''The Wilds'' is an American

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

television series created by Sarah Streicher for

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

. The series revolves around a group of teenage girls who are left stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash, but are unaware they are the subjects of a social experiment. The cast features Sophia Ali, Reign Edwards,

Shannon Berry Shannon Berry is an Australian television actress. She played Dot Campbell on two series of Prime Video series '' The Wilds''. Early life Berry was brought up in Perth, Western Australia. She was born in Port Hedland, and spent her early chil ...

, Jenna Clause, Mia Healey, Helena Howard, Erana James, Sarah Pidgeon, David Sullivan, Troy Winbush, and

Rachel Griffiths Rachel Anne Griffiths (born 1968) is an Australian actress. List of awards and nominations received by Rachel Griffiths, Her accolades include a Golden Globe Award, three AACTA Awards, and nominations for an Academy Award and four Primetime Em ...

. 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 ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

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 desert island, either to evade kidnapping, captors or the world in general. A person may also be ...

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 flashbacks 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. They find themselves in Klein’s second orchestrated crash as part of the Twilight of Adam program. Flashing between their past, their lives on the island, and questioning by Faber and Young, the boys’ stories come to light. Meanwhile, 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

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

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

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 Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

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 (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

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 LGBTQ people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior. This metaphor is associated and sometime ...

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 * Erana James 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 * Troy Winbush 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. Hypochondria is an old concept whose meaning has repeatedly changed over its lifespan. It has been claimed that th ...

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 but self-centered gay teen *

Aidan Laprete Aidan James Laprete Powell (born September 6, 2001) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. As an actor, he is known for his role as Henry Tanaka in The Wilds (TV series), ''The Wilds''. Early life Laprete was born on Sep ...

as Henry Tanaka (season 2), one of the Twilight of Adam crash survivors, the goth and pessimistic ex-

boy scout A Scout, Boy Scout, Girl Scout or, in some countries, a Pathfinder is a participant in the Scout Movement, usually aged 10–18 years, who engage in learning scoutcraft and outdoor and other special interest activities. Some Scout organizatio ...

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 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 actor, 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 Ser ...

as Tim Campbell (season 1), Dot's ailing father * Shane Callahan 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 ( ; born December 22, 1972) is an American producer and actress. She is known for her portrayal of Safar Khan in the HBO drama miniseries '' The Night Of'', as well as for her role as Nalini Vishwakumar in the Netflix teen come ...

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 o ...

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 as JoBeth Goodkind, Shelby's mother * Kimberly Guerrero as Bernice Blackburn, Martha's mother * Lewis Fitz-Gerald 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 as Marisol Nunez (season 2), Rafael’s girlfriend *

Ben Folds Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. After playing in several small independent bands throughout the late 80s and into the early 90s, Folds came to prominence as the f ...

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 MGM Studios is an American film and television production and distribution company owned by Amazon, and headquartered at the Culver Studios complex in Culver City, California. Launched on November 16, 2010, it took its current name on O ...

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, Troy Winbush, Sophia Ali, Sarah Pidgeon, Jenna Clause, and Erana James joined the main cast. On May 3, 2021, Zack Calderon,

, 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 () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. 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, with indoor studio scenes filmed at Studio West in West Auckland. Filming for the second season would relocate from New Zealand to

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

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 aggregator, 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 ...

, the first season received an approval rating of 93% based on 27 critic reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. 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 an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

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 online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' 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 writer. He is a former columnist and film critic for the '' Chicago Sun-Times'', where he wrote for 39 years dating back to 1986 until his departure in 2025. He co-hosted the television s ...

of ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' 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 ...

s. On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season holds an approval rating of 86% based on 28 critic reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. 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 a US accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding portrayals of LGBTQ people and the issues that affect their lives. In addition to film and television, the Awards ...

in 2021.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilds (TV series), The 2020 American television series debuts 2022 American television series endings 2020s American LGBTQ-related drama television series 2020s American teen drama television series American English-language television shows Amazon Prime Video original programming Television series about being lost from home American television series about teenagers Television series by ABC Studios Television series by Amazon MGM 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