This article contains major character or plot details.
The Wayward finale lets you believe in a fantasy for a few moments. As Episode 8 speeds to its ending, protagonist Alex Dempsey (creator Mae Martin) takes in the domestic tableau in front of him — and recognizes it’s one he never wanted. His wife Laura (Sarah Gadon) has risen to power in their cult-y new hometown of Tall Pines, and decided that their newborn is actually “everyone’s.” Demspey realizes that what he’s always yearned for is yet again just out of reach. So, he takes the baby and flees, hopping in a car out of town with Tall Pines Academy escapee Abbie (Sydney Topliffe).
“I knew you’d do the right thing,” Abbie says, holding the infant. “You’ll always protect us. Because that’s what you are. Our protector.”
But then reality trickles in, and we realize Dempsey isn’t leaving Laura or Tall Pines at all. What we just saw was simply a fleeting fantasy. As Dempsey closes the door on that alternate path, Abbie takes the very real road out of Tall Pines. Her keeper — Tall Pines Academy founder Evelyn (Toni Collette) — has been neutralized by her own signature weaponized drug cocktail, and Abbie is free. However, Abbie’s best friend Leila (Alyvia Alyn Lind) chooses not to leave, meaning a piece of Abbie’s heart remains in the deadly woods of Tall Pines.
“I like the moral ambiguity and gray area of the finale. I hope people feel satisfied that they watched a really messed-up kind of fairy tale,” Martin says. “Ultimately, I just hope it stays with people.”
Do you still feel the roots of Wayward stretching through your mind? Well, then let Martin — along with co-stars Gadon, Topliffe, and Lind — explain the biggest mysteries of the series, from the truth about Tall Pines Academy to the drama’s jaw-dropping conclusion.
Why does Laura bring Dempsey to Tall Pines? What happened in Detroit?
Dempsey and Laura end up in Tall Pines, Vermont after an incident in their former home of Detroit. An Episode 1 conversation between Dempsey and his new police partner Dwayne Andrews (Brandon Jay McLaren) suggests there were allegations that Dempsey used “excessive force” during a “high stress” police situation. While the crisis in Detroit didn’t help the situation, Gadon hints that Dempsey and Laura were always going to find themselves in Tall Pines. As viewers find out in Wayward, Laura spent her teen years at the Academy and has a very deep bond with the enigmatic Evelyn.
“A part of her always wanted to go back,” Gadon says. “Laura has stuff that she needs to deal with. There’s this feeling you have when you’re pregnant — you want to nest, and you want to be close to your mother. At least that was my experience. So it made total sense for Laura to want to be near Evelyn, who’s her mother figure.”
Yet, Laura’s return to Tall Pines, isn’t all about comfort or nostalgia for her past. Her homecoming unearths deep and dark secrets Dempsey never expected to learn. “Laura and Dempsey have both been through so much and bonded over their trauma. But there was a lot that Laura hadn’t processed,” Gadon says. “Coming back, it was like this whole other can of worms was opened. Dempsey’s kind of like, ‘Whoa, whoa, I didn’t know this was what we were dealing with.’ What is he really willing to withstand in order to be with Laura?”
What is the Tall Pines Academy Leap?
Abbie is taken to Tall Pines Academy at the behest of her parents. Her best friend Leila follows her there, resolved to save her friend. Instead, both girls wind up trapped inside the school (which promises to “solve the problem of adolescence”), determined to escape. Abbie finds a key clue to unraveling the truth about the Academy in Episode 4. She stumbles into the basement of the facility and sees the “therapy” Evelyn is performing on her pupils; this process culminates in something called “the Leap,” which only some students are invited to experience.
For the remainder of Wayward, Abbie, Leila, Dempsey, and Laura (who was Leaped about 15 years prior) try to uncover what, exactly, the Leap is. In Episode 5, Laura confronts Evelyn about “changing” her, saying she was drugged and has now lost “everything.” It is eventually explained that Evelyn is using psychodelic drugs (powered by the venom of Tall Pines’ toads) to rewire minds. The effect “cauterizes” your past trauma and severs your relationship with your caregivers. But, the process also removes an important emotional cornerstone in the process. Students who are Leaped have their pain taken away, but they also lose big emotions — and a connection to prospective future children. Laura is suffering from this issue now.
