1/720072/173 "2015-06-13T11:43:25Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > No matter what’s going on, how on earth can you start driving at one end of town? Does not compute. Heh. I left off the end of my sentence. Argh. So, as I was trying to say, how can you start driving at one end of the town and then end up right back where you began every single time, regardless of how long you drive? ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wayward-pines-season-1/720072/174 "2015-06-13T12:14:50Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > Heh. I left off the end of my sentence. Argh. So, as I was trying to say, how can you start driving at one end of the town and then end up right back where you began every single time, regardless of how long you drive? They showed this in an overhead shot. The one road in town goes in a big circle next to the town. Let’s see how good my ascii art skills are… ```auto --- / \ ------ | \ / --- ``` …not very. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wayward-pines-season-1/720072/175 "2015-06-13T12:50:25Z")
Ah, thanks. I must’ve missed that. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wayward-pines-season-1/720072/176 "2015-06-13T14:16:16Z")
Seems most of the people are happy with the sudden retirement of the previous sheriff. They probably didn’t much care for the public executions, but would get caught up in the crowd dynamics when forced to attend. Just spit balling here, probably more holes in my theory than an artisianal raw milk Swiss cheese. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wayward-pines-season-1/720072/177 "2015-06-13T15:49:16Z")
I think the strict rules for the adults are just for the one generation, to keep them in line until the kids are old enough to take over. Regarding the cultish aspects of the kids training, I don’t think they’re actually recruiting them into a cult as such. The dramatic speeches, candle ceremony etc. are psychological techniques (that are also often used by cults) to make them feel like part of a group with an important mission. I’m still curious about the statement “if you make it through this”. ETA: Here’s a thought I just had. What if the people (at least the ones with kids) weren’t chosen for their own attributes but rather those of their kids? Burke’s son apparently was a nerdish loner, someone who may be easily swayed by a pretty girl and psychological cult techniques. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wayward-pines-season-1/720072/178 "2015-06-13T20:48:53Z")
Burke’s son is the ‘odd one’ - he wasn’t chosen specifically - Burke was, however. Burke’s son - and his mother - got brought to town to try and placate Burke. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wayward-pines-season-1/720072/179 "2015-06-13T20:54:09Z")
> [@simster](#): > > Burke’s son - and his mother - got brought to town to try and placate Burke. Only if there’s time travel. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wayward-pines-season-1/720072/180 "2015-06-13T20:55:24Z")
> [@simster](#): > > Burke’s son is the ‘odd one’ - he wasn’t chosen specifically - Burke was, however. > > Burke’s son - and his mother - got brought to town to try and placate Burke. That doesn’t work unless Time Travel is involved (Ethan isn’t assimilating, go back and get his family) or it’s not 4028, it’s 2014 and there’s some other sham going on. If it is 4028, are we to assume there is Time Travel going on (I still hope not) since we’ve seen Pope both in WP and on the outside causing accidents? And why accidents, seems awfully risky to go around cutting brake lines and sending people off cliffs when they could just go and shoot them with tranquilizer guns or find some other way to drug them without running the risk of killing them. Overall, I’m still not happy with this kids vs adults thing, but I think most of what I’ve been thinking has been covered upthread. This is a mini-series, right? I’m not going to be stuck with this show for three and half seasons. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wayward-pines-season-1/720072.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wayward-pines-season-1/720072.md?page=10)