Theories: What Is Going On?

[Accidental Martyr]

I think the story Mrs. Fisher told about the family committing suicide was just a "boogeyman" type story to try and keep the kids from revealing "the truth". I still don't think the scenario explained by Fisher is the whole, or even the real, "truth".

[JenE4]

When Ethan called his wife and it went to voicemail, how is it that he heard her 2000 year old message exactly?

Good point! Verizon is still in business? They've wracked up about a $1,200,000 bill...which doesn't seem too bad for 2,000 years of service charges!

I couldn't double quote on my phone, but good point above about the hallicinations. WHAT exactly had he been hallucinating? I'm thinking they were putting him under mini-freezes or other types of experimentation such as hypnotherapy to test him as a candidate for WP. Maybe they did this to everyone who was chosen but he's the only one we know of who woke up with some memories of it. But I don't remember any details of the "hallicination." I'm sure some of you do!

[KDeFlane]

WHAT exactly had he been hallucinating? ...But I don't remember any details of the "hallucination." I'm sure some of you do!

 

I don't think we ever were told what Ethan was hallucinating -- and I'm speaking as someone who has seen episode #1 six times now! (But, I might go back and rewatch the part where he talks about the 621 people who died, including a girl named Jenny.  I think he was telling Kate those were haunting his nightmares, but maybe he didn't want to admit he was on the verge of a relapse.)

 

If you want to go to extremes with theories relying on the Unreliable Narrator gimmick, one might speculate that his entire life is a fantasy, and his "hallucinations" were really moments of lucid consciousness in the REAL reality.  Ugh, don't Vanilla Sky me, show, not without planting more clues to justify such a twist.

Edited June 14, 2015 by KDeFlane

[Jel]

Did he say, to Kate, "Is it happening again" at one point? (I believe she said it wasn't)

 

I kinda took that to mean he'd had erm "reality issues" at some time, but it's been a while since I watched the first episode so I could be wrong.

[Accidental Martyr]

I still think the bombing that Ethan failed to prevent is somehow important to the entire scenario. Exactly how, I don't know.

[KaveDweller]

When Ethan called his wife and it went to voicemail, how is it that he heard her 2000 year old message exactly?

 

I assumed that was faked, the same way his calls to the Secret Service headquarters was faked.  Maybe all calls he makes go to a general operator that either pretends to be who he is calling or plays an old recording?  I would imagine everyone would want to call home when they are first defrosted and they have to let them think they are successful at that. 

[Wth]

1. Normal eveloution would take way longer than 2000 years

2. the cars would never live for that Time in a garage with funtional doors etc. (with the wallet / guitarr Inside)

--> Zombie virus in near future or not on earth

3. where does gasoline etc. come from?

[Yeldarbe]

I'm firmly in Camp Not The Truth at this point.

What if it's not earth at all, but an alien planet and this is just a People Farm. Some farms are free range and organic, so as not to stress out and toughen the meat.... ya dig? In the case of wayward pines I would say they have some questionable practices...

[ottoDbusdriver]

I'm firmly in Camp Not The Truth at this point.

What if it's not earth at all, but an alien planet and this is just a People Farm. Some farms are free range and organic, so as not to stress out and toughen the meat.... ya dig? In the case of wayward pines I would say they have some questionable practices...

 

That would kind of explain Bill Evans and Beverly's bodies being left in that dilapidated house -- instead of being buried.

[jhlipton]

I still think the bombing that Ethan failed to prevent is somehow important to the entire scenario. Exactly how, I don't know.

 

"Checkov's Gun" says it has to be.  Same with the hallucinations.  If either is never referred to again, it's a major flaw in story-telling. 

[Yeldarbe]

I agree yet I also know that we as viewers are always trying to find significance in every little thing and the bombing could very well be just a story to help us get the frame of mind he was in. We will see.

[jhlipton]

I agree yet I also know that we as viewers are always trying to find significance in every little thing and the bombing could very well be just a story to help us get the frame of mind he was in. We will see.

