This week I have started and inevitably finished a new show on Netflix called Wayward. Wayward is guaranteed to be your next binge!! It’s got twists and turns and so much more. It’s absolutely perfect for the spooky season ahead.
Wayward is based on real life academies that were popular in the 1990s and early 2000s. These academies would appear as therapy camps that would reform troubled teens. The teen’s journey would begin with a staged abduction from their home then throwing a blindfold or bag over their head. They would be thrown into a car or van that would start driving. They wouldn’t know where they were going until they ended up at the academy.
Teens would be forced to go to isolated schools where they would be alienated from their lives and the outside world. These schools would usually be deep in the wilderness or at least in vast/forested areas that would be hard to navigate. This is so that if you tried to leave the school without permission, you wouldn’t be able to escape successfully.
These schools advertised therapeutic rehabilitation for delinquent behavior while gaining a great education. But unfortunately, these camps were extremely abusive and corrupt. These schools were breeding grounds for many cases of physical and sexual abuse. They were not allowed to call parents. At most, they could write letters. And even then, the letters were checked to make sure that no signs of distress written in them. If your letters did include stories of abuse or unfair strictness, you would receive a punishment.
Punishments varied and ranged. Sometimes they would be complete isolation for days on end. Other times you would have to hold a physical position (such as a plank) for hours, and if you were caught moving, the punishment would last longer. Punishments could also be harassment and abuse from other students and staff members.
The “therapeutic” sessions and activities were not healing in the slightest. One activity comprised of one student standing in the middle of a circle while other students were forced to yell obscenities and insults at them. If they did not participate in these therapies, it would result in punishment.
This was the main idea and promise of these schools. Parents would send their troubled teens to these schools and they would come back better. The methods performed, that some would call unreasonable, were just promoted as part of the process. Staff would ensure the parents that the detachment and disconnect from their children at the academy was best for their recovery.
In addition, the education these parents and teens were promised was ultimately poor in quality. Some academies would give diplomas that held no validity. Colleges would not accept these as high school diplomas which caused many problems.
In later years, it was found that most of these academies existed all around the expanse of the United States and even migrated outside it’s boundaries. It was also uncovered that almost all of these locations were owned by the same person.
In 2024, a documentary named The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping aired on Netflix. This documentary uncovered the lost secrets of students who suffered at the hands of these schools. It’s a three episode documentary series made by Katherine Kubler, a survivor of these schools. It contains real life accounts as well as visits to the abandoned locations. I watched The Program when it originally started streaming. I cannot recommend it more.
Set in 2003, Wayward follows a teen who is admitted to one of these academies. She meets staff members and other students while diving into the secrets of this academy. They also have another plot surrounding the town that the school is located in and their support in the school’s endeavors. Which is also accurate. Towns encouraged and even flaunted their proximity towards such academies. And, in cases where students would try to run from schools, the towns would monitor the area so they could catch them.
While Wayward does dramatize many aspects and creates storylines that are inaccurate, it still pulls plenty from these real life schools.
The acting and plot flow together in such a way that designs a perfect story that terrifies the soul. It keeps you on your toes. Every episode is a new adventure. I can’t stress enough how good of a show Wayward is! This week Wayward is the top 6th show on Netflix and has stayed in the top ten for four weeks now. With only eight episodes that effectively thrill and surprise you.
Give it a watch, you won’t regret it!