“Laura’s main problem with Evelyn is that she’s reprogrammed people and traumatized these kids,” Gadon says. “Laura feels Evelyn is an abuser and that there is retribution that needs to be done for her and for everybody else that experienced that.”
While writing Wayward, Martin was inspired to fictionalize real-life feelings and events. “A lot of those ‘troubled teen’ programs do have these stages and milestones that you hit, which feel really rewarding when you’re in them. The Leap was just taking that metaphor of not being the same after you go through that final step, and pushing it,” Martin says. “Evelyn weaponizes the fact that we are all critical of our parents and feel that ripple effect of generational trauma — young people especially. Her solution is very extreme and wrong. But it’s something that everybody can relate to.”
What happened to Leila’s sister Jess?
Leila is offered the Leap once Evelyn takes an interest in her. Evelyn recognizes Leila is carrying trauma that someone like Abbie isn’t. In Episode 6, viewers finally learn what happened on the night Leila’s older sister Jess died. Jess drowned after a night of partying — but there remains the question of how Jess fell into a swimming pool, and whether Leila tried to help her sibling.
Leila spends the episode going through her own memories, under the watchful eye of Evelyn. On the night in question, Leila was brought to the restaurant where she worked by Jess and Jess’ best friend Ashley (Christina Orjalo). The older girls decided to throw a drug-fueled high school party at the venue, and convinced Leila the event would make her seem cool to her peers. The party got out of hand, and the owner showed up to kick everyone out. Leila ran out of the restaurant, embarrassed and sure she had just lost her job (or could even be arrested).
Before heading to the next party, Jess and Leila stop at a public pool to keep drinking. This is where the few different possibilities are unveiled. First, we see Leila passed out by the pool; her sister is floating in the water, already dead. Leila still tries to save her. Evelyn appears in the memory, demanding Leila try again and show her the truth. Eventually, Evelyn convinces Leila to admit she “hated” Jess, pushed her in the pool in a rage, and watched her sister drown from the sidelines. Lind, who plays Leila, had a long conversation with episode director Euros Lyn about what really happened that night.
“Trauma can block out so many things from important events,” Lind says. The actor personally believes Leila didn’t intentionally push her sister. “Because I was like, ‘There’s no way that this character could be at all redeemable if that’s what happened,’ ” she continues. “I think that it also makes it so much more messed up that that’s what Evelyn is trying to make Leila believe happened.”
No matter the real events around Jess’ death, it’s clear Leila is never the same again. Topliffe says even Leila’s friendship with Abbie changed. “Abbie was put into a position of really having to care for Leila. She’s like a ticking time bomb. You never know if something might upset her,” Topliffe says. “Then their relationship evolves throughout Wayward, which is beautiful.”
What happened to Laura’s parents?
For much of Wayward, Laura believes her parents abandoned her or mysteriously disappeared. But, in Episode 6, Dempsey tells her that’s not true. Laura’s parents actually came to Tall Pines when Laura was a teen and tried to take their daughter. After that, they were never seen again. Following this conversation, Laura goes swimming in the nearby pond and finds her parents’ missing car, now sunk to the bottom of the water. Laura and Dempsey both question whether Evelyn killed Laura’s parents.
Yet, in the finale, an alternate possibility emerges. Evelyn says that Laura is actually the one who murdered her parents. Supposedly, Laura bludgeoned her parents with a rock, and Evelyn helped cover up the entire grisly tragedy. Evelyn then Leaped Laura — who was completely under Evelyn’s thrall — to erase the 17-year-old’s guilt and pain.
“I think Laura genuinely believed that she didn’t kill her parents. That’s how I approached it — like she really has this conviction that she did not do something like that, and it was an accident,” Gadon says. “Denial is a very, very powerful thing.”
Martin welcomes all theories on the death of Laura’s parents. “I hope that people talk about it after they watch the show and maybe there will be some debate about how honest Evelyn is being,” they say.
What is the history of Tall Pines?
The residents of Tall Pines are proud to share the town’s history of 1970s hippies and draft dodgers. But, there are far more dangerous secrets beneath the surface. Episode 7 introduces us to 17-year-old Evelyn, who ran away from home after an unexpected pregnancy. She came to Tall Pines with Weldon (Victor Andres Turgeon-Trelles), an older, male fictional figure with brutal methods and “revolutionary” ideas. A cult sprang up around Weldon in the same home Laura and Dempsey now live in.
