By Anna May

The second series of Wayward Pines is now up and running. Sadly, Matt Dillon is no more, as we've lost Ethan Burke who was originally the main character. However, his teenage son, Ben, is still alive and kicking…for now.

Having woken up from a coma three years after Wayward Pines was invaded by a herd of carnivorous aberrations (abbies), Ben finds himself fighting against the 24-hour monitoring and ‘big brother’ attitude of the powers that be. This is nothing new, though, as the town of Wayward Pines is historically notorious for its obligatory ‘zero privacy’ policy that makes plotting a rebellion pretty much impossible.

The tall electrified fence surrounding the town is also a hindrance, but it does serve to keep the permanently hungry abbies out. You’d think these sharp-toothed, flesh-munching monsters would be deterrent enough, but there’s always someone willing to push their luck a bit too far, so I’m sure we can look forward to seeing a lot more faces chewed off and guts ripped out.

So, what are these abbies and where did they come from? Well, a very clever scientist and egocentric nutcase called David Pilcher discovered changes in a particular human gene, which he declared would see the human race evolve into these mindless aberrations. So he decided to freeze a whole bunch of people he thought would be useful in the future, including himself, and wake them up 2000 years later, as and when he felt like it. He assumed all his predicted freaks of nature would have died out by then, but they hadn't.

Unfortunately, it seems a few characters we were relieved to see saved at the end of series one could be destined for an early exit from series two…and there are already some new faces in Wayward Pines waiting to replace them.

For instance, we now have Theo Yedlin, a surgeon who was kidnapped and frozen right in the middle of his holiday. How rude! So now it’s his turn to try to work out what the Hell’s going on in Wayward Pines and come to terms with the fact the world he left behind is actually so far behind, it hasn’t existed for centuries.

Of course, we still have Nurse Pam for a short while (think Nurse Ratched). She’s David Pilcher’s sister and you can never be sure if she’s ‘nice Pam’ or ‘nasty Pam’ at any given moment, because this woman has a serious personality disorder. She even shot her own brother because he wanted to kill everyone in Wayward Pines by letting the abbies in to eat them all, but will happily do the same herself if she’s having a bad day.

Also, the local school teacher, Megan Fisher, has been educating her pupils, not only on the dangers of abbies, but on their future roles in Wayward Pines, which is to pair off and populate the town with home-grown citizens, rather than having to keep warming up the disgruntled human popsicles who, quite frankly, hate it there and immediately want to go home as soon as they thaw out…only to be told they can’t.

I’m still puzzled by Ms Fisher’s re-emergence in series two, as she was last seen about to be devoured by scores of abbies descending upon her through an overhead trapdoor. She looks completely uneaten and unscathed, except for her use of a wheelchair now. I guess it’s that old trick of ‘Did you actually see her hit the floor?’…which, I have to confess, I didn’t.

Anyway, these schoolchildren, known as the First Generation, are now in charge and their leader is Jason Higgins, who began his rise to power at the end of series one. We already know he’s not averse to shooting anyone in the head who doesn’t play by the rules…and is keen to ‘reckon’ anyone who challenges them. Reckoning is a jolly affair, where the perpetrator in question is strung up on a platform in the middle of town and has their throat cut in full view of everyone, as a warning.

If you haven’t seen the first series, you’ve missed a lot of the build-up to the situation we see now. With that in mind, you might want to find the first series and work your way through it beforehand, as it allows the history of Wayward Pines to unfold brilliantly and superb acting across the board really brings it alive.

However, if you’re not up to it, there’s a quick summary at the beginning of series two to bring potential new fans up to date. Also, Wayward Pines is written well enough that you’ll be able to pick up the story and acquaint yourself with the characters without too much of a problem.

I’m still not sure this series will be as gripping as the first…mainly because a lot of the mystery has already been uncovered. So, instead of being intrigued by the unknown, we are about to be drawn into the story of Wayward Pines as we now know it to be. Even so, I’ll be watching to the end and enjoying every minute of it. I do love horrible monsters, especially naked ones with big teeth.

Wayward Pines, Series Two: Fox UK - Wednesday, 9pm