 

I agree with the bombings just being background, but not the hallucinations.  As soon as they introduced them, they said "You can not trust what Ethan is seeing".  How do we know that the show so far hasn't been a hallucination?  Because someone off-screen said so?  That doesn't cut it in my book.

[Yeldarbe]

I think if it were just all in Ethanvs head I would be very dissapointed. That's tired.

[grandemocha]

 

How do we know that the show so far hasn't been a hallucination?  Because someone off-screen said so?  That doesn't cut it in my book.

Maybe Theresa and Ben aren't there either. Maybe Ethan's just been imagining them. Maybe there was no Beverley. Maybe his name isn't even Ethan.. It doesn't make sense to doubt every single thing you see from the character's perspective. Have to assume that he's at least sane enough to trust what he sees otherwise the episodes become much less enjoyable...to me at least.

 

I'm also of the opinion that the first mention of the Easter bombings was just to add depth to Ethan's character and give us a little insight into him, nothing more.

Edited June 16, 2015 by grandemocha

[jhlipton]

I think that the mid-point between "We have to accept that it's 4096!" and "It can't be 4096!" is to accept that it is 4096 -- all the off-show signs seem to indicate that -- but to remain at least a bit skeptical.  The fact that do many of us are skeptical shows that the producers didn't do all that great a job convincing us.  They know they post-Lost, post-UTD highly suspicious nature of the genre -- it's up to them to overcome that, not us.

They have a chopped and soldiers, and plastic lasts forever.  Bring back any thing from Boise that screams "Yes! Duh! Of course it's 4096!  How can you doubt it!!!!"  If they can freeze someone until 2096, have them get a quarter and then refreeze them, why not get a bunch of stuff from along the timeline.  If they had a Natural History Museum, they wouldn't need to hide the truth.

 

====================================

 

grandemocha, I agree that it doesn't work if nothing we see is real.  No question about that.  But why bring hallucinations into it at all.  They could have mentioned the Easter bombing, and shown Ethan with PTSD to some degree or another, without telling us that this guy has seen things that aren't real.  This then isn't just lazy writing, it's bad writing, since it creates a false expectation for no good reason.  That's why I called it a "Chekhov's Gun" -- something like that can't be mentioned in the first act and not go off in the third. 

[KaveDweller]

Maybe Theresa and Ben aren't there either. Maybe Ethan's just been imagining them. Maybe there was no Beverley. Maybe his name isn't even Ethan..

 

I would buy that if we hadn't seen Theresa and Ben interacting with other people when Ethan isn't even around.  I have no issue with him hallucinating things he is seeing, but if he can hallucinate things when he's not even there, the whole show comes into question. That just doesn't seem fair to viewers.

 

 If they can freeze someone until 2096, have them get a quarter and then refreeze them, why not get a bunch of stuff from along the timeline.  If they had a Natural History Museum, they wouldn't need to hide the truth.

 

I don't think they unfroze anyone in 2096, because then the quarter would have the same preserved effects everything else in town has.  I think that when they unfroze themselves in 4014 they went looking for what was left of civilization and found the old quarters.

 

Which for me raises the question of why they unfroze themselves specifically in 4014.  

[FishyJoe]

Let's say for argument's sake, they did freeze themselves for 2000 years. That means as soon as they woke up, they would have been in a world filled with abbies. Then they would need to clear the land of abbies. Then they would need to construct walls. Then the town, power supply, water, electricity, food, gasoline, roads. And after that they would wake people up that had no idea what was going on and then brainwash the kids. Meanwhile awakening adults with no kids as well, but then make the kids the future? All using 2014 technology. That makes about as much sense as a giant magic dome.

[jhlipton]

I don't think they unfroze anyone in 2096, because then the quarter would have the same preserved effects everything else in town has.  I think that when they unfroze themselves in 4014 they went looking for what was left of civilization and found the old quarters.

