''The Wilds'' is an American

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aer ...

series created by Sarah Streicher for

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

. The series revolves around a group of teenage girls who are left stranded on a

deserted island A desert island, deserted island, or uninhabited island, is an island, islet or atoll that is not permanently populated by humans. Uninhabited islands are often depicted in films or stories about shipwrecked people, and are also used as stereoty ...

after a plane crash, but are unaware they are the subjects of a social experiment. The cast features

Sophia Ali Sophia Taylor Ramsey Ali is an American actress. She is best known for her work in the MTV romantic comedy series '' Faking It'', the ABC medical drama series ''Grey's Anatomy'', and '' The Wilds''. Life Ali is Pakistani American. She was born ...

, Reign Edwards, Shannon Berry, Jenna Clause, Mia Healey, Helena Howard,

Erana James Erana James is an actress from New Zealand. She is best known for her role as Toni Shalifoe in '' The Wilds''. Early life Erana James was born to Māori parents in Whangārei, New Zealand where she grew up on a farm. She lived there with her ...

, Sarah Pidgeon, David Sullivan,

Troy Winbush Troy Winbush (born March 12, 1970) is an American actor best known for his recurring role as Denny on ''The Cosby Show.'' Early life Winbush was born in Manhattan, New York to Betty Winbush. He is also the younger brother of Alicia Winbush. C ...

, and

Rachel Griffiths Rachel Anne Griffiths (born in 1968) is an Australian actress. Raised primarily in Melbourne, she began her acting career appearing on the Australian series ''Secrets'' before being cast in a supporting role in the comedy ''Muriel's Wedding'' ...

. The first season was released on

on December 11, 2020, and received positive reviews from critics, with praise for the performances, writing, and plot. In December 2020, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on May 6, 2022. In July 2022, the series was canceled after two seasons.

Plot

A group of teenage girls from different backgrounds—Fatin Jadmani, Dot Campbell, Martha Blackburn, Rachel Reid, Shelby Goodkind, Nora Reid, Toni Shalifoe, and Leah Rilke—are on an airplane when it crashes into the ocean while en route to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

for the Dawn of Eve program, a young women's empowerment retreat. They survive the crash and find themselves stranded on a deserted island. As the girls work to survive as

castaway A castaway is a person who is cast adrift or ashore. While the situation usually happens after a shipwreck, some people voluntarily stay behind on a deserted island, either to evade captors or the world in general. A person may also be left a ...

s and learn about each other, they are unaware that they are subjects of a social experiment; the plane crash was staged and their stranding orchestrated by Gretchen Klein, the head of the Dawn of Eve program. The girls' adventures on the island are intercut with flashback scenes about their lives before the crash, and flashforward scenes to an underground bunker where two men claiming to be FBI agents, Daniel Faber and Dean Young, interview the survivors after their supposed rescue. The second season introduces a group of teenage boys-Kirin O’Conner, Rafael Garcia, Josh Herbert, Seth Novak, Ivan Taylor, Henry Tanaka, Bo Leonard and Scotty Simms- who find themselves in Klein’s second orchestrated crash as part of the Twilight of Adam program. Flashing between their past, lives on the island and questioning by Faber and Young, the boys’ stories come to light while the girls (still being held in the bunker) begin to discover the truth behind their situation and attempt to reach the boys.

Cast and characters

Main

as Fatin Jadmani, one of the crash survivors, a rich and promiscuous

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

from

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

* Shannon Berry as Dorothy "Dot" Campbell, one of the crash survivors, a tough Texan girl with wilderness survival skills who cared for her dying father * Jenna Clause as Martha Blackburn, one of the crash survivors, a kind and optimistic animal lover from an

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

reservation in Minnesota * Reign Edwards as Rachel Reid, one of the crash survivors, an uptight competitive diver from New York who later loses her right hand in a shark attack * Mia Healey as Shelby Goodkind, one of the crash survivors, a

closeted ''Closeted'' and ''in the closet'' are metaphors for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and other (LGBTQ+) people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and human ...

beauty pageant queen from a conservative Christian family in Texas. * Helena Howard as Nora Reid, one of the crash survivors, Rachel's fraternal twin sister, a quiet and intelligent girl from New York *

as Toni Shalifoe, one of the crash survivors, Martha's hot-headed and openly lesbian best friend from Minnesota * Sarah Pidgeon as Leah Rilke, one of the crash survivors, a romantic and obsessive loner from Berkeley, California * David Sullivan as Daniel Faber, a trauma psychologist who interviews the survivors after they are rescued from the island *

as Dean Young, ostensibly an FBI agent, also interviewing the survivors after they are rescued, he is more sympathetic towards the girls *

as Gretchen Klein, the head of the Dawn of Eve and Twilight of Adam programs. * Charles Alexander as Kirin O'Conner (season 2), one of the Twilight of Adam crash survivors, a macho lacrosse player * Zack Calderon as Rafael Garcia (season 2), one of the Twilight of Adam crash survivors, a love-obsessed introvert from Tijuana who goes to school in San Diego * Nicholas Coombe as Josh Herbert (season 2), one of the Twilight of Adam crash survivors, a dorky and optimistic

hypochondriac Hypochondriasis or hypochondria is a condition in which a person is excessively and unduly worried about having a serious illness. An old concept, the meaning of hypochondria has repeatedly changed. It has been claimed that this debilitating cond ...