Years later, Weldon’s words inspired the phrases Evelyn that serves as the foundation for her present-day teachings. Before waking up from a coma, Weldon’s father saw a green door and knew he had to “leap” through it. In Tall Pines academy, Evelyn forces her students to stand in front of a similar passageway and fixate on their trauma.
Wayward’s dramatization intensifies when you realize the inspiration behind the mantra Evelyn chants at the Academy: “You’re lying on your back, crying out for your mother. She is standing facing the wall. She has her back to you. A bell rings. Your mother turns to face you. She is silent, but her mouth is open wide. In her mouth is a door.” Evelyn said the beginning of this phrase to Weldon when she killed him in front of the Tall Pines community. By that time, Evelyn had decided Weldon prized power over actually helping people. She wanted to actualize the Leap and heal others. So, Weldon had to die.
Lind believes Evelyn is projecting her own feelings about the murder of Weldon onto the rest of modern day Tall Pines — including Leila. “Evelyn is implanting her own thoughts and feelings onto Jess’ death,” Lind says. “Since Evelyn murdered somebody, she wants somebody else, like Leila, to feel like they are the same. It’s a twisted way to not feel so alone.”
Is Laura the new Evelyn?
Laura starts climbing the Tall Pines social hierarchy from the moment she returns. By Episode 4, Laura’s former classmates are weeping in awe of her. In Episode 7, Laura begins leading a new movement of Academy alums, promising to help young people “without ego, or torture.” While making these promises, Laura is sitting in the same place a young Evelyn once did, as her own growing group of followers hangs on every word. In the finale, it’s clear dozens of Tall Pines residents have chosen Laura as their new leader. Even Evelyn swings by to tell Laura she sees what her former pupil is “building.”
“Laura is really in danger of going the same route as Evelyn, drunk on power,” Martin says. “But, like all cult leaders, Laura truly believes that she would do it differently. That she has empathy and wants the best for this community that she loves so much.”
Gadon agrees, saying Laura is obtaining the kind of power that can’t help but “corrupt.” “Laura sees the potential of what a place like Tall Pines can really be. And I think she’s really trying to save it,” Gadon says. “But she’s so in it that when you zoom out, you’re like, ‘Honey, you’ve lost the plot.’ ”
Still, Martin says Laura owes a lot of her strength to her portrayer. “Sarah is so intelligent. I really wanted to find somebody who had that kind of quiet power to play Laura,” Martin continues. “I do really buy that Sarah could ascend to power in any social situation.”
Is Evelyn dead?
As Laura amasses her strength as Tall Pines’ new leader, Evelyn looses hers. In the finale, Evelyn kidnaps Dempsey, ties him up, and tries to Leap him; she tells everyone her actions are “for the baby” who’s on the way. Neither Dempsey nor Laura really care about why the former is abducted and threatened with forced psychedelics.
Luckily for Dempsey, Evelyn’s trusted second-in-command Rabbit (Tattiawna Jones) has been questioning her leader’s motives. At the last second, Rabbit shoots Evelyn up with the toad venom, saving Dempsey. Once he’s free, Dempsey finds the syringe and stabs Evelyn with it several more times. “That’s too much!” Rabbit says. Evelyn soon slips out of regular consciousness, and enters a hallucinogenic and catatonic state. The last time viewers see Evelyn, she’s mentally trapped in an imaginary room of green doors.
So, did Evelyn die by the same weapon she uses on countless children? Is she in a permanent coma? Or, is something even more mysterious afoot for her? “I’m going to let the viewers decide,” Martin says.
What does Laura’s birth scene mean?
Once Dempsey escapes Evelyn’s clutches, he runs into Andrews, who is revealed to be Evelyn’s enforcer of sorts. The two men fight, and Dempsey wins by bludgeoning Andrews with a rock (just like Laura supposedly did to her parents). So, Dempsey is finally free to make it to Laura, who is in the middle of labor. Laura gives birth soon after Dempsey arrives, and the pair share an emotional moment of skin-to-skin contact with their baby … then Laura’s dozens of followers shed their own clothes, and take turns cradling the newborn.