But that's not a (nearly) 2,000 year old coin either. This is even worse than the freeway sign -- we know what 2,000 year old coins look like -- it wouldn't be that hard to mock one up. Instead, the props department took a 15 year old quarter and put dirt on it. Lazy.

[SlackerInc]

"Checkov's Gun" says it has to be.  Same with the hallucinations.  If either is never referred to again, it's a major flaw in story-telling. 

 

That's the CW, but I always chafe against this "rule".  Maybe I don't know what I actually want, but I feel like I want storytelling that's more realistic, meaning a gun can be on the mantel in the first act and never become part of the story even by the end of the third act.

[jhlipton]

That's the CW, but I always chafe against this "rule".  Maybe I don't know what I actually want, but I feel like I want storytelling that's more realistic, meaning a gun can be on the mantel in the first act and never become part of the story even by the end of the third act.

The point is not that the gun is on the mantle, but that it is pointed out that the gun is on the mantle. ["This was my grandfather's gun", Joe said as he explained the various curios in the room.] is different than ["This gun was used to kill Max Splevnik, the notorious serial killer", Joe said, glancing at Splevnik's daughter.] In the second case, if the gun is not used by or against Joe or the daughter, the passage would seem strange.

The writers of Once Upon a Time are infamous for introducing items that are never mentioned again, but feels clunky, not realistic.

 

For me, indicating that Ethan had mental problems (like PTSD) would be adding background.  Indicating that at some point, he couldn't distinguish visions from reality is much more to the point. It was just a weird thing to do if it's not going to matter at all.

[peach]

I'm also of the opinion that the first mention of the Easter bombings was just to add depth to Ethan's character and give us a little insight into him, nothing more.

 

I agree, and I also think it was to give some basis for his affair with Kate, because he was hurting over the situation and confided in her instead of Theresa.  I guess to make it more understandable and show it wasn't a case of them just getting the hots for each other on a road trip.

[jhlipton]

Here's another reason the quarter is a problem.  They put "easter eggs" -- visual clues" in that they wanted us to finf.  The dates o the files were there so we would figure out, at least roughly, the current date in WP.  But if you tell the audience "look for details", i's a bit rude to say "Yeah, this quarter looks more 15 years old than 80 years in the future, but don't obsess about it!"

 

So what is a clue and what is just lazy prop-making and how do we tell the difference?

[mavigogun]

 

 

There's no way such drastic (d)evolution could happen in a mere 2,000 years. Evolution happens slowly over millions of years. Going back from today to biblical times 2,000 years ago wouldn't reveal homo sapiens too much different from what we are today. Going back further, to the time of ancient Egypt roughly 4 or 5 thousand years ago would be the same. That explanation doesn't hold water. There's something else going on.

Those were some factually inaccurate proclamations- though rationally based; this is precisely why science doesn't rely on rationalizations.   Recent observation has demonstrated that rapid habitat change can result in measurable changes in only a few generations; reptiles displaced by flooding have adapted to new tree-top habitats by developing hooked claws in only a few years.   The point being that linear past development does not accurately predict future rates of evolution.

 

Of course, as Monsanto has proven, evolution can be tailored.   There is most definitely "more going on".

[photo fox]

Okay, enough with the sniping. Everybody gets to have their theory, and while you don't have to agree with them, you have to respect them. Talk about the show, not other people's theories about the show.

[SlackerInc]

So what is a clue and what is just lazy prop-making and how do we tell the difference?

 

I would say with the quarter, we can just go with what was in the script: the kid's immediate reaction to the quarter was to think that it looked like an old Roman coin (roughly 2,000 years old), rather than an old U.S. coin from a century or two ago.

[jhlipton]

I would say with the quarter, we can just go with what was in the script: the kid's immediate reaction to the quarter was to think that it looked like an old Roman coin (roughly 2,000 years old), rather than an old U.S. coin from a century or two ago.

 

I guess I can live with that!

[Jfelipenaranjo]

What do we have about BOISE? I am intrigued.