from San Diego * Alex Fitzalan as Seth Novak (season 2), one of the Twilight of Adam crash survivors, the friendly and intelligent step-brother to Henry who harbors a dark side * Miles Gutierrez-Riley as Ivan Taylor (season 2), one of the Twilight of Adam crash survivors, a bold and witty gay teen * Aidan Laprete as Henry Tanaka (season 2), one of the Twilight of Adam crash survivors, the goth and pessimistic ex-

boy scout A Scout (in some countries a Boy Scout, Girl Scout, or Pathfinder) is a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split ...

and step-brother of Seth * Tanner Ray Rook as Bo Leonard (season 2), one of the Twilight of Adam crash survivors, a sweet and orderly victim of child abuse from Florida * Reed Shannon as Scotty Simms (season 2), Bo’s protective and entrepreneurial best friend from Florida

Recurring

* James Fraser as Ian Murnen, a friend of Leah’s who has a crush on her * Jarred Blakiston as Alex, a member of Gretchen's team who is hesitant of her methods * Jen Huang as Susan, a member of Gretchen's team * Joe Witkowski as Thom, a member of Gretchen's team *

Barbara Eve Harris Barbara Eve Harris (born Barbara Evadney Reid-Hibbert; March 8, 1959) is a Tobagonian-Canadian actress, known for her supporting performances on television. She is best known for her role as FBI Agent Felicia Lang on '' Prison Break''. Life an ...

as Audrey, a member of Gretchen's team * Elliott Giarola as Devon Klein (season 2), Gretchen's son who poses as DJ Keating, one of the crash survivors on the boys island

Guest

* Chi Nguyen as Linh Bach, Gretchen's research assistant, who poses as Jeanette Dao, one of the crash survivors, but dies on the first day * Carter Hudson as Jeffrey Galanis (season 1), an author who Leah has a brief relationship with due to his attraction to younger women. He breaks things off after discovering that Leah lied to him about being 18. *

Greg Bryk Gregory Michael Bryk (born 19 August 1972) is a Canadian film and television actor. He has appeared in numerous films and television series and is best known for his reoccurring roles in '' ReGenesis'' (2004–2008), '' XIII: The Series'' (2 ...

as Tim Campbell (season 1), Dot's ailing father *

Shane Callahan Michael Shane Callahan is an American film and television actor. Callahan graduated from Titusville Area High School in 1992 and then went on to graduate from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh in 1995 with a video business degree and a music degr ...

as James Reid (season 1), Nora and Rachel's father *Ddé Dionne Gipson as Angela Reid (season 1), Nora and Rachel's mother *Jose Velazquez as Mateo (season 1), a nurse who looks after Dot's father and starts developing feelings for her *Bella Shepard as Regan (season 1), Toni's ex-girlfriend *

Poorna Jagannathan Poorna Jagannathan is an American producer and actress of Indian descent. She is best known for her portrayal of Safar Khan in the HBO drama miniseries ''The Night Of'', as well for her role as Nalini Vishwakumar in the Netflix teen comedy seri ...

as Rana Jadmani, Fatin's mother *Alireza Ghadiri as Ahmad Jadmani, Fatin's father *

Warren Kole Warren David Blosjo Jr. (born September 23, 1977) known professionally as Warren Kole, is an American actor known for his role as LAPD Detective Wes Mitchell on the USA Network original series ''Common Law''. He also played Roderick on the FOX ...

as Dave Goodkind, Shelby's father. He runs bible study sessions and a Christian-themed spin cycle studio. * Stefania LaVie Owen as Becca Gilroy, Shelby's best friend who she secretly has romantic feelings for *

Bonnie Soper Bonnie Soper (born in Invercargill, New Zealand in 1984) is a New Zealand film and television actress. Early career A graduate of the Unitec School of Performing and Screen Arts, her theatre credits include, Auckland Theatre Company's 2007 play ...

as JoBeth Goodkind, Shelby's mother * Kimberly Guerrero as Bernice Blackburn, Martha's mother *

Lewis Fitz-Gerald Lewis Fitz-Gerald (born 15 November 1958) is an Australian actor, screenwriter and television director, who lectures in Screen and Media Studies at Australia's University of New England. Filmography As actor * ''Breaker Morant'' (1980) ...

