Ending & Shocking Twists Explained

MAJOR SPOILERS for Wayward are ahead!

Netflix’s Wayward tells a fictional account of the very real experience of the troubled teen industry, leading to an equally positive and tragic ending. Set in 2003, two teen girls named Abbie and Leila get into trouble at school and smoke pot, leading their principal to suggest the “therapy school” called Tall Pines Academy as a solution for their behavioral issues.

Abbie’s parents agree, allowing the school to kidnap their daughter and take her to what I can only describe as Hell on Earth. Leila tracks down the school with the intent to save her friend, and she gets caught. Unfortunately, Toni Collette’s chilling headmaster convinces Leila’s parents to make her stay.

Abbie and Leila try to find any way out, even relying on a new officer in town named Alex for help. However, he must unravel the school mystery while also supporting his pregnant wife, Laura, who attended the school as a teen, and acclimating to the cult-y town. This leads to a thought-provoking ending that’s equally heartbreaking and hopeful.

Why Leila Stays At Tall Pines Academy, But Abbie Leaves

At the end of Wayward, both Leila and Abbie have the chance to leave Tall Pines Academy for good, fleeing in the car that Alex left for them. However, they make different decisions. Abbie realizes that she can’t stay at Tall Pines, given the physical and mental abuse. However, Leila thinks that staying is the only option.

Two major factors contribute to Leila’s tragic choice. Firstly, Leila recognizes that, while Abbie has a family who loves her, she only has her mom. Unfortunately, based on their phone call, she doesn’t think her mom cares if she comes home or not.

Secondly, Leila infiltrated the “ascend” group at Tall Pines Academy, which meant that Evelyn gave her extra attention. She spent more time breaking down Leila and potentially introducing false memories, fostering a feeling of self-loathing in the young girl. Ultimately, Evelyn convinced Leila that she would only be worthwhile within the structure of Tall Pines.

While Leila’s decision is tragic, it does relay the sad reality that psychological abuse and gaslighting can eventually become internalized by victims. Leila had major childhood trauma and an unsupportive environment to make her more susceptible to Evelyn’s manipulation, so it’s not all that surprising that the cult leader/principal succeeded with her.

Did Leila Kill Her Sister In Wayward?

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Toward the end of Wayward, Leila goes through some pretty intensive recovered memory therapy. She comes to the revelation that she actually killed her sister by pushing her in the water and just watched her drown. However, this is almost certainly not accurate, as it only emerged after multiple rounds of recovered memory therapy.

RMT is a form of therapy that the American Psychological Association and the American Medical Association have warned against. It’s widely debunked and considered junk science by psychologists because it can induce false memories that a patient comes to believe fully.

In the case of Leila, we see her go through multiple rounds where she’s coerced into seeing different versions of the same events, guided by Evelyn. Moreover, we have heard the outside account from Abbie regarding what Leila said after the event.

Did Laura Kill Her Parents In Wayward?

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Unlike Leila, the answer to whether Laura killed her parents is a little more ambiguous in Wayward. We know that either Laura murdered them or Evelyn did. Laura’s classmates say that her parents wanted to take her back from Tall Pines Academy. Evelyn says Laura smashed their heads in with a rock. Laura won’t talk about her parents.

However, Evelyn isn’t a reliable narrator. Laura indicates that she misses her parents and dreams about them, which suggests an emotional connection to them. The parents’ car is in the lake, which suggests a different method of murder. At the same time, we don’t see the brainwashing process that Leila went through.

I’m inclined to believe Evelyn killed Laura’s parents in Wayward, based on her pattern of behavior and her controlling nature. Based on her covering up the murders of students, I wouldn’t put it past her to kill them and hide the truth. However, it’s possible to argue that Laura did actually murder her parents.

Why Alex Stays In Tall Pines With Laura & The Baby

One of the most confusing parts of Wayward’s ending is the fact that Alex decides to stay in Tall Pines with Laura, who is essentially a new cult leader for the town, and their newborn baby. He had the opportunity and means to take the baby and run, but he stayed.