[micat]

To my mind, a big mystery is the fresh meat everyone is eating. I can see why the town is well-supplied in terms of nonperishables, but there's no way all of this meat has been preserved that long. There is no livestock that we've seen. As others have mentioned, the "bloody, no-onions" burger was ready for Ethan way too fast at the beginning, and during the Biergarten dinner we had mentions of Kate's steak, the buffalo burger (a couple times) and the trout. Plus, if there is something sinister about the meat then the exchange between Theresa and Megan Fisher would be an anvil -- i.e. Megan asked Theresa if she and Ethan ate meat and Theresa said they "ate everything."

 

In one of the episode threads, someone joked about soylent green. If the meat is coming from an unsavory source that could explain why so many people were revived who don't seem to have anything to do with the survival of the colony - maybe to be used as sacrifices or food sources for the town? I know this isn't an overall theory, but may be a clue that something larger is going on?

[riverheightsnancy]

To my mind, a big mystery is the fresh meat everyone is eating. I can see why the town is well-supplied in terms of nonperishables, but there's no way all of this meat has been preserved that long. There is no livestock that we've seen. As others have mentioned, the "bloody, no-onions" burger was ready for Ethan way too fast at the beginning, and during the Biergarten dinner we had mentions of Kate's steak, the buffalo burger (a couple times) and the trout. Plus, if there is something sinister about the meat then the exchange between Theresa and Megan Fisher would be an anvil -- i.e. Megan asked Theresa if she and Ethan ate meat and Theresa said they "ate everything."

 

In one of the episode threads, someone joked about soylent green. If the meat is coming from an unsavory source that could explain why so many people were revived who don't seem to have anything to do with the survival of the colony - maybe to be used as sacrifices or food sources for the town? I know this isn't an overall theory, but may be a clue that something larger is going on?

Yeah that was me with the soylent green joke! But, you are right, how is the meat/food possible? Right now there are experiments to genetically create meat/flesh in a test tube. So, if the show went that way, I could actually believe it because researchers are attempting to do it right now and have created these mutant meats served it to customers. I think there was a story in France where people used genetically created lamb and something else. It escapes me right now. I have to ponder if 3D printing could be involved? That is a new invention that we know exists and could be a potential explanation if the author went in that direction. 

[ottoDbusdriver]

Yeah that was me with the soylent green joke! But, you are right, how is the meat/food possible?

 

 

In addition, where are all the fresh vegetables coming from ?  The kids at WPA had pretty healthy lunches with a lot of greens, and you would need a pretty big greenhouse/hothouse to supply an entire town of a couple of hundred people with fresh veggies year round.

 

So, in addition to freezing humans and pets (we've seen at least 1 dog so far), did they plan far enough ahead to freeze tons of seeds (which has already been done in the Seed Vault in Norway) and also freeze animals so that they could restart farming ?   Did Pope go around knocking out cows and pigs and chickens and buffalo ?  Are the farms/hothouses also built inside the mountains ?  Did they also freeze 14+ years worth of coffee, wine and booze ?

 

Seriously, when they showed the contents of the fridge in Ethan's house, they had meat, fresh oranges, lettuce and other greens, milk, eggs (which means they have chickens), red and yellow peppers, preserves, orange juice, and butter.  And when Theresa made sandwiches for Ben for lunch they had fresh bread, deli meat, tomatoes and cheese (which would imply there is milk coming from a cow somewhere).  When Pope visited Theresa for a chat over some ice cream (which again implies that there are cows somewhere) , there was a bowl of fresh pears, as well as limes and lemons.

