10) Wayward Pines – The Truth
Any and all comparisons of Fox’s Wayward Pines to Twin Peaks are utterly justified. Creepy town, quirky denizens, and weird occurrences all swirl in and out of Wayward Pines‘ thought-to-be-only first season. It’s easy to remark on these wack-a-do moments after watching the whole first season (if this show could be nominated for an Emmy in anything, it’d be Supporting Actress for Melissa Leo), but it’s the set-up of every explanation for the show’s gonzo world that results in its lynchpin moment.
In a moment of suitable meta-relevance, Principal Megan Fisher (Hope Davis) sits young Ben (Charlie Tahan) and two of his classmates down in a floor-to-ceiling white room, teaching the trio of the “New Generation,” and the audience, about The Truth. Turns out, the entire show has taken place in the year 4028, Toby Jones is actually David Pilcher, a mad-scientists-of-sorts who decided the world was ending and that putting a group of people into cryo-freeze to form a new society in the post-apocalypse would be the only saving grace of mankind. Oh, and there are mutant zombie people.
Crazy? Yes. Intriguing? Unendingly. Dumb? When thought about too much over the next five episodes, yep. But, for one fleeting moment, The Truth stung deeper and harsher than most post-Lost sci-fi television for the simple brazen act of, ya know, speaking the truth.
