Is The Wilds season 2 worth your valuable viewing time? We’re diving in to find out in our The Wilds season 2 review!
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When The Wilds debuted in 2020, it was something fresh and new. While it clearly borrowed from many other sources, such as Lord of the Flies, it told engaging stories about a group of teen girls. It struck a balance between their shipwrecked lives and gave us glimpses into their lives back home. They were fully developed and believable. And as the season drew to a close we learned about the island of boys and something just told you this was not going to go well.
As The Wilds season 2 opens, we spend a lot of time with the boys and learning about them. So much so that you almost begin to wonder just how much of a part the girls will play this season. Rest assured, they actually play into a significant amount, but in those early moments, you do begin to wonder.
The problem is, with the introduction of the boys you have nearly doubled the cast. Where we had 10 episodes to focus on the girls in the first season, this season we have eight episodes to continue those stories, meet a whole new group, try to give them some depth, and everyone comes out of the season feeling short-changed. The season ends on another cliffhanger which makes it clear some of those story structure issues will be dealt with should there be a season 3, but the problem is will you care?
Season 2 of The Wilds left us wanting to race through the scenes of the boys to get back to the girls because the newcomers were simply not that engaging. While the characters of season 1 were written as fully inhabited characters with nuanced lives, the newcomers border on caricatures painted with the broadest of strokes.
Not All Hope is Lost
Despite the general negative feeling we have shared thus far, there is a lot for fans of season 1 to like. Sadly, the majority of what we liked we were instructed explicitly to not discuss.
Fatin (Sophia Ali) in particular, grows a lot as a character this time around. Dot (Shannon Berry) is present, but her screentime is cut back considerably from season 1. Rachel (Reign Edwards) is the early focus due the cliffhanger we were left with. And, yes, you are correct in how you think she lost her hand. Leah (Sarah Pidgeon) who was pretty much the face of season 1 is cut back a considerable amount, but still moves her story forward. As for Shelby (Mia Healey) and Toni (Erana James), the relationship moves forward, but not without its speedbumps. And Martha (Jenna Clause) has one of the biggest moments of the season, but we won’t spoil that for you.
The Wilds season 2 kept my interest to the end, but nowhere close to the same degree as season 1 did. The amount of cast for season 3 will remain essentially the same should it move forward, but hopefully they learn to balance the storytelling slightly better next time around. A part of us almost suggests you wait on watching this season until you hear if there will be a season 3, because you might fare better thinking of it as a one and done series.
Disclaimer: Amazon provided The Nerdy with all eight episodes of The Wilds season 2 for this review. We watched them to completion before beginning this review.