 

But in the warehouse where Ethan went in the meat truck, those silos only seemed to contain staples (sugar, coffee, salt, etc)

 

That's what really makes the big reveal of the 2000 year frozen time jump even more ridiculous -- the shear amount of technological innovation to build a power supply and all this tech equipment to last 2000 years, plus preserve the people, animals, food stores, medicines, artwork, water (unless they just assumed the water would be safe to drink which is a big assumption, like if there was a nuclear war), tech equipment, vehicles, spy equipment, construction equipment to clear and rebuild the town (because they would have to build from scratch starting with running water, power and sewer lines underground), construction supplies to build the businesses and homes -- and the great wall around the town, asphalt for paving the roads, cement mix (for things like pouring sidewalks), raw metals for manufacturing things like guns and bicycles, manufacturing equipment, gunpowder for bullets, windows, and contents for all the businesses and homes (like appliances, furniture, glassware, paper, bedding).  Considering what they have shown in WP, the list is literally endless because none of what they have shown would last for 2000 years unless it was also preserved like the humans.

 

And when Pilcher and crew initially woke up and looked out the window into the valley below, there would have been no visible sign of the remains of WP after a couple of hundred years, let alone a couple of thousand years.

 

So just inventing human cryostasis technology wouldn't be even close to sufficient for them to build this town after 2000 years and live like they are after only 14 years (correction, after 2 years because the town was pretty much intact when the Group A meltdown occurred) -- it should be closer to a town in the old West (think Back to the Future 3), with people farming and hunting.  Add in the threat of the Abbies, and they should have even fewer people and a much less developed town.

 

There's a sci-fi novel with parallels to Wayward Pines called 'The Unincorporated Man' where a dying uber-wealthy man who spent tens of billions to build a single extra-large coffin-sized module capable of storing his body for hundreds of years under the assumption that when the module was found in the future that advanced medicine of the time would able to revive him and cure him of his ailments.  And that was all for just one person, and he didn't take anything else with him to the future.  In the book, the preservation module was opened after just over 300 years and he was revived, but only because civilization managed to survive that long and medical tech was so advanced that there were capable of bringing him back to life, cure his ailments, and revitalize his entire body.

[legaleagle53]

There is one very simple way to verify that 2,000 years have actually passed, and I'm surprised that nobody has thought of it.  Look at the position of the constellations at night.  

 

Because of the Precession of the Equinoxes (or Axial Precession, as it is technically known), the constellations gradually shift position due to the wobble of the earth's axis.  What this means is that the March and September equinoxes and the June and December solstices change the constellations that they occur in once every 2,600 years or so (give or take a century), so by 4028, instead of occurring in Pisces, Gemini, Virgo, and Sagittarius, respectively (as they do now), they will occur in Aquarius, Taurus, Leo, and Scorpio, and Polaris will no longer be the North Pole Star.  By then, the North Celestial Pole will have shifted to Gamma Cephei in a completely different consellation.

 

So unless someone has been able to fake the night sky to keep it looking the same as it does in 2014, a simple check of the positions of the constellations will easily confirm that it really is 4028.

Edited June 24, 2015 by legaleagle53

[plurie]

There is one very simple way to verify that 2,000 years have actually passed, and I'm surprised that nobody has thought of it.  Look at the position of the constellations at night.  

 

Because of the Precession of the Equinoxes (or Axial Precession, as it is technically known), the constellations gradually shift position due to the wobble of the earth's axis.  What this means is that the March and September equinoxes and the June and December solstices change the constellations that they occur in once every 2,600 years or so (give or take a century), so by 4028, instead of occurring in Pisces, Gemini, Virgo, and Sagittarius, respectively (as they do now), they will occur in Aquarius, Taurus, Leo, and Scorpio, and Polaris will no longer be the North Pole Star.  By then, the North Celestial Pole will have shifted to Gamma Cephei in a completely different consellation.

 

So unless someone has been able to fake the night sky to keep it looking the same as it does in 2014, a simple check of the positions of the constellations will easily confirm that it really is 4028.

That would mean that there's an astronomer in town. I think they've purposefully excluded any scientists so that no one will ask the hard questions.

[legaleagle53]

Not necessarily an astronomer, just someone whose hobby is stargazing and who has always been taught to orient himself or herself at night by using the North Star as a guide.  If I, who learned how to do that as a Cub Scout, can see that Polaris and the Little Dipper (the constellation that contains it) aren't where I expect them to be, I'm going to know something's up.

