We still have tons of questions about the last episode of The Wilds, but we just got one exciting, important answer. Less than a week after the show’s premiere, Amazon Prime Video announced that the survivalist teen drama will be back for a second season.
The cast celebrated the news in a video shared on the show’s official Twitter account and executive producer Amy B. Harris’ Instagram. “IT’S OFFICIAL!!!” Harris captioned the post. “This show that I love so much and am so proud of was picked up for SEASON 2!!!” Two of the show’s stars, Erana James and Reign Edwards, commented with supportive emojis.
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Mia Healey, who plays religious pageant queen Shelby, posted a photo of herself at her first acting class. “This little version of me is spinning right now because I get to keep doing the thing that makes me so happy,” she wrote on Instagram. “Thank you everyone for the love.”
A second season seemed inevitable. Without giving too much away, The Wilds ended with a shocking revelation about Gretchen’s (Rachel Griffiths) reign of terror. But according to Harris, that final twist wasn’t planned from the get-go. “To Amazon's credit, the creatives there were like, ‘We really want you to find that great twist,’” she told Entertainment Weekly. “It just revved us up for season 2 even more. Now we have really exciting, fresh, new places to go.”
What the fuck kinda ending was that #TheWilds? Season 2 is dropping tomorrow, right? Cause I can't wait that long to know what's happened lol
— Susna loves Ali! (@SVaughn21) December 16, 2020
Wtf was that ending I need answers!!. Is Nora dead? Why is Shelby fully bald? Where is Martha? The cameras Leah found that shows a group of lads stranded on a beach, are they on the other side of the island to the girls? Will She escape? 🤯 #TheWilds
— Jamielee (@missjchambers7) December 14, 2020
The renewal also comes on the heels of a lot of cancellations. And unsurprisingly, shows led by women — especially those starring women of color and featuring LGBTQ+ protagonists — have been hit the hardest. I Am Not Okay With This and Teenage Bounty Hunters, two teen shows with lesbian and bisexual leads, were cancelled after just one season. GLOW was axed shortly after members of the ensemble cast penned a letter to Netflix asking for more nuanced storylines about the show’s characters of color. And High Fidelity, which centred around a biracial, bisexual lead, was also cancelled, despite critical acclaim. (“It’s cool. Hulu has a ton of other shows starring women of colour we can watch. Oh wait,” star Zoë Kravitz commented on Instagram.)
The trend is still unacceptable, but it’s nice to see that a show starring a diverse cast of mostly women made it through 2020 unscathed. Soon enough, we’ll find out if the Dawn of Eve girls make it out okay, too.