Heartwarming / The Wilds

Heartwarming moments in Amazon Prime's "The Wilds". Beware: unmarked spoilers!

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Season One

Episode 1: Day One

• Sad and terrifying as the situation is, the way Toni gets up and runs to hold onto Martha when the plane is going down definitely counts.
• Shelby rescuing Martha from being dragged out to sea, and using her shirt as a tourniquet for Martha's injured ankle, which marks the real beginning of their friendship.
• The girls have a funeral for Jeanette, despite not having known her for long at all. Shelby says a few words, and then the group sing a slow, slightly discordant version of P!nk's "Raise Your Glass" after learning that Jeanette loved P!nk.

Episode 2: Day Two

• Nora and her dad cancelled a trip to Paris to be there for Rachel's Nationals competition.
• It's shown throughout the episode just how much Nora cares for her sister, with Rachel coming to appreciate and realize it by the episode's end.
• Toni carries Martha on her back out to some rock pools so that Martha can dip her injured ankle in some cold, still water.
• Post-island Rachel reveals her missing hand and talks about her sister. Doubles as a Tear Jerker.
  Rachel: It's true what they say; that you can still feel things. Messages from old nerve endings. Sensations from the past. And you know what I feel? It's her hand, holding mine. Forever.

Episode 3: Day Three

• Definitely doubles as a Tear Jerker, but Dot's relationship with her dad.
• Dot promises not to tell the other girls about Shelby's flipper, and tells her that she deserves better than her cheating boyfriend.

Episode 4: Day Six

• Toni's relationship with Regan, at least until their break up. Even after they break up and Toni cracks the back window of Regan's car in a fit of devastation, Regan calls Martha and asks her to check up on Toni because she was worried about her.
  Toni: God, she's even cool and decent after dumping my ass.
• Martha and Toni's friendship pre-island is extremely heartwarming, culminating in Toni moving in with Martha and her family. Crosses into Tear Jerker territory when those scenes are compared with their falling out on the island in this episode.

Episode 5: Day Seven

• Despite having a major argument with her last episode, and having received nothing but disdain from her until this point, Shelby is still very worried that Toni hasn't come back after running off the previous night.
• Likewise, by the time they actually find Fatin, all of the girls are extremely concerned for her well-being, even Leah.
• Leah and Fatin apologize to each other after their fight in the previous episode.
  Fatin: I'm gonna try something right now, and I can’t promise that it's going to go okay. (hugs her)

Episode 6: Day Twelve

• Leah describes the dynamic on the island as having shifted to being an "us", showing that the girls are starting to function as more of a cohesive team in the five days following the events of the last episode.
• The girls all immediately side with Toni when Shelby expresses homophobic views, with Dot telling Shelby very clearly that those views aren't welcome.
• Nora tells Rachel that it wasn't her fault they all got sick from the oysters she found, as none of them knew it was going to happen.
• Martha stays by Toni's side throughout, despite being almost as sick as Toni is. She even gives up the opportunity of the life-saving pill because, in her mind, Toni needs it more. Likewise, when Martha collapses, Toni makes it very clear that had their positions been reversed, she would’ve made the girls give Martha the pill. Sadly, it crosses over into Tear Jerker territory as it's coming from a view that she herself doesn’t matter.
  • Shelby's desperation to save Toni, while it could've been coming from a place of guilt over what she said earlier, may have also been an indication of her true feelings for Toni.
  Toni: Why did you do it? Why did you give me the last one?
  Shelby: Toni—
  Toni: No, you wasted it on me.
  Shelby: Toni, I didn't —
  Toni: Look at her! Okay, she is a good person, and she cares about people, and people care about her, and she has a whole family, and you threw me a lifeline.
  Shelby: Toni, you were dying!
  Toni: Who cares?! I don’t matter!

Episode 7: Day Fifteen

• Despite Shelby being in everyone’s bad graces for what she said the previous episode, Dot jumps to her defense when Leah starts shouting wild accusations at her.
• Gretchen's friendship with Linh feels very genuine, which makes Linh's death all the more tragic.
• After Shelby kisses her, Toni seems to have gained a much deeper understanding of why Shelby said what she did the previous episode, and what she might be going through. She softens considerably towards her, going after Shelby when she runs away and gently offering her water when they're back with the others on the beach.

Episode 8: Day Sixteen

• Shelby helps her best friend Becca get back at her abusive stepbrother by "decorating" his car.
• Toni is adamant that she would never tell anyone that Shelby kissed her. She tells Shelby that she won't lecture her on how or why or how fast she should figure herself out, but that her "hateful church bullshit" is not going to help. Shelby resists Toni's advice, but it's clear that their dynamic has well and truly shifted into something softer and more understanding.
• Even with all the awful things Shelby says to her in an effort to protect herself from her parents' conservative views and her own internalized homophobia, Becca promises she will never judge Shelby for kissing her, or for anything she's going through.
• Leah apologizes to Shelby for accusing her the previous day, and encourages her—one "trainwreck" to another—to go easy on herself.

