Pines

Pilcher is the mastermind behind Wayward Pines. His name comes up briefly early in the novel as the subject of Agents Evans and Newsom’s investigation, but his identity and role in the mystery aren’t revealed until much later. Ethan describes Pilcher to Pope as a mystery: “He always shows up on lists of the world’s richest men. One of these reclusive billionaires. Never talks to the press. Owns a bunch of biopharmaceutical companies” (58). As it turns out, early on, in the 1970s, Pilcher realized that humanity was headed for extinction; starting at that point, he began using his vast wealth to create what now amounts to a human sanctuary amid the new wilderness.

Even before Ethan knows about Pilcher’s role in the mystery of Wayward Pines, Pilcher acts as Ethan’s antagonist, obstructing Ethan’s every move in his search for the truth. Posing as Dr. Jenkins, a psychiatrist, Pilcher undermines Ethan’s grip on reality. Drawing on his knowledge of the trauma that Ethan endured during the Gulf War, Pilcher tries to convince Ethan that his suspicions about the town and its residents are unfounded. As Ethan continues to seek the truth, Pilcher more directly hampers his attempts at escape.

Pilcher’s character shifts from antagonist to ally after he comes to view Ethan as a potentially useful asset rather than as an obstacle. Coming to appreciate Ethan’s need to know, Pilcher accepts that it could be an advantage to have Ethan on his team. Pilcher decides to tell Ethan the truth and ask for his help. This decision prompts Ethan’s own perspective shift, as he comes to understand that Pilcher’s decisions about the town are based on the struggle to save the human species from extinction. This priority, and the ruthlessness it sometimes engenders, is on display when Pilcher leaves Pope to his death, explaining, “He wants to rule” (283). Although this act seems heartless, when considered in the context of Pope’s fêtes and torture of Ethan, the morality of the moment becomes more complicated.

Pilcher views himself as always placing the needs of the species ahead of the needs of the individual. He explains away abduction and imprisonment by placing it in this context: “Freedom is such a twenty-first century construct. You’re going to sit here and tell me that individual freedom is more vital than the survival of our species?” (275). Pilcher also isn’t above forcing Ethan into his new role—by bringing Theresa and Ben into the decision, he ensures that Ethan will do what’s best for his family.

Beverly is the first person to attempt to warn Ethan about Wayward Pines, which she does by giving him the address at which he finds Agent Evans’s body. Beverly’s subsequent disappearance and everyone’s denial of her existence is one of Ethan’s first clues that the entire town is somehow wrong. In Wayward Pines, Beverly is a bartender; however, she later tells Ethan that she originally came to the town as an IBM salesperson on October 3, 1985. When she tells Ethan she has only been in town a year, Beverly serves another important purpose, with her experience raising the issue of time. The disconnect between when Beverly arrived and how long she has been there reinforces Ethan’s sense that something is very wrong with the town, something that goes beyond the imprisonment. The time discrepancy, in short, hints at a much larger mystery.

Beverly’s purpose throughout the novel is as a sort of guide and example for Ethan as he attempts to discover the truth and then to escape. Beverly has even had contact with Agent Bill Evans and is able to shed light on his murder for Ethan. After her early interactions with Ethan, Beverly disappears from the story until reappearing at a key moment to help Ethan escape from the hospital. Once again, Beverly acts as a guide, removing Ethan’s tracker and telling him how to use it to his advantage. She also shares valuable information about where to look for escape and tells him about the electric fence, so Ethan will know the boundary of the town when he finds it. Even in her death, Beverly is an example and a warning to Ethan. Because he witnesses the mob’s murder of Beverly, he understands the stakes of the hunt, lending more tension and suspense to his own chase soon after.

Theresa is Ethan’s wife. She is the other person, besides Ethan, who the narrator has a degree of omniscience with—several chapters focus on Theresa’s perspective. The depth of Theresa’s commitment to Ethan is illustrated in several ways, initially with the revelation that Ethan had an affair with his former partner, Kate Newsom, and though it tested their marriage, it didn’t break it. Ethan remarks on Theresa’s forbearance when he confesses that, if positions were reversed, he might not have given her a second chance.

The depth of Theresa’s commitment to Ethan, which she attributes to “a kind of magic” (82), is made even clearer when she nearly agrees to be sedated by a stranger who promises to take her and Ben to Ethan. In the end, her concern for her son’s safety outweighs her desire to see Ethan. The choice is then taken from her when Pilcher drugs Theresa and Ben and abducts them.

In Theresa’s next point-of-view chapter, as Ethan makes his escape, Theresa merely watches, contemplating how she and Ben have been in Wayward Pines for five years now. She knows, although Ethan does not, that they have tried to integrate him into the town twice previously. When, on this third attempt, she sees the crowd chasing him, she is heartbroken, but also resigned to his fate. She won’t join the fête, or allow Ben to do so, nor does she try to stop it or aid Ethan.