Earlier this month, it was announced that "Wayward Pines" has been renewed for a second season on Fox. It came as a pleasant and very welcome surprise for fans of the series.
The show's freshman run was initially introduced as an event series, and the show's first season ranked as the summer's leading scripted broadcast series among adults 18-49, with an average of 9.4 million viewers for the season.
While there was speculation that season 1 of the show was M. Night Shyamalan's last television project, the director confirmed the renewal by taking to Twitter on Dec. 9 and writing, "We told you no one ever leaves #Wayward Pines—Season 2 is happening this Summer! @FOXTV."
According to Variety, Shyamalan is still on board for the upcoming season, but series creator and showrunner Chad Hodge will not return. Shyamalan will serve as executive producer, along with Donald De Line, Ashwin Rajan, Mark Friedman and Blake Crouch, who wrote the "Wayward Pines" books on which the series is based.
"'Wayward Pines' was a huge hit for us this past summer," said Fox President of Entertainment David Madden in a statement. "Season 2 is going to take the suspense, the vision of the future and the haunting character drama to new levels, and we can't wait for our fans to continue that ride next year."
Now that season 2 has been officially confirmed, many are wondering what comes next for the series.
Season one's lead character, Ethan (Matt Dillon) was killed when he sacrificed himself to save his son and the other residents of Wayward Pines from being attacked by the creatures known as the abbies. The finale ended with a time jump which saw the remaining characters three years into the future, with Ethan's son, Ben, waking up at a hospital and Jason and the rest of Class One having taken control over the town.
According to Deadline, season 2 will pick up after the events of the season 1 finale. A new character will arrive in town and find himself in the middle of a dangerous rebellion while the residents fight over how to preserve the endangered human race.
"Wayward Pines" returns to Fox in summer 2016.
