Amazon Originals is taking on its first YA (young adult) series in the form of The Wilds. That might not seem like a big risk to some because there are a bajillion YA Series out there. However, typically those series are based on something, The Wilds, however, is an original story by Sarah Streicher (Daredevil). That’s right – original.

The Wilds tells the tale of eight teenage girls who are sent on an all-female retreat, “The Dawn of Eve”, which is supposed to be a few weeks of therapy and self-care. In a terrible turn of events, the plane goes down over the ocean somewhere and the teens find themselves stranded on a remote island unaware that they are now a part of a social experiment. 

The Characters Of The Wilds

On this journey, we meet Leah (Sarah Pidgeon) – a girl who is dealing with her own tragic heartbreak. Fatin – who is sent away by her parents after she outs a dark family secret. Rachel (Reign Edwards) – a girl on the fast track to being an Olympic diver, but battles her own mental and health issues.

Nora (Helena Howard) – Rachel’s twin sister who is always there to support her even to her own detriment. Dot (Shannon Berry) is the natural-born leader who is dealing with a tragic loss and her classmate, Shelby (Mia Healey), is struggling with her own demons. Last but not least, hot-headed Toni (Erana James) and Martha (Jenna Clause) whose reasons for being there are the most cloudy – until they aren’t.

In the wings, we meet Gretchen (Rachel Griffiths) – our puppet master. Gretchen watches our girls from giant screens in an ominous office with her own henchmen to do her bidding. 

A Great Start, But We Want More

The girls’ story is told via intertwining flashbacks of who these girls were, who they had to become while living on the island, and who they are now after being “rescued”. The time frame is unclear as far as how long the girls were on the island, but there are key moments we still have not seen by the end of season one that leads me to believe they were there for much longer than 30 days. I really enjoyed this series and was upset when it ended. The story and the characters were incredibly well written, as well as well acted. I have ZERO complaints about anyone. I appreciated how I could relate to all of them in some way and easily found my favorites…and least favorite.

The first season of The Wilds has multiple twists and turns that left me always wanting more and left me asking tons of questions. However, so many of these questions ARE NOT ANSWERED and leaves me begging for a season 2.