When one of the castaways goes missing, a search party heads out to find her. We learn more about Fatin's past, which isn't exactly the glamorous thrill ride the others thought it was. At the end of their exhausting day, the girls make a shocking discovery that stokes Leah's doubts about the island.
In 2019, the television industry aired 532 scripted shows across numerous outlets. The way people consume content now is different than it used to be. It happens according to one's own schedule. As such, it's less necessary to provide ample coverage of each episode in any given season from a show. Moreover, it is simply impossible to watch everything. As such, this site provides shorter episodic reviews in order to cover as many shows as possible. With all of that being said, here are my thoughts on the next episode of Amazon's The Wilds.
"Day Seven" was written by Shalisha Francis and directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour
The first four episodes have essentially followed the same structure. Each episode focuses on a different character. They narrate a part of their time on the island to the investigators after they have been rescued. As such, they tease things that are likely to occur later. Clues can be found in those little pieces of dialogue. That has provided the narrative frame of the series so far. This episode breaks from that. Yes, it still features flashbacks to Fatin's time before the island. The audience comes to understand why her parents sent her away to this retreat. But it's a personal story for her while the rest of the castaways are desperately searching for her on the island. Because the glimpses of the future are missing until the final minute, it's unclear whether or not something bad has happened to Fatin. The odds always seemed a little unlikely because of the depth and extent of the flashbacks. The show wouldn't have incorporated all of those only for the castaways to stumble upon her body in the woods somewhere. Her disappearance had to have value. There are many different ways the show can achieve that goal. She finds fresh water. She provides salvation to the rest of the castaways. She has marked a path so that they can find this waterfall again. It was dangerous for her to go off on her own. Gretchen can't explain it either when she is trying to justify herself in front of the people who doubt what she is willing to do in this experiment. Not everything has gone according to plan though. She refuses to blame herself for Jeanette's death. She instead sees that as the ground team messing up. Lethal consequences happened because people were careless in the field. As such, it's their burden to bear. Gretchen doesn't have to deal with that in addition to everything else she is handling. She is looking out for the well-being of the eight remaining girls. And yet, she is the one who put all of them in this precarious situation. She cheers whenever they make significant progress. She applauds each discovery they make along the way. She notes the progress and sees that as all the evidence necessary that these girls are growing beyond the emotional baggage they had when they first got onto the plane. Leah held onto her love for Jeffrey with reckless abandon. And now, she is willing to sacrifice his novel with their love notes to ensure that the fire doesn't die down. The castaways need that for survival. She is willing to make that sacrifice now because she understands that there is more depth to Fatin than how she was initially perceived. Fatin has always come across as the vain individual who doesn't want to work hard or contribute to the group. She just brings different talents and skills to the situation. She can work hard. It's just a different demonstration of what that term actually means. Her behavior can't always be explained either. Gretchen notes how Leah and Toni will react in any situation. They have patterns that they stick to no matter what. Fatin creates concern because she does things that aren't normal. She responds with rage and destruction when she wants to. Her rational response to discovering her father's affairs is to embarrass him to everyone he knows. It's not a confrontation she wants to keep within the family. She wants that absolute destruction. That isn't healthy. Not all of it can be blamed on her immaturity though. She thought she understood what love and relationships were. It's only after all of this that she is willing to admit that she is clueless. As such, it makes it reasonable for her to go along with anyone's suggestion because even the most insane ideas may be true in the end. Leah doubts that the tide has carried Jeanette's body out to sea. The group finds comfort in that. It's a reasonable assumption on their part. They don't want to believe that something insane is happening to them. Leah is willing to question that. She is right. Her digging deeper is just likely to create more friction with the group because they are already quick to label her as the volatile one with extreme reactions no matter what. Fatin supports her though. Those two addressing their issues and offering their support does wonders to ensure that no one is truly alone in this world despite how extreme their circumstances currently are. These girls are all capable of greatness. Gretchen sees that. She wants to encourage it. She has simply created this scenario where all of them will essentially be questioning their sanity and reality because the mysteries of this island aren't lining up with what they know to be true. And no one can control the fallout of all of that.
The first four episodes have essentially followed the same structure. Each episode focuses on a different character. They narrate a part of their time on the island to the investigators after they have been rescued. As such, they tease things that are likely to occur later. Clues can be found in those little pieces of dialogue. That has provided the narrative frame of the series so far. This episode breaks from that. Yes, it still features flashbacks to Fatin's time before the island. The audience comes to understand why her parents sent her away to this retreat. But it's a personal story for her while the rest of the castaways are desperately searching for her on the island. Because the glimpses of the future are missing until the final minute, it's unclear whether or not something bad has happened to Fatin. The odds always seemed a little unlikely because of the depth and extent of the flashbacks. The show wouldn't have incorporated all of those only for the castaways to stumble upon her body in the woods somewhere. Her disappearance had to have value. There are many different ways the show can achieve that goal. She finds fresh water. She provides salvation to the rest of the castaways. She has marked a path so that they can find this waterfall again. It was dangerous for her to go off on her own. Gretchen can't explain it either when she is trying to justify herself in front of the people who doubt what she is willing to do in this experiment. Not everything has gone according to plan though. She refuses to blame herself for Jeanette's death. She instead sees that as the ground team messing up. Lethal consequences happened because people were careless in the field. As such, it's their burden to bear. Gretchen doesn't have to deal with that in addition to everything else she is handling. She is looking out for the well-being of the eight remaining girls. And yet, she is the one who put all of them in this precarious situation. She cheers whenever they make significant progress. She applauds each discovery they make along the way. She notes the progress and sees that as all the evidence necessary that these girls are growing beyond the emotional baggage they had when they first got onto the plane. Leah held onto her love for Jeffrey with reckless abandon. And now, she is willing to sacrifice his novel with their love notes to ensure that the fire doesn't die down. The castaways need that for survival. She is willing to make that sacrifice now because she understands that there is more depth to Fatin than how she was initially perceived. Fatin has always come across as the vain individual who doesn't want to work hard or contribute to the group. She just brings different talents and skills to the situation. She can work hard. It's just a different demonstration of what that term actually means. Her behavior can't always be explained either. Gretchen notes how Leah and Toni will react in any situation. They have patterns that they stick to no matter what. Fatin creates concern because she does things that aren't normal. She responds with rage and destruction when she wants to. Her rational response to discovering her father's affairs is to embarrass him to everyone he knows. It's not a confrontation she wants to keep within the family. She wants that absolute destruction. That isn't healthy. Not all of it can be blamed on her immaturity though. She thought she understood what love and relationships were. It's only after all of this that she is willing to admit that she is clueless. As such, it makes it reasonable for her to go along with anyone's suggestion because even the most insane ideas may be true in the end. Leah doubts that the tide has carried Jeanette's body out to sea. The group finds comfort in that. It's a reasonable assumption on their part. They don't want to believe that something insane is happening to them. Leah is willing to question that. She is right. Her digging deeper is just likely to create more friction with the group because they are already quick to label her as the volatile one with extreme reactions no matter what. Fatin supports her though. Those two addressing their issues and offering their support does wonders to ensure that no one is truly alone in this world despite how extreme their circumstances currently are. These girls are all capable of greatness. Gretchen sees that. She wants to encourage it. She has simply created this scenario where all of them will essentially be questioning their sanity and reality because the mysteries of this island aren't lining up with what they know to be true. And no one can control the fallout of all of that.