as Dr. Ted Wolchak, a doctor who sexually abused Martha, and several other girls, when she was a child *Johnny Berchtold as Quinn, Nora's ex-boyfriend who she meets during summer session at a college campus *

Victoria Moroles Victoria Moroles (born September 4, 1996) is an American actress. She played Andie on the Disney Channel show ''Liv and Maddie''. She has also played Hayden Romero on MTV's ''Teen Wolf'' in seasons 5 and 6 (2015–2017). She also starred in the ...

as Marisol Nunez (season 2), Rafael’s girlfriend *

Ben Folds Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and composer, who is the first artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., since May 2017. Folds was th ...

as himself (season 2), who appears in Leah’s hallucinations

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2020)

Season 2 (2022)

Production

Development

On June 28, 2018,

Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed th ...

gave production a pilot order. On August 3, 2018, it was announced that

Susanna Fogel Susanna Fogel is an American director, screenwriter and author, best known for co-writing the 2019 film ''Booksmart'' and for co-writing and directing the 2018 action/comedy ''The Spy Who Dumped Me''. Her many accolades include a DGA Award and nom ...

had signed on to direct the pilot and serve as executive producer. On May 28, 2019, it was announced that Amazon Studios had given the production a series order for a first season consisting of ten episodes. The series was developed by Sarah Streicher who is also expected to executive produce alongside Jamie Tarses from Fanfare; and Dylan Clark and Brian Williams of Dylan Clark Productions. It was also announced that Amy B. Harris would be acting as showrunner and executive producer. On December 19, 2020, Amazon Studios renewed the series for a second season. On July 28, 2022, Amazon canceled the series after two seasons.

Casting

On July 31, 2018, Mia Healey, Helena Howard, Reign Edwards, and Shannon Berry were cast as series regulars. On November 7, 2019,

, David Sullivan,

, Sarah Pidgeon, Jenna Clause, and

joined the main cast. On May 3, 2021, Zack Calderon, Aidan Laprete, Nicholas Coombe, Charles Alexander, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Reed Shannon, Tanner Ray Rook and Alex Fitzalan were cast in starring roles for the second season.

Filming

Filming for the first season began in October 2019 in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Most of the outdoor scenes for the first season were filmed in

Bethells Beach Te Henga, or Bethells Beach, is a coastal community in West Auckland, New Zealand. The Māori name for the area, "Te Henga", is in reference to the long foredunes which run along the beach and look like the or gunwale of an upturned waka hull. ...

, New Zealand. Filming for the second season would relocate from New Zealand to

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and began filming in April 2021. Filming for the second season wrapped in August 2021.

Release

The series's first season was released on December 11, 2020 on

. The second season was released on May 6, 2022.

Reception

Critical response

On review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the first season received an approval rating of 92% based on 25 critic reviews, with an average rating of 7.30/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "An addictive thriller that also captures the complex lives of teenage girls, ''The Wilds'' is worth getting lost in."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

gave the first season a weighted average score of 76 out of 100 based on 11 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Kristen Baldwin of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' gave the series a B+ and wrote, "Here, the mystery isn't so much why these girls are on the island as how being there will change them—and I, for one, want to go back."

Richard Roeper Richard E. Roeper (born October 17, 1959) is an American columnist and film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times''. He co-hosted the television series '' At the Movies'' with Roger Ebert from 2000 to 2008, serving as the late Gene Siskel's success ...

of ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'' gave the series 3.5 out of 4 stars and said, "What's so impressive about ''The Wilds'' is how creator Sarah Streicher and the deeply talented young cast members immerse us in this world so quickly and create an almost instant interest and empathy for these eight teenage girls." The show has received praise from critics and advocacy groups for its diverse cast, which includes indigenous and queer characters, and its "front-and-center" depiction of

same-sex relationship A same-sex relationship is a romantic or sexual relationship between people of the same sex. ''Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil unions may exist in countries w ...

s. On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season holds an approval rating of 80% based on 20 critic reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10. The website's critics consensus states, "''The Wilds'' gets a little lost after expanding its ensemble at the expense of its original hook, but the core cast remains as watchable as ever." The second season received a score of 62 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Accolades

''The Wilds'' was nominated for the Outstanding Drama Series category for the

GLAAD Media Awards The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their live ...

in 2021.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilds, The 2020 American television series debuts 2022 American television series endings 2020s American LGBT-related drama television series 2020s American teen drama television series English-language television shows Amazon Prime Video original programming Television series about being lost from home Television series about teenagers Television series by ABC Studios Television series by Amazon Studios Television shows about aviation accidents or incidents Television shows filmed in Australia Television shows filmed in New Zealand Television shows set on uninhabited islands Nonlinear narrative television series