Episode 9: Day Twenty-Two

• Agent Young is shown to be very concerned with the girls' well-being, asking Gretchen to let them see each other at the very least.
• Shelby and Martha do their best to reassure Leah when they still haven’t been rescued almost a week after the plane has flown over.
• Martha tells Toni how proud she is of her Character Development when Toni says that she thinks holding grudges in their current situation is "kind of childish."
• Toni and Shelby’s quest to find food mirrors their quest to find water in the first episode, with a lot of development. Gone is the arguing, replaced by comfortable conversation. Toni asks Shelby to sing, and later holds a branch out of her way so Shelby can pass through, compared to her earlier annoyance with Shelby's singing, and smacking her in the face with a branch on purpose. Unbeknownst to Toni, her complimenting Shelby's randomness in song choice also calls back to Shelby's conversation with Dot in episode 3 concerning things her boyfriend didn't appreciate about her.
• After Rachel rescues her from drowning, Leah begins to struggle and begs Fatin to let her go back, but Fatin calms her down and holds her while she cries. These two have certainly come a long way since episode 4.
• Shelby kisses Toni under the Lychee tree. This time, she doesn't run away, and it leads to them possibly sleeping together (implied but not confirmed).
  Toni: Are you sure?
  Shelby: (kisses her again) I’m sure.

Episode 10: Day Twenty-Three

• Shelby is conflicted when she and Toni wake up, saying she's not ready to talk about it yet, but she makes it clear to Toni that she liked what happened between them, even if she’s struggling internally with the ramifications of that. Toni, for her part, is calmer than we’ve ever seen her, reassuring Shelby that it’s fine if she’s not fully okay, and telling her she’ll go along with whatever Shelby wants to tell the rest of the girls to explain their absence overnight.
• Almost the entirety of Nora and Quinn's relationship, making his death all the more tragic for both Nora and the audience.
• Both Dot and Toni make sure to check in with Martha after she killed the goat, knowing how difficult it must’ve been for her.
• Fatin clocks whatever's going on between Shelby and Toni, and has nothing but support for Shelby. Especially heartwarming considering the last she saw of them together might have been what happened in episode 6.
  Fatin: You know, if you’re so worried about how she’s feeling, maybe you should go ask her yourself. (Beat) Please. I know sexual tension when I see it. But don’t worry. (Makes lip-zipping gesture)
• Rachel asks Nora to never let her forget that she said how good it felt to have a full stomach.
• Shelby's confused as to what Toni’s recent demeanor actually means, and their conversation leads to what’s heavily implied to be a Relationship Upgrade.
  Shelby: You’re this fiery, passionate person. And then last night happens, and you’re just so damn calm. I guess… I guess I just got to thinking that maybe that’s because it didn’t matter to you.
  Toni: Nah, Shelby. It’s ‘cause I trust you.
  Shelby: What the hell did I do to earn that?
  Toni: You saved my life.
  • When Shelby worries that they’re going to make each other miserable, or that she’ll end up hurting Toni like she did Becca, Toni rationalizes that the worst has already happened to them, given where they are.
  Toni: I don’t think I’ve got it in me to get that scared about something that could be good.
• Nora’s speech to Gretchen about wanting to love, and to find her people, is interspersed with clips of the girls on the island, having fun and becoming a unit. It really shows how far each of them has come individually, as well as together.
• Despite Nora acting as The Mole for Gretchen, the narrative makes it clear that she has nothing but the best of intentions in doing so. One of her conditions for agreeing is that Rachel can be part of the experiment, in the hopes that it will help her get better. She also assures Leah that she doesn't mean her any harm, even under the current circumstances.

Season Two

Episode 2: Day Thirty-Four/Day Twelve

• As the girls move camp, Toni asks Martha if she wants to share a sleeping platform. Martha replies that she should sleep with someone she loves, showing her realization and approval of the blooming Toni-Shelby romance.

Episode 3: Day Thirty-Six/Day Fourteen

• Fatin reaches out to Martha over her apparent sexual hang-ups. Then Fatin suggests masturbation.
  Fatin: If you're holding on to something, and sick of being alone with it, I'm around. Like if it's about...sex, maybe.
  Martha: Literally everything about it, terrifies me.
  Fatin: Guess I've been kinda lucky. I've only ever experienced the lighter side of it. But I know there's a dark side out there. And if it came for you I'm really fucking sorry.

Episode 4: Day Forty-Two/Day Fifteen

• Shelby teaches Rachel a religious mantra she used to endure her best friend/love interest Becca's suicide, something Shelby blames herself for partly, after Nora's (apparent) death, which Rachel's reeling from. Rachel is hesitant initially, but then starts to repeat it with Shelby's help. Shelby outright states it's all that got her through the loss, and wants to give Rachel that aid if she can.

Episode 5: Day Forty-Five/Day Sixteen

• The girls hold a funeral for the apparently-lost-at-sea Nora, burying one of her shirts in the forest.
• Kirin comes off as a total dude-bro, but when he learns that Seth sexually assaulted Josh, he instantly leaps to Josh's defense. Josh admits the assault off-screen, and next time we see the duo, Josh is trying to talk Kirin out of killing Seth on the spot
  Josh: Okay, no, but I was drunk and I was all over the place, so who even knows and who's gonna believe me?
  Kirin: I believe you.
  • Following this, the entire group sans Raf stands by Josh and votes to kick Seth out.