[ottoDbusdriver]

That would mean that there's an astronomer in town. I think they've purposefully excluded any scientists so that no one will ask the hard questions.

 

Just like they seem to have excluded doctors since Nurse Pam had to stitch up her own nose.

[Centaur]

I'm still uncertain about lts of things from the first two episodes:

1. Why was Beverly reckoned? Surely not because she just said she had a daughter.

2. Why did Kate push the issue of Beverly having a daughter during dinner?

3. Why were the bodies left in the house after execution?

4. Why rely so heavily on electronic surveillance? Surely 10 or so of the back office staff posing as townsfolk would be able to keep tabs on almost everything?

5. Where is Ethan's Secret Service boss?

6. The lights don't flicker. Is there a nuclear reactor under the mountain?

7. What did Ethan put in his back pocket when coming out of the clinic when Pam stitched up his Abbie wounds in Zeppelin 6?

8. Pilcher didn't think to store a few drones for over the wall surveillance in 2014?

9. Why hasn't Ethan killed Pam yet?

10. Was Kate a volunteer who was the bait to lure more SS people to a Wayward Pines and if so is she now some sort of plant or traitor?

[Tabasco Cat]

All good questions, Centaur. Well, mostly good lol. I'll add another one:

 

11. Why was Pilcher wearing his 41st Century eyeglasses and why did he have short hair when he met with Ethan's boss in Seattle in 2014?

 

When the first group woke up after 2,000 years Pilcher is seen to have the same long hair he had during all the flashbacks from the late '90s, which stronly implies he kept his hair long like that right up until 2014 when he joined the rest of his cryo-flock for the long sleep. But we see him in Episode 1 in Seattle, and his hair is very modern looking (modern meaning the time when the bulk of the story takes place).

 

I'm still hoping for aliens, or time travel, or a big experiment, or maybe even a hypnosis session trying to get to the bottom of his hallucinations or mental problems that were mentioned quite clearly in episode 1. Not holding my breath for any of that, however.

[Lrdmordain]

I wonder just how far outside of the town they've ever actually explored? I assume the helicopter is their limit for distance travel so maybe the abbys aren't everywhere, or there are or "pockets" of survivors, or heck maybe even, assuming that the future explanation isn't a hoax, someone else bought into the doctor's ideas and started his own ark program.

[ottoDbusdriver]

All good questions, Centaur. Well, mostly good lol. I'll add another one:

 

11. Why was Pilcher wearing his 41st Century eyeglasses and why did he have short hair when he met with Ethan's boss in Seattle in 2014?

 

When the first group woke up after 2,000 years Pilcher is seen to have the same long hair he had during all the flashbacks from the late '90s, which stronly implies he kept his hair long like that right up until 2014 when he joined the rest of his cryo-flock for the long sleep. But we see him in Episode 1 in Seattle, and his hair is very modern looking (modern meaning the time when the bulk of the story takes place).

 

Seriously, how could the production team not catch that ?  It's sloppiness like this that makes viewers question 'the Truth' is really the truth within this show.

 

As EP, did M. Night not bother to hire a continuity guy ?

 

I wonder just how far outside of the town they've ever actually explored? I assume the helicopter is their limit for distance travel so maybe the abbys aren't everywhere, or there are or "pockets" of survivors, or heck maybe even, assuming that the future explanation isn't a hoax, someone else bought into the doctor's ideas and started his own ark program.

 

It's not like they could tap into the Internet and check for webcams -- even satellites would have long stopped working.  So Pilcher and crew really have no confirmation that humanity no longer exists -- isolated places like Australia or island groups may not have had any problems with Abbies.  Have they been regularly monitoring standard radio channels since they were defrosted ?  What if all the standard radio frequencies in use in 2014 were retired in favor of something new and improved by the time civilization collapsed sometime after 2096 -- if would be like trying to listen to digital satellite radio with an AM radio.  Apparently they've flown as far as Boise, but probably no farther -- maybe the Abbies are just living in the woods in Idaho and that's it.  Maybe the gov't built a big fence around Idaho, rounded up all the Abbies and put them inside it like a wildlife preserve.

