By Caroline O'Beirne, Second Year, Politics and Spanish
Warning: Spoilers Ahead
Imagine getting kidnapped in the middle of the night, bound and thrown into the back of a van. You scream for your parents hoping they will help you; but they were the ones that paid for this in the first place.
In Mae Martin’s new series titled ‘Wayward’, we are introduced to the terrifying tale of two Canadian misfits, Leila played by Alyvia Alyn Lind, and Abbie played by Sydney Topliffe, sent off to teenage boot camp for their behaviour. Driven across the border into a town called, ‘Tall Pines’ in Vermont, the series follows the experiences of teenagers placed in a disciplinary school alongside the story of a couple who have just moved to that area for a fresh start for their family. One of whom is a cop (Alex Dempsey played by the show’s creator Mae Martin) and the other we later learn is an alumnus of Tall Pines; Laura, played by Sarah Gadon.
Overall, I found it a really interesting series which not only provided tragic yet thrilling entertainment, but also touched on topics concerning trauma and cycles of abuse.
One part of the show which I found really interesting was just how terrifying Tall Pines is for different reasons. It is marketed as having the ability to solve the “problem of adolescence” i.e. abusing and traumatising vulnerable teenagers that are sent there. Two of which are Leila and Abbie, best friends from Toronto, Canada. We learn quickly enough that Leila has had a traumatising life in losing her sister only a few years prior whilst also dealing with a mother that doesn’t seem interested in helping her with her issues. Neglected by her family and by her school, Leila turns to drugs and the company of an older boyfriend who couldn’t care less.
Abbie, in stark contrast to Leila, comes from a very wealthy family with a sister, two strict parents and a beautiful home. Behind this image, however, Abbie’s parents believe that due to Leila’s influence she is falling behind and therefore arrange to have her sent to Tall Pines in the middle of the night. Leila, concerned for her wellbeing, follows Abbie hoping to rescue her but ends up getting stuck in that school herself.
Tall Pines is more than just a tough love school. It effectively utilises the trauma of vulnerable children against them and plays on their desire for affection and love. One example of this is Abbie’s roommate, Stacey.
Whilst Stacey (played by Isolde Ardies) may be the class snitch, obsesses with having everything tidy and takes no greater pleasure than to make her follow peers’ lives hell, we learn she is a foster child, never having had any parents. Her obsession for perfection comes from this inner desire to be loved. It’s a simple case of don’t hate the player, hate the game. It’s the Tall Pine institution which employs a divide and conquer strategy to isolate students by having them monitor themselves; a strategy commonly seen in both past and current authoritarian regimes.
No where is this more apparent than with the routinely, “hot seat” students must take part in.
Essentially, it’s a bullying strategy where one student sits in the middle and is vocally abused by their fellow peers with unique and specific insults catered to their traumatic pasts.
“People hate you”, “his Dad has never loved him” are what is lambasted at Abbie’s friend, Rory. All they can reply back is “Thank you for your feedback”.
Imagine at secondary school having your worst fears, beliefs and experiences used against you; it would confirm the worst especially since these teenagers already come from troubled homes.
There are multiple trauma complexes evident throughout the show which explain the actions of many of the characters and complicate how the viewer feels about them.
The bully was once bullied, the abused becomes the abuser; within this show it’s a tale as old as time. As the show goes on, we begin to understand the Stockholm syndrome students begin to develop as they get older and believe they can’t find anything better for themselves. This is especially apparent amongst Laura and Alex.
Despite having found a loving relationship and a baby of their own on the way, Laura could never shake her desire to come back to this town; which we later learn is full of only graduates from Tall Pines. In fact, Alex is the only member of the community who didn’t attend the school though he did experience an abusive childhood. Being an external to the town, he is the only one who can fully investigate the horrific crimes that have taken placed
Take for example the graduates; these are the managers of the school who were once students themselves. Whilst you can’t condone the horrific emotional and sometimes physical abuse they lay on students, they too came from traumatic homes. This is nowhere more apparent than with the school’s founder, Evelyn, played by Toni Collette. Having got pregnant at such a young age and having had her baby snatched from her, she left and joined a cult who believed in this philosophy.
What’s fantastic about the show is the domination of both female and queer complicated characters. Whilst there is an obvious villain, the school headmistress Evelyn and the three younger heroes trying to stop her, Alex, Leila, and Abbie, no character can be spared the understanding that their trauma and experiences affect their actions; good or bad.
There were parts of the show I would have liked to have seen more development on i.e. what is the company, ‘Ponderosa’ which owns the school and are there others? But overall I thought it was a fantastic watch for anyone looking to binge-watch a series over the spooky season. Enjoy!
What did you think of Wayward (2025)?
