'Wayward Pines' exec producer Chad Hodge's post-show dish: Why (Spoiler) had to die

Welcome back to Wayward Pines. After last week’s premiere, I gave you two safe, non-spoiler paragraphs before I went into my “deep dive.” This week, you’ve got these two sentences: Have you seen the second episode? Excellent.

Here we go…

I always knew that Beverly’s death had to come at the end of the second episode. For me, the terrifying event of this very real public reckoning on Main Street is the moment you realize what Wayward Pines is about. It’s not the “big truth” you’ll be getting later, but it’s the truth of why everyone is acting so strangely perfect in this town. So now you’re like, “Got it, if these people don’t follow the rules, all the phones will ring and the entire town will rush out of their houses and chase you down and then watch Sheriff Pope execute you on Main Street. Cool.”

What would you do? That’s one of my favorite things about this story. If you were told you could live a happy life in a perfect, pretty town with a Main Street and a coffee shop and a toy store and mountains and fresh air, and you would be totally left alone as long as you followed four simple rules, would you?

Do not try to leave.

Do not discuss the past.

Do not discuss your life before.

Always answer the phone if it rings.

Or would you rather go apes–t about the whole thing and be killed?

No, seriously, think about it. How many of us would love to start over and forget the past? To be given permission not to have some huge “important” life in the big, bad world? How many of us would love to live a simple life in a small beautiful town? “You could be happy here, Ethan,” says Kate (Carla Gugino). Does she mean it? Hard to tell at this point.

Did I almost convince you? Scary, right? But this is why we needed to kill Beverly Brown (Juliette Lewis).

You, just like the residents of Wayward Pines, needed to see and know the deep, dark underbelly of this perfect little town. Because now you’re on the same page with the residents, most of whom know nothing more than you do right here at the end of episode 2. I didn’t want you to watch these people acting weirdly perfect episode after episode after episode. I wanted you to know why.

This is everything we told Juliette when we walked her through the first two episodes and explained why we had to kill her. And I think her performance is just stunning. Director Charlotte Sieling did a beautiful job with this episode and shot that final scene with a haunting elegance.

Just like we did in this episode, I’m going to keep telling you why. And you’ll keep being like WTF?! Fear not, all of your questions will be answered, episode after episode, leading up to the reveal of the “big truth” halfway through the season. And then you’ll really be asking questions.

Stay tuned. That’s rule No. 5.

Let’s continue the conversation here or on Twitter: @chad_hodge.