History Headscratchers / WaywardPines

Somewhat-related: Are the citizens of Wayward Pines now vegetarians/vegans? I remember Ethan had a burger in Season 1 and no mention was made of it being imitation meat (as far as I know), but I can't remember anyone eating meat in Season 2 and they definitely don't seem to have livestock. We also haven't seen any animals outside or inside the wall so I don't think anyone's hunting, though I assume animals do exist. They probably brought frozen meats but they would likely have been among the first things to run out without a fresh supply. And what about dairy products? We see people eating ice cream a lot and the town has an ice cream parlor but we haven't seen any cows or farms/ranches, so is that reconstituted milk or some kind of substitute?

Somewhat-related: Are the citizens of Wayward Pines now vegetarians/vegans? I remember Ethan had a burger in Season 1 and no mention was made of it being imitation meat (as far as I know), but I can't remember anyone eating meat in Season 2 and they definitely don't seem to have livestock. We also haven't seen any animals outside or inside the wall, so I don't think anyone's hunting, though I assume animals do exist. They probably brought frozen meats but they would likely have been among the first things to run out without a fresh supply. And what about dairy products? We see people eating ice cream a lot and the town has an ice cream parlor but we haven't seen any cows or farms/ranches, so is that reconstituted milk or some kind of substitute?

He decided he needed to 'start fresh' with a select group of people but either didn't think they'd be bothered by the whole "kidnapping them out of their rightful era" thing or didn't think they'd be cranky enough to cause problems. He foresaw the possibility that humans might devolve into Morlock-esque predators but decided that they'd probably die out on their own. He planned a town but didn't make room for farmland or machinery that could be used to clear the woods, although he had space for the cars of the people who went into stasis because you'll be doing a lot of driving four millennia after all roadwork ends. He had time and resources to make Wayward Pines-brand labels for soda and ketchup (and the resources to make said soda and ketchup?), but couldn't stock a little more ''medicine'', or components so the doctors and chemists could at least make basic medicine when the stores ran out. It's clear that Pilcher was the Idea Guy, but how did it not occur to him that he should get some people on his side who knew about city planning and social management and so on? The only non-Pilcher specialist we see until CJ is Megan and she's a ''hypnotherapist''. They did claim they thought the Abbies would be dead so they wouldn't need excess supplies, but they seem to have brought a lot of bullets for an "empty" planet and not nearly enough medicine for a world where all pharmacies have been reduced to ash.

*** If true, then it was only building on what Pilcher himself already believed: He was already sure that he was right and had the answers, but maybe wasn't convinced he could afford to act without outside support until he realized that people like Megan could be convinced. She's not a mutant, after all, and suggestion isn't the same as mind-control, but if it was something Pilcher was already considering it might have been easy for Megan to convince him that he was right.

*** It really depends outright what they were preserving. If its pure raw materials, it could potentially make it, if stored specifically to preserve it for that long (not sure about the fuel though).

*** Please, don't get me started. I enjoyed the show but that didn't stop me being constantly frustrated by huge blocks of great plot being jettisoned and inexplicably replaced with less logical, far inferior plot instead. While understanding that you have to lose something when transferring book to screen, half the time the reason for the changes were baffling. A case of "You had a great idea there why did you just dump it for this nonsense?"

*** Again, whether or not he foresaw the abbies is debatable, but setting that aside, it's made pretty clear that Pilcher is not so much interested in preserving humans as in preserving ''humanity'' (i.e., that unidentifiable ''something'' that sets us apart from other animals), or what he ''thinks'' constitutes humanity. Most people, when asked to describe the perfect civilization (the height of humanity, if you will), would describe the time period in which they were living or were raised (if someone asked you to describe the perfect city, you would not fill it with the yurts of Genghis Khan). In other words, he built what he knew.

*** Whether or not Pilcher anticipated the abbies is debatable, since his entire crusade ''began'' because he was detecting an increasing number of genetic anomalies in people, although it's probably safe to say he did not have a good handle on the reality of the situation.

*** Whether or not Pilcher anticipated the abbies is debatable, since his entire crusade ''began'' because he was detecting an increasing number of genetic anomalies. He certainly anticipated ''something'', although it's probably safe to say he horribly underestimated the reality.

*** Whether or not Pilcher anticipated the abbies is debatable, since his entire crusade ''began'' because he was detecting an increasing number of genetic anomalies. He certainly anticipated "something", although it's probably safe to say he horribly underestimated the reality.

*** Whether or not Pilcher anticipated the abbies is debatable, since his entire crusade "began" because he was detecting an increasing number of genetic anomalies. He certainly anticipated "something", although it's probably safe to say he horribly underestimated the reality.

*** Whether or not Pilcher anticipated the abbies is debatable, since his entire crusade //began// because he was detecting an increasing number of genetic anomalies. He certainly anticipated //something//, although it's probably safe to say he horribly underestimated the reality.

*** Whether or not Pilcher anticipated the abbies is debatable, since his entire crusade //began// because he was detecting an increasing number of genetic anomalies. He certainly anticipated //something//, although it's probably safe to say he horribly underestimated the reality.

* OK, so per episode 5 ("The Truth") and David Pilcher's InfoDump, the show is telling us that Wayward Pines is actually in a BadFuture where the EldritchAbominations ("Abbies") are running around, civilization is ruined, etc., etc. Every man, woman, and child in town was a HumanPopsicle in Pilcher's little "save humanity" scenario. Pilcher says they've got about 100 volunteers who run the place, and they kidnapped a few thousand people in the early 21st century to be part of their experiment. So ... tiny town with a wall, civilization is dead. Yet, Wayward Pines has multiple well-built houses, armed guards with very high-powered rifles, and a freaking helicopter!! Where did these things come from? If they are from 2014, then the tech would have fallen apart centuries before the show. If they are from 4028, then where is the town's manufacturing capacity?? This makes no sense!!!

** For all we know, M. Night might introduce a new twist later on, with a spaceship arriving from the terraformed Mars, asking questions like "What the hell are you people doing in this nature preserve?"

Exactly what had humanity been doing for the 300-400 years it took the human genome to mutate? I mean, we went through Industrial revolution and technological boom in that amount time. No way the humans just watched it all idly for that long. I don't know, space colonies?

Even if people who try to escape or talk about the past do constitute a disruptive element, does it really make sense to execute them for it? If there's really only a few thousand humans left, and if cryogenic technology sufficient to preserve people for thousands of years exists, then why not send them "off to prison" for their offenses, tranquilize them en route, haul them back to the underground facility, and freeze them again? Let them be revived at some future date, when Pilcher's reborn civilization is stable enough to cope civilly with troublemakers. It'd save lots of precious breeding stock for a recovering humanity, while drastically reducing the stress-levels and incitement to escape among the town's unwitting residents.

Even if people who try to escape or talk about the past do constitute a disruptive element, does it really make sense to execute them for it? If there's really only a few thousand humans left, and if cryogenic technology sufficient to preserve people for thousands of years exists, then why not send them "off to prison" for their offenses, tranquilize them en route, haul them back to the underground facility, and freeze them again? Let them be revived at some future date, when Pilcher's reborn civilization is stable enough to cope civilly with troublemakers. It'd save lots of precious breeding stock for a recovering humanity, while drastically reducing the stress-levels and incitement to escape among the town's unwitting residents.

[[/folder]]