Ultimately, this decision comes down to the fact that he thinks the town will offer him the love and support that he was lacking as a child. He had an abusive father and repeated those patterns of masculinity by becoming a violent cop.

Alex likely believes that the town will prevent the baby from repeating the cycle of violence. After all, the entire community was willing to support them in the birth and perform skin-to-skin. However, he’s missing the small detail that it means his child will grow up in a cult that demonizes and represses any emotions that aren’t happiness.

What Happens When Characters Get “Leaped”

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The concept of getting “leaped” is discussed in veiled terms throughout the series, but the end finally shows it fully in action. The person getting leaped is tied down to a chair in the middle of a body of water. They’re injected with psychedelic drugs, tortured, and waterboarded. All the while, they’re hearing this on repeat:

“You’re lying on your back crying out for your mother. She is standing, facing the wall. She has her back to you. A bell rings. Your mother turns to face you. She is silent, but her mouth is open wide. In her mouth is a door.”

Essentially, it’s a very drastic form of brainwashing that’s so torturous that the “leaped” person represses their connections to their family and their past traumas. The process provides Wayward with one of the most disturbing and trippiest scenes in the entire show.

Why No Babies Are Born In Tall Pines

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In the latter half of Wayward, Alex realizes that no babies exist in the town of Tall Pines. The reasoning behind this becomes a mystery. However, Alex eventually learns that Evelyn barred everyone in the town from reproducing. The only children would be the “reformed” graduates of Tall Pines Academy.

The ban on having children in Wayward is essentially city-wide eugenics. Evelyn only wants children with the traits that she deems desirable (e.g., always happy, doesn’t question authority) to fill her cult.

The only reason she invites Laura back to Tall Pines to have her baby is that Laura was a graduate of the therapy school, making her already invested in the ethos of the cult. Additionally, she thinks that she has made the town utopian enough that a baby growing up there will have the desirable traits.

Evelyn’s Cult Backstory in Wayward, Explained

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The town in the Netflix original show, Wayward, is extremely culty from the beginning. Something feels off about the residents and their overly friendly nature. There aren’t any children. There are toads croaking everywhere. They have an abusive reform school. All the foundation was there for the revelation that Tall Pines is a cult.

However, the most interesting part of the reveal is that it didn’t start with Evelyn. When Evelyn was a young adult, she became a part of a cult that laid the foundation for what would eventually become Tall Pines. She didn’t even create “the leap,” though she found a way to make it much more dangerous and impactful.

Instead, a fictional Charles Manson-looking cult leader brought together a group of primarily hippie-looking girls and a few guys who were into psychedelic drugs. Their cult lived in the home that Evelyn gave to Laura and Alex. Eventually, after going through cult tactics and abuse, Evelyn killed the leader by smashing his head in with a rock and taking over the group.

The True Meaning Of Wayward’s Ending

Wayward’s ending is simultaneously hopeful and painfully sad. Abbie’s departure from Tall Pines proves that there is a way out after experiencing horrific and traumatic events. Her experiences at the therapeutic school didn’t leave her feeling broken. She shows immense resiliency. Her leaving doesn’t take away the trauma, but it does mean she can begin to heal.

However, Leila’s and Alex’s decision to stay in the town highlights the extremely realistic fact that moving forward from trauma isn’t easy. Leaving an abusive situation isn’t easy, and it doesn’t always happen on someone else’s timeline. No matter how much Abbie wants Leila to come with her in Wayward, she can’t force that to happen. The same goes for Alex.

Alex and Leila simply aren’t ready or able to go, which is a reality for many people in their situations. Sometimes, as with the students at Tall Pines Academy, leaving is not a viable option. All Abbie, and we as an audience, can hope for is that everyone suffering eventually finds a way out of their own Tall Pines.

Release Date

September 25, 2025

Network

Netflix

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