'Wayward' Ending, Explained: Breaking Down the Netflix Miniseries and Mystery of Tall Pines

If you’re looking for a Twin Peaks-esque thriller about the strange happenings in a seemingly idyllic town, Mae Martin’s Netflix series Wayward might scratch the itch. Inspired by Martin’s childhood friend’s escape from a “troubled teen institute,” the miniseries is about a mysterious school for teenagers helmed by a cult-like figure, Evelyn, played by Toni Collette.

Martin stars as Alex, a new-in-town police officer who immediately senses something is off in Tall Pines, Vermont, while Sydney Topliffe and Alyvia Alyn Lind play two Canadian teens who arrive at the school unhappily and are immediately searching for an escape route. As Alex starts putting the pieces together about the strange goings on in town, he teams up with the teens to try to help them escape Evelyn’s clutches.

The final episodes not only cover the fate of our characters but also provide a few answers about what exactly is happening in Tall Pines. Ahead is a breakdown of the ending of Wayward, from Evelyn’s motives to the lore.

What is Evelyn’s motivation in 'Wayward?'

In a flashback sequence in the penultimate episode, Wayward reveals Evelyn’s origin. She reveals that she ran away from home after being a pregnant teenager, and her parents took the child away from her, landing in Tall Pines and in the orbit of a charismatic, older man named Weldon (Victor Andres Turgeon-Trelles). In partnership with Weldon, Evelyn becomes a major player in the Tall Pines cult, which focuses on erasing generational trauma. Part of the cult’s lore is centered on Weldon’s father, who envisioned a green door that he “leaped” through while in a coma—the same door that Evelyn invites members to fixate on to address their trauma.

But when she begins to disagree with Weldon’s quest for power, she murders him in front of the entire community. As he’s dying, she recites, “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,” the mantra that she uses during the “leap” rituals at the school.

What is going on with all of the toads in 'Wayward?'

A recurring motif throughout the eight episodes of Wayward is the image of toads. They’re seen in framed photos, heard croaking in the background, and even in the flesh by many of our characters. It’s revealed that their venom is administered during the hallucination trip treatment that Evelyn guides students through. While the mystery series doesn’t provide a concrete answer behind the symbolism, it likely ties into how it’s called the “leap” treatment. As DMT pointed out, the presence of a toad can also “represent inner reflection and unresolved issues” in some cultures, speaking directly to Wayward’s themes of generational trauma and the “leap” from adolescence to adulthood.

Do Abbie and Leila escape Tall Pines at the end of 'Wayward?'

While both girls plan to leave and go back to their families in Canada, only Abbie makes it out of Vermont. Leila succumbs to Evelyn’s invitation to stay at the school, and it’s suggested that Leila will stay and eventually take on an administrative role, similar to Rabbit (Tattiawna Jones).

How did this happen? Before the best friends concoct their plan, Leila admits to Abbie that she’s responsible for the death of her sister Jess (Devin Cecchetto)—a trauma she hasn’t fully processed. Abbie doesn’t flinch at her admission and reinforces Leila’s importance in her life.

Together with Rory (John Daniel), they put their plan to get out of Tall Pines in motion. First, they trick staff member Mule (Tricia Black) into heading into town by writing a fake note from her French fiancé inviting her for lunch. They stow themselves onto the bus she drives past the locked gates, and make a run for it once the Mule is settled at a cafe. But their disappearance has already set off alarm bells across the town, and they get cornered in an empty home. It’s here that Leila makes her decision to stay, telling Abbie that she doesn’t want to keep running and that she believes Tall Pines might actually help her.

Abbie and Rory carry on, but soon they’re surrounded. Rory asks Abbie for a kiss and then promptly sacrifices himself for her escape, and she steals away, without being noticed, towards Alex’s car, which is stashed in the woods as a getaway car.

What happens to Alex and Laura at the end of 'Wayward?'

Alex gets a first-hand taste of the Evelyn treatment when he’s taken into custody and subjected to her “leap” treatment. Evelyn informs Alex that Laura (Sarah Gordon) is in labor and tries to convince him that he doesn’t really know Laura, that Laura won’t love their baby fully, and that he just wants to be with her to fulfill his fantasy of a nuclear family. Evelyn also claims that Laura killed her parents, which is why they disappeared without a trace, but doesn’t provide an explanation for her actions. (Whether Evelyn can be trusted is up to the audience.) As Evelyn’s indictment of their relationship is getting personal, Rabbit attacks Evelyn, and she collapses into the water.

Sensing an opportunity, Alex stabs Evelyn with the remaining venom to finish the job and runs for the exit. It’s not a clean getaway, though: His police partner Dwyane (Brandon Jay McLaren) is waiting outside, seemingly assigned to stop Alex from escaping. But Alex is prepared to fight and smashes a large rock on Dwyane’s face, killing him immediately.

Alex arrives home for the birth of his child, but soon finds out that parenting this child in Tall Pines will be anything but normal. Laura announces that they should do skin-to-skin contact with the baby, seemingly directed at Alex. But soon the whole town, who were present for the birth of the first baby in this town for generations, strips naked to cuddle with the child, each establishing a connection with this miracle baby.

As Abbie is escaping in Alex’s station wagon, there’s a dream sequence in which Alex arrives with the baby, ready to run away and raise the child in a healthier environment elsewhere. But when reality sets in, Alex is stuck in the house with Laura, convincing himself he’s staying to be the protector, all the while knowing that Laura really holds the power.

Martin opened up about this moment to Tudum, saying, “Laura is really in danger of going the same route as Evelyn, drunk on power…But, like all cult leaders, Laura truly believes that she would do it differently. That she has empathy and wants the best for this community that she loves so much.”

Does Evelyn die at the end of 'Wayward?'

After Rabbit and Alex inject her with her own toad poison, Evelyn is transported into a dream-like state, seemingly connecting with Laura and sharing her physical and emotional experiences. After Laura gives birth to a healthy baby, Evelyn hallucinates the very words she’s been chanting to the students at Tall Pines, finally confronting her own trauma once and for all. She sees a vision of herself and a door at the back of her imagined self’s throat. When she reaches to open the door, the number of doors and versions of herself has multiplied. Rabbit continues to recite the mantra to Evelyn as her body lies limp in the water, and it is assumed that she dies at the end of Wayward, though Martin will neither confirm nor deny this.

What happens to the rest of the students at Tall Pines at the end of 'Wayward?'

We don’t get to check in with every single student that is introduced at the school, but we do see Stacey (Isolde Ardies) get adopted by an interracial family. She looks giddy as she gets into the car, which is the opposite emotion to Rabbit, who had put in a bid to become Stacey’s guardian and is crestfallen watching her drive away in someone else’s car.