 

Just because they never see any planes overhead (something Beverly said) doesn't mean that some alternate form of travel developed in the last 2000 years -- like say, teleportation -- has completely replaced air travel so planes aren't even used any more.

Edited June 27, 2015 by ottoDbusdriver

[Centaur]

It's almost as if Pilcher's narrative is an allegory for each member of the Burke family's lives. Ethan is protecting the town from bombers? One of whom is the woman who almost wrecked his family? That seems too coincidental. Ben still has an absent father, but now he is protecting the family from 'the truth'. Theresa is now doing investigative work that she gave up for her family.

[jhlipton]

It's not like they could tap into the Internet and check for webcams -- even satellites would have long stopped working.  So Pilcher and crew really have no confirmation that humanity no longer exists -- isolated places like Australia or island groups may not have had any problems with Abbies.  Have they been regularly monitoring standard radio channels since they were defrosted ?  What if all the standard radio frequencies in use in 2014 were retired in favor of something new and improved by the time civilization collapsed sometime after 2096 -- if would be like trying to listen to digital satellite radio with an AM radio. 

 

Do they have anyone listening for any kind of electromagnetic pulses (an earth-bound SETI)?  They have food trucks that can leave WP -- why not use a few to leave "This way to civilization!" signs (a la Last Man on Earth)?

[ottoDbusdriver]

They have food trucks that can leave WP -- why not use a few to leave "This way to civilization!" signs (a la Last Man on Earth)?

 

Because the entire North American road system should have long disintegrated in nearly 2000 years -- especially in the Northwest due to freezing/thawing cycles from the extremes in temps between summer and winter and overgrowth of the surrounding forests.  And with no road system, you can't exactly go off-roading in a delivery truck.

[Actionmage]

Because the entire North American road system should have long disintegrated in nearly 2000 years

 

But only if Picher's version of the truth is absolute.

 

If, as you stated, there is some other method of transportation, even subways, then all the truck has to do is go to the "docking" station to pick-up  what it needs; there doesn't have to be a complicated infrastructure/ road system.

 

And with no road system, you can't exactly go off-roading in a delivery truck

 

No, but you can drive a road that isn't in disrepair. If it's like the magnetic cars from Minority Report in not-overrun-with-Abies-civilization, then the roads are still kept up. Trucks/ other rare/-ish combustion engine vehicles could drive on designated streets/areas, potentially.

 

Then again, this could just be an experiment- backed by The Military- in order to see how Doc Pilcher's plan to save us actually works and "Group A" never existed, the dead aren't-- just pretending, and if something bad happens, things will stop and everyone will be debriefed.

 

Unless they are in a Dyson sphere and Pilcher wants to keep everyone in their "designated area", as opposed to mixing with other countries and potentially sharing resources and making a more connected civilization. So the Abies were potentially created and unleashed and other countries seeming to be hands-off about helping potential survivors.  (The last two ideas are just spit-balling.)

[legaleagle53]

Because the entire North American road system should have long disintegrated in nearly 2000 years -- especially in the Northwest due to freezing/thawing cycles from the extremes in temps between summer and winter and overgrowth of the surrounding forests.  And with no road system, you can't exactly go off-roading in a delivery truck.

 

Yet Roman roads, bridges, and aqueducts, which were far more primitive by today's standards, work just as well now as they did when they were first constructed about 2,000 + years ago.

Edited June 28, 2015 by legaleagle53

[ottoDbusdriver]

Yet Roman roads, bridges, and aqueducts, which were far more primitive by today's standards, work just as well now as they did when they were first constructed about 2,000 + years ago.

 

I completely agree with that -- the Romans built things to last, and most of it was made of good quality stone. But today's road infrastructures, built by the lowest tendered bid, are crap by comparison.

[jhlipton]

Where did the quarter come from?  