Dempsey is shocked and horrified to see relative strangers take equal ownership of the family he believed he and Laura alone were creating. “He’s feeling pure horror. Dempsey is realizing his life is not going to be the way he imagined — that he’s not going to have that nuclear family,” Martin says. “That’s such an important and emotional moment that everybody talks about when your baby’s born, and you’re connecting with it. So to have that taken away, he’s horrified.”
Laura, on the other hand, is ecstatic to witness her community in action. “It’s going to be everyone’s,” Laura explains. “That’s the only way to stop the pattern.” Gadon understands her character’s desire to create “a village” for her baby. “I’ll tell you, postpartum, some crazy things happen in your mind. So that actually didn’t feel like a reach for me,” she says. “Laura really is a good person. She’ll be a good mother. But she has a lot to overcome to get there.”
Why does Dempsey stay in Tall Pines?
For a few seconds in the finale, Dempsey considers leaving Tall Pines. But, he doesn’t. “Alex stays because he cares more about his fantasy of this nuclear family and heteronormative life than he does about his moral compass,” Martin says. “He thinks he can turn things around. But I think it’s mainly that he just loves Laura.”
Martin and Gadon agree that the couple are soulmates. “I’m still rooting for them,” Gadon says. Martin adds, “They’re kind of a Sid and Nancy in the end. Hopefully, people can relate to that on the surface. He’s been lied to, she’s a mess — but their chemistry is so intense. I get why they feel like a little lighthouse together, with them against the world.”
What’s next for Abbie?
Abbie survives abduction, “hot seat” therapy, the psychological warfare of Tall Pines Academy, and the punishment of a hiking trip — all to actually escape the town. The final shot of the series shows Abbie cross the Tall Pines welcome sign, confirming she escapes town limits. Topliffe, who portrays her, had no idea of Abbie’s fate when she signed onto Wayward.
“I didn’t know where the characters would end up,” the actor says. “I didn’t know that Abbie was going to be the one to break out, which was really cool to read.”
Topliffe thinks Abbie succeeded because she wasn’t operating from selfish intentions. “She has this drive of not letting her friend down. Everything Abbie does is for an external relationship — I think she just wants to save other people,” she continues. “The best kind of leaders are not people who want to lead, but people who feel that they need to lead. That’s who Abbie is. She believes in the power of working together instead of just ‘follow me.’ ”
While Topliffe isn’t sure where Abbie will go next, she doubts her character will ever forget about her best friend Leila, who stays in Tall Pines. “Abbie has so many loose ends still attached to the school,” the actor says. “She’s smart and might be like, ‘Maybe I should get some help.’ ”
Why does Leila stay in Tall Pines?
In the second half of Wayward, Leila notices that despite the Academy’s violent framework, it also might offer some tools to help her heal from a lifetime of trauma. These inklings culminate in Leila’s last scene in the finale, where she elects to stay in Tall Pines. Although Abbie is devastated by her best friend’s choice, “Leila genuinely deep down believes that there’s community there for her,” Lind says. Leila craves such support — as we see in Episode 6, she has felt neglected since birth. Jess’ death only exacerbated existing wounds.
“Leila never really had that love and care. Even if it’s in a really messed-up and manipulative way, Leila is feeling those things for the first time,” Lind says. “She’s feeling that love and unity.”
To make matters more urgent, Evelyn spends multiple episodes convincing Leila she is an albatross around Abbie’s neck — and that Abbie will inevitably abandon Leila for a more conventional life. “That scares Leila more than anything, because Abbie is the person she cares about most in the world,” Lind continues. “So she stays in Tall Pines for herself. She’s doing it to finally heal. But she’s also doing it in a way to protect Abbie from herself and all of the messiness that Leila feels like comes with being her friend.”
Still, as the girls tearfully say goodbye to each other, it’s clear their connection is stronger than ever. “With friendships as true as Abbie and Leila’s, I don’t think it’s possible for any love like that to ever be over,” Lind says.
Embrace all of Abbie and Leila’s feelings — along with Dempsey, Laura, and Evelyn’s — now by (re)watching Wayward, streaming on Netflix. And keep coming back to Tudum as more of Tall Pines’ secrets are revealed.
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