The Wilds, Season 2 (2022)

 

After an apparent plane crash, seven young women spent fifty days on a deserted island before being rescued. As we continue to learn more about the trials they faced on the island, the group much face the truth that their 'rescue' is merely the next stage of a strange (improbable and unethical) social experiment. They - and the group of young men who went through a parallel experience - must now decide how to respond to the fact that they are still, essentially, captives of a murky conspiracy.

In my review of the first season of The Wilds, I observed that it ran the risk of falling into the "Lost trap" of seeing an intriguing premise squandered in aimless water-treading plotlines.  It turns out that this second season is a smidgen disappointing after the highly effective opening series, but not for that particular reason.  Instead, The Wilds stumbles into a different problem: plot developments that take its already far-fetched premise and stretch my suspension of disbelief to snapping point.

As an example, there was literally a moment in this season where my wife said "I think [plot point will happen]", and my reply was "That makes no sense.  I think they will, too." ... and yes, they did it, and it made exactly zero sense and actually had zero relevance since it never came up again.  Nor will it now ever come up, as the show has been cancelled by Amazon and will never see a season 3.

Despite the storyline getting very silly and over the top, I am disappointed by the show's cancellation.  The cast - including the numerous new young male actors - are excellent.  And scripts do a pretty good job of handling what is ultimately a large expansion of the cast: we have nearly twice as many major characters in this season as in the first.

I think there was a very high possibility that a third season of The Wilds would have gone horribly off the rails and been very disappointing, but it could also have been great.  It's a shame we won't find out.

I look forward to seeing the cast in their future projects - they are, as I said, all very good.