 

Did Pilcher wait that long before freezing himself?  If so, why not grab more than one item?

 

If not, was it something they picked up once they were unfrozen?  If so, wasn't there anything else to pick up?

 

Confused...

[Tabasco Cat]

I completely agree with that -- the Romans built things to last, and most of it was made of good quality stone. But today's road infrastructures, built by the lowest tendered bid, are crap by comparison.

 

Absolutely. So did the Chinese. There's a 300-mile stretch of an early part of the Great Wall of China that was built over 2,000 years ago still standing. How much of Picher's fence will still be standing and recognizable in another 2,000 years beyond 41st century Wayward Pines, in 6028? Probably not much. They don't make 'em like they used to!

 

Where did the quarter come from?  

 

Did Pilcher wait that long before freezing himself?  If so, why not grab more than one item?

 

If not, was it something they picked up once they were unfrozen?  If so, wasn't there anything else to pick up?

 

Confused...

 

The first awakened probably dug it up while excavating what was left of WP so they could rebuild it. They all went into the cryo tubes by 2014 at the latest, according to Pilcher in the last ep. They probably did collect more than just coins, but the quarters were the only thing they needed to show the kids and move the plot along.

[janie jones]

In the first or second episode, Ethan steals a car and tries to leave town, but the road keeps circling back into Wayward Pines.  He never saw the wall but instead seemed to be driving in some kind of Mobius strip.  What's the deal with that?  (Has anyone seen The Returned -- the French version; I haven't seen the American?  That scene reminded me of The Returned.)

[ottoDbusdriver]

In the first or second episode, Ethan steals a car and tries to leave town, but the road keeps circling back into Wayward Pines.  He never saw the wall but instead seemed to be driving in some kind of Mobius strip.  What's the deal with that?  (Has anyone seen The Returned -- the French version; I haven't seen the American?  That scene reminded me of The Returned.)

 

The weird part is that at no time did Ethan notice a fork in the road where the loop returned back to WP.  He drove out from WP and back to WP without turning around.  That did hint at some sort of weirdness/magic that was keeping him in WP, but just traveling 2000 years into the future doesn't explain that at all.

 

And yes, it did feel like the French version of the Returned when Laure, Julie and Victor were trying to leave town by car by crossing the dam -- but at least there were some paranormal shenanigans afoot that might have explained it.

[janie jones]

The difference, though, is that in The Returned, they kept crossing over the dam in the same direction, and it appeared that Ethan re-entered town in the opposite direction he left it, on the same street (I mean, he left heading, say, north on X Street, and came back to town going south on X street in the north end of town), which would have required a fork. But now that I think about it, at the time I wasn't sure if that's actually what happened.  I know that when Ethan got back to Wayward Pines, he turned around, and I assumed that was because he wanted to exit again the way he originally did.  But maybe he reentered town going north on the south end of town and turned around to retrace the path he just took.  Which would mean the road could just be a circle.

 

But either way, there should have been some sort of intersection where the delivery trucks enter onto the loop road from the road coming from the warehouse.  Which, is there a tunnel to the warehouse?  The delivery trucks don't go through the garage doors and drive through Abbie-land to get to the warehouse, do they?  And a tunnel from the bunker Ethan toured to the food warehouse?

[ottoDbusdriver]

The difference, though, is that in The Returned, they kept crossing over the dam in the same direction, and it appeared that Ethan re-entered town in the opposite direction he left it, on the same street (I mean, he left heading, say, north on X Street, and came back to town going south on X street in the north end of town), which would have required a fork. But now that I think about it, at the time I wasn't sure if that's actually what happened.  I know that when Ethan got back to Wayward Pines, he turned around, and I assumed that was because he wanted to exit again the way he originally did.  But maybe he reentered town going north on the south end of town and turned around to retrace the path he just took.  Which would mean the road could just be a circle.

 

According to the map that Ethan got from Bill Evans' body, the road was a loop on the south side of WP, between WP and the fence..