The Wilds: season 2 ending explained

Leah Rilke (Sarah Pidgeon) in The Wilds season 2
Leah Rilke in The Wilds season 2. (Image credit: Courtesy of Amazon Studios)

Season 2 of The Wilds picks up right where the previous season ended, continuing to follow the stranded teenage girls we met as well as introducing a new island of teenage boys as more test subjects. 

The cast includes Sarah Pidgeon, Erana James, Mia Healey, Reign Edwards, Jenna Clause, Shannon Berry, Sophia Ali, Reed Shannon, Tanner Rook, Aidan Laprete, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Alex Fitzalan, Nicholas Coombe, Zack Calderon, and Charles Alexander.

All episodes of both seasons are currently streaming on Prime Video.

The Wilds season 2 ending — explained

Mia Healey (Shelby Goodkind), Erana James (Toni Shalifoe), Sarah Pidgeon (Leah Rilke) in The Wilds season 2.

Mia Healey (Shelby Goodkind), Erana James (Toni Shalifoe), Sarah Pidgeon (Leah Rilke) in The Wilds season 2. (Image credit: Amazon Studios)

Leah Rilke: Gretchen finally reveals what this whole experiment has been about to Leah. She says the last 50 days have made the girls healthier, more powerful, more fully realized human beings, and stronger human beings. She tells Leah that Nora is fine despite all of them thinking she was dead. Lastly, she adds that not even the first phase changed Leah, it was the second, but it turns out Leah was playing them the whole time. Gretchen claims that it's just the two of them from here on out, but her cell phone goes off and the truth comes crashing down. Leah called her friend, who went to the FBI. 

Martha Blackburn and Toni Shalifoe: Martha is better now, reuniting with Toni in the facility, sharing an emotional hug. 

Fatin Jadmani and Shelby Goodkind: The two of them realize that Leah was right in her suspicions, but they haven’t shared their discovery with the others yet. Later on, it is heavily hinted at that Shelby is now working for Gretchen, which would make sense only because of her desire not to go back home.Seth Novak, Rafael Garcia, and Kirin O’Connor: The three boys take a boat to find rescue, but a fight between Seth and Kirin leads to Seth trying to leave him behind.

Rafael helps Kirin back on the boat before hitting Seth, finally seeing who he really is. In the final moment, we see that Seth is still alive and most likely in charge of making sure everything goes according to plan in the facility,

Both groups have been “rescued” from the islands and taken to a facility. In the final ten moments, we see the lights go out and Leah walks into the hall, only to find Fatin, Kirin, and Henry. They hear music playing and everyone ends up in a room that looks as if it's been set up for some sort of prom. We see embraces between everyone and a Shoni reunion before Gretchen welcomes them all to the “revolution.” She calls them all partners, saying they are the promise of a new world before adding that this is where they begin.

Except Gretchen never takes the stage, so Leah runs off to try to find her and all the girls don’t hesitate to follow her. Rafael encourages the other boys to trust her before they’re following her lead. They find empty rooms that have obviously been cleared out and then the audience sees Gretchen has left the facility, meeting her son Devon, who betrayed his mother’s trust. She then confronts Dean, who has been helping Leah, before cutting him free.

On the plane, Gretchen tells Alex that the show will go on, only remotely. Phase three has now been set in motion, referring to them as a “whole new control group.” The team has taken all of the bugs and surveillance out, but Gretchen has people on the inside.

With no sign of Gretchen, the groups make it to the roof, only to realize they are still trapped.

The Wilds season 2's new boy stalk through the woods at night.

The boys stalk through the woods at night in season 2.  (Image credit: Amazon Studios)

If the series gets renewed for a third season, here’s what might happen next…

Toni will no doubt realize something is going on with Shelby, which will lead to some more angst between the former couple. Though, Shoni is part of the fabric of the show, so we still have faith. 

Leah will now have allies to fight with rather than dealing with everything alone, being the one to lead them and force them to work together to escape. In terms of romance, it would make sense to make Leah and Fatin realize there’s something between them after Fatin’s words in the finale. 

Josh will most likely have more of a recovery storyline after what happened to him on the island. Some tension between the boys overall is to be expected as well. Eventually, Seth will make his presence known, which will lead to an explosion. 

The experiment element of the season will most likely be how well the girls and boys can live or work together.

Sophia Soto

Sophia Soto has a passion for all things entertainment and currently writes for The Nerds of Color. You can see her work on What To Watch, Remezcla, Looper, Den of Geek, Young Hollywood and more. Some of her favorite shows include Grey's Anatomy, The Goldbergs, Riverdale and Roswell, New Mexico. She is a complete Marvel nerd as well!