New casting has been announced for the second year of 2015’s breakout hit Wayward Pines, with reports confirming that Jason Patric will lead the new season of the twisty show. The actor will be playing Dr. Theo Yedlin, “a confident, driven surgeon whose leadership skills will prove invaluable.” Yedlin will find himself awoken in the town of Wayward Pines in the chaos of a rebellion. Other than that, only a vague summer return date was given for season two.
Although not much is known about the mysterious second season of Wayward Pines, since most of the contracts for the first year’s cast have expired due to how long it’s taken to make a new season of the show, it appears that not many of the original surviving characters will make it back for round two.
Debuting last May, Wayward Pines told the story of a weird town in Idaho where Secret Service Agent Ethan Burke (Matt Dillon) woke up after a car accident. The town was populated by colorful characters played by Melissa Leo, Carla Gugino, and Shannyn Sossamon, but was always promised to be a one season “event series” with a definitive ending for its fans. It did provide most of the answers to its biggest questions, but a finale cliffhanger hinted at the possibility for more to come out of the town of Wayward Pines.
Developed by Chad Hodge, and based off a series of novels by Blake Crouch, the show was executive produced by M. Night Shyamalan. The producer has been asked whether or not the team behind the scenes ever gave thought to a second year ahead of the show’s renewal, and he hinted that they had indeed tossed around ideas.
The one thing I’m fearful of television is its open-ended nature. I’m such an end backwards kind of filmmaker, storyteller, and that’s what I loved about doing these 10 episodes. I knew where I wanted to go. I knew I wanted the fences to come down. I knew where we were heading for the finale and so we could architecture the 10-episodes in that manner. So, I am happy to walk away, especially with such a wonderful reaction and all that stuff. But honestly, Blake and I do have an idea.
Do you think Wayward Pines should have stayed a one-off event series, or are you excited for its return? Let